02/18/2012, Punta \gorda, Fl
Last Feast and they are HUGE
Alistair got these beauties right off the boat early yesterday morning from the independent shrimper here in our marina this morning. The west coast shrimp are way sweeter than any shrimp we have ever tasted.
We are packed yesterday and hope to take in some of the jazz festival here this weekend. We are told the marina is going to be full this weekend. Last night we evidenced the start of ther partying. We are enjoying Punta Gorda. It may well be on out list for future month long stays. We had a car on Thursday and we were able to do all our errands and got everything on our list for closing up the boat. It's really starting to sink in that this charmed existence is coming to a close..................for a while.
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02/15/2012, Punta Gorda, Fl
Valentine's Day
I am glad I have traveled with some dresses and pumps. Last night Al and I cleaned up and arrived at the marina restaurant before 5 since we had no reservations. We were seated right away at a table for 6 that was free. We both ordered steak and shared a shrimp appetizer. The gulf shrimp are so much sweeter than the east coast shrimp. Three quarters through our meal the restaurant was struggling with the influx of valentine goers and trying to figure seating for a party of 14. Al motioned to the manager and suggested if they could find another spot for us they could combine our table with the free table next door and accommodate the party of 14. He agreed that would be a great solution and wanted to be sure we wouldn't mind. We told him we totally didn't mind and that's why we made the suggestion. We were comp'ed free drinks and dessert, which was a huge score since I was on my second margarita because it was so good, and I chose the Reeses peanut butter cake which we brought home to enjoy when we were not so full.
This morning I'm doing some laundry and then we plan to ride the bike path of the harbor, its over 80 already today. We found a Baptist Church 4 blocks away that will accept our canned provisions we need to get off the boat so we will deliver that on Monday. They also accept clothing so I will keep that in mind as I cull through the clothes here over the weekend. Can't believe in a week we'll be heading north.
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02/14/2012, Punta Gorda, Fl
A Happy Miss B. No more water for a while!!
We broke out of Sarasota last Tuesday an lived on the hook in Pelican Bay area until we tied up here in Punta Gorda yesterday. We will be here until the 21st when we will head to the Charlotte Boat Yard, a short trip over the other side of the bay, & have CK hauled, we will pick up the car the following day for our trip to Syracuse, while the boys are shrink wrapping her .
We dinked to the State Park a few times until the weather took its turn for windy and cold. We had lots of good food so life was not difficult. I finished a lace sock and cast on the second one. When the temperature dropped and Bridget was shaking I was reminded that I must make her a coat for winter in Canada. She has never met a Canadian winter or snow. In my cockiness I cast on a nice 6 ply pink variegated merino thinking I would design it as I go. Five inches into it, Al and I did a "fitting" and we both agreed it was huge. If we owned a 30 pound pot bellied pig it would have been the ticket. In delusional knitterly behaviour I forged ahead doing a series of yo's and k2togs thinking I could use a decorative cord to cinch it around her. After 3 more inches of knitting I deemed it was a bust. I really did not want to frog it and start over. After fondling it and examining my creation from different angles it came to me that its destiny could be a slouchy hat, for a girl toddler. As luck would have it I have two darling toddler great nieces at home in Kingston either would look Vogue in a sassy slouchy. I am relieved to not waste hours of knitting. I will go back to the drawing board for the next weenie coat.
When on the hook our leaf antenna was not very reliable for TV due to swinging around on the anchor. We started to watch Glee season 1 and 2 that was on a hard drive and we are both hooked. The songs are great and they often dance through my head long after the TV is turned off.
We met a Canadian couple during our first week in Pelican Bay, they are finishing the winter down the road here in Fisherman's village and they have a car which they have kindly offered up. We will use it on Thursday to get things we need to close up CK like foil pans, charcoal, a de-humidifier.
Today is valentines and I awoke to coffee in bed and 2 cards. One from Miss B and one from Al. I am bad in the getting cards ahead department, so I told Al I was his card. Here's wishing y'all a great day.
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good luck with getting all done before leaving ck wrapped up, hasn't been that cold here so maybe a tee shirt would be enough to keep miss b warm enough.
02/06/2012, Sarasota, Fl
Today we went for a walk down town, & retreated into a pub while the heavens opened up, (it was a 3 beer downpour!!!). This morning we called Charlotte boatyard to change our haulout date, they were more than happy, for what ever reason... & we will be hauled on the 21 Feb. As Jennifer said we stayed here for an extra day as Miss B. had been sick the night before & I had not got much sleep, she is happily back to her usual self. We will be making our way slowly to Punta Gourda where we are booked in for a week at the Municiple Marina. It coincides with a Jazz & wine festival there at the weekend, but not sure how much Jazz & wine we will have, as they want upwards of $85. For that price we will have our own Jazz & wine festival on the boat!! Kiley & Jackie will be picking us up at Syracuse on Sunday 26th as they will be on their way back from Ithica.
Ps new photos are up on Piccasa.
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02/06/2012, Sarasota, Fl
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
This sculpture is just a skip from the marina and its history is intriguing. The lore is that this US sailor scooped up the first woman he saw, who happened to be a nurse and gave her a big smooch in celebration of the end of WW2 in Aug. '45. The moment was caught by camera and has become an icon for that celebration in Times Square. Sculptures have been made of the photo and we were able to marvel and capture our own photo of this sculpture in Sarasota.
We have decided to stay another night in Sarasota, for a few reasons. Can you believe we are watching a possible tropical depression, very unusual for this time of year. At worst we might be faced with isolated thunderstorms en-route to Punta Gorda. Last Dance decided to bust anyway. We are on less of a time line and it was very hard for me to throw off their lines.
I can't deny that Sarasota is a great place. I'll do some exploring in the down town after laundry is done.
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02/05/2012, Sarasota, Fl
We are enjoying downtown Sarasota. Jane and I walked to the Farmers' market Saturday morning and it was fantastic. We had 10:30 reservations on the shuttle to go to the Ringling Bros. museum. It was worth every penny. Our 5 hours there wasn't quite enough. We saw the miniature of the circus which gave you a very good sense of what that time in history would have been like. It was fun touring it with Jane (and Bob) because Jane has memories of seeing the circus as it was as a little girl and remembered the unloading of the train with the colorful wagons. The John and Mabel mansion was truly luxurious for its time. (photo is of us in front of the mansion)
Al and I finished our day by hooking up with Kingston friends Ross and Coleen. They had us for cocktails at their newly purchased Villa that is about 5 miles from our marina. It is in a lovely 55+ community and has great amenities. We had supper out at a nice roadhouse type restaurant that had great food and reasonable prices. They took us for a tour to Siesta Key beach that even in the dark was spectacular and had sand that felt like flour.
This morning the men did a West Marine run and did groceries so Jane and I could browse the art festival. I picked up a few pieces of functional pottery as a memento of our visit. I also purchased a few pieces of jewelry.
Tonight I am making a pasta supper. Tomorrow we are likely leaving the company of Last Dance. They will start to make their 1200 mile return to Cambridge, Maryland. In all likelihood this trip will be Bob and Janes last boat trip on Last Dance. We will be sad to leave their company but we sure wish them fun in their future endeavors and we will cherish the fun waterway memories.
I will forever enjoy the bond I have made with Miss Jane that grew from a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn from Walmart when we met as strangers traveling in boats seeking safety from a nor-easter at Dowry Creek in November of '09. We have have grown into finer yarns and challenging projects. I will miss our stitchin' and bitchin.
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