Sunday was a beautiful day for travel. We left Bradenton behind and after going through a small portion of Tampa Bay, reentered the inter-coastal waterway at Anna Maria Sound. We travelled on Sarasota Bay and docked at Marina Jacks in downtown Sarasota. We celebrated my birthday at Barnacle Bill's restaurant. The food was great. Monday was spent in Sarasota. We walked downtown in the morning. Of course we found the Starbucks as well as Whole Foods. Adagio I pulled in. We discovered that we had met Rod and Michele at Perry Sound two years ago at the Great Lakes Cruising Club Rendezvous. Sarasota also has a beautiful river walk. It is dotted with sculptures. At the end of the river walk we came upon the Marie Selby Gardens. We walked the perimeter and saw the beautiful assortment of flora.
Tuesday we left Sarasota and followed the inter-coastal through Roberts Bay, Little Sarasota Bay and Blackburn Bay and came to the city of Venice. We had two low bridges, but upon hailing the bridge master, they were opened for us. We entered a canal that took us around the Venice Airport and connected to Lemon Bay. We made reservations to stay a week at Palm Island Marina Resort in Cape Haze. The winds had picked up during the day, but the dock attendants skillfully helped us tie up. We were having issues with one of the aft shore power outlets so we had to use the outlets on the bow. After we were secure Tony solved the problem by tripping the breaker. We went for happy hour at the restaurant followed by a quiet evening.
Our week at Palm Island has been mostly sunny but windy. The nights have been very cool. During the week we replenished supplies at the Publix, and we found a tiny coffee shop up the road. The owner was a former barge captain and knew all about the rivers we went through to get to Mobile. There was another looper boat, What's Next, at the marina and we shared stories and docktails with Deb and Rick. We also took a boat taxi to Rum Key and enjoyed a relaxing walk along the beach. We enjoyed a dinner at the Leverocks restaurant one night. It also was very good.
Today, Sunday, January 26th we were visited by Deb and Jim from Sea Fever and Al and Charlie from Always 5 O'Clock. We traveled with them several times during the first part of our adventure. Deb and Jim came in their RV and Al and Charlie came by car. They stopped on their way to a RV Show in Fort Myers and were stopping in to Legacy Harbor to jam with Tom and Patsy Conrad. Deb made all of us breakfast and we had a great time sharing our experiences and reminiscing about our travels together. Deb and Jim will restart the loop in Chattanooga. They may cross their wake this year or next as they seem to be in no hurry to finish. Al and Charlie finished the loop when they crossed their wake at Santa Maria Island just before Thanksgiving. It was great to see them.
Across from Rum Key Water Taxi Dock
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