The weather and temperatures were just fantastic the entire time we were in Tarpon Springs. We finally felt like we were truly in Florida! We had fun exploring and eating all around the town. Tarpon Springs is know for its Greek food and population as well as for being known as the Sponge Capital of the World! One day we biked over to a nearby lake that was known to have Manatees. There were lots of people there hoping to catch a glimpse of the huge creatures. We did see them, but they mostly just poked their noses up to take a breath and then swam back down underneath the water.
Friday we headed to Clearwater for a quick stop. We had a delicious Thai dinner and the next morning we walked back into town for breakfast before heading to Bradenton. We arrived in Bradenton late afternoon so we ate dinner at a nearby rooftop restaurant called Oak and Stone. It overlooked the marina from the open air part of the restaurant. While we were eating, we received a phone call from Terrie and Brian from Makin’ Hay who did The Crossing with us. They were eating up there as well and saw us across the way. So we celebrated by having dessert together – Definitely a fun part of Looping! The next day we met up with Lee from our first segment who had stopped in Bradenton and decided to stay. We had a fun lunch and then he drove us out to Anna Maria Island and down to Sarasota. Monday was spent doing boat work and laundry. Tuesday we picked up a rental car and ran errands.
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Wednesday, February 5th, we headed to Orlando. A long time ago when Pete and I were discussing The Great Loop, I had told him that if we were in Florida, I wanted to go to WDW. He heard me and listened and we spent 2 long and fun days exploring Epcot and Hollywood Studios! We had a fabulous time!
Friday we met up with Lee for dinner and again for breakfast on Saturday before continuing south to Long Boat Key.
When we arrived at Long Boat, we ate dinner at Portofino’s Italian Restaurant. Delicious! The next day I worked out and Pete rode his Folding Bike to the beach and back. That afternoon we took the shuttle to the beach and enjoyed the fresh air and water. We walked to The Whiskey Bar Tavern for dinner and watched the Super Bowl. Monday we continued south to The Crow’s Nest with a very tricky entrance. But we arrived safely and found out the Dock Hand had lived in Centerville at one point! Dinner at The Crow’s Nest and early to bed,
Tuesday, February 11, we headed to Fort Myers and The Pink Shell Resort and Marina. It was a long day of travel and of avoiding the Crab Pots! We even traveled fast for an half hour twice on this journey. When Ryan was in high school, we had stayed at The Pink Shell. It certainly looked different now with the 2 added hotels and the marina. We walked along the beach we had walked on so many years ago and found some pinkish shells. We enjoyed our stay and everywhere we ate. You know we had to eat out – right?!
Just in case you were wondering, we do more than just eat and play. LOL ! We do have work to do on the boat, e.g. laundry needs to be done in our washer/dryer combo, after driving the boat we need to clean the Isinglass and the boat from the salt spray that accumulates, we definitely need to get pump-outs, water needs to be added to our fresh water tanks, Pete tracks our diesel amounts and ensures we get fuel when necessary, the dishes need to be washed, we dust and vacuum the carpet, toilets and bathrooms need to be cleaned, and Pete is still maintaining his IT Work! for the ABX Union. We really do more than go out to eat and enjoy the beautiful Florida Sunshine and Weather!
Friday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day we fueled up and headed to Naples. Wow! What a busy port with boats coming and going constantly. We docked our boat in the slip and headed for the nearest restaurant for drinks and delicious food. Back to the boat and realized we were in the flight path of the airport! It seemed like every 10 minutes or so a business jet would fly over head. The jets stopped flying in around 9:00pm but 8:00am the next day – zoom, zoom, zoom! Did I mention that Pete loves his breakfast?? Into town we walked and had a yummy breakfast. We met an old salt from the Loop who had his boat docked at the nearby marina. When leaving the slip, Cheri usually takes the boat out. But when it’s busy or narrow, she tells Pete – “You go ahead and take it out!” Basically, she’d rather Pete bang up the boat and not her!! When we left Naples, the traffic was heavy and the inlet to go out was narrow and winding. And a Tiki Bar was floating by to boot! LOL!
Sunday we headed to Marco Island. Another beautiful day and a sporty ride. Every day is a new adventure when you are traveling the Great Loop! We got into some pretty shallow water at one point but managed to not bump bottom. Monday we cleaned the boat up and did laundry in preparation for our trip to Marlin Bay in Marathon in The Keys. Ryan was planning on coming down and we were so excited to have him! But the weather got really nasty and cold in Ohio, and Cyrissa decided to join us as well! To say we were excited to have both kids join us was an understatement! We planned to head to Marathon a day before the kids would arrive so we could be settled and ready for them. We knew it would be an extra long day to travel there so we planned to get up and leave early. We didn’t plan on getting waked by a passing boat around 4:30 am which rocked the boat like crazy and woke us up. Since we knew going back to sleep wasn’t going to work, we got up and headed south for the long trek to the Florida Keys!