We celebrated a wonderful New Year's Eve with the Stephen family, Scott's "Uncle" Al and his wife, and close friends of the Stephen's at their vacation home on Anna Maria Island. We laughed, ate, drank and ushered in 2011 on Eastern Standard Time. (Note: The women won the game of charades!)
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| Jim on deck playing charades |
Kodi enthusiastically participated in the festivities. This was her first New Year's Eve party.
Jim and Susan Stephen are our boat neighbors in Belmont Harbor. Their 50 foot custom Kanter cutter rigged sloop was trucked to Florida and is currently berthed at Galatti's Marina just steps from the house. Brittany and her husband Scott
are on a three year worldwide cruise on their 35 foot Hallberg Rassy sloop. They left Chicago 5 days before us and cruised east through the Erie Canal and then down the east coast. Between us, we have cruised over 4,500 miles in the last 90 days.
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| Les, Diana, Brittany and Scott |
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| Susan, Susan, Diana and Kodi |
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| Jim and Kevin with the broker's description of a $6MM Viking Sport Fisherman (Kevin's dream) |
January 1, 2011 was sunny and 75 degrees. We spent the day exploring Siesta Key. Clearly a beach community with of lots cute restaurants and souvenir shops.
From Siesta Key we drove to St. Armands Circle for dinner at the Claw and Fin Restaurant. We sat outside at a table near the piano player with a view of the circle and its' Christmas lights. St. Armands Circle was envisioned in 1917 by John Ringling and is a unique shopping area designed around a rather large traffic circle. Click
here to see a map of the layout. Dinner was delicious and the ambiance was magical. Unfortunately, I did not bring the camera (although I'm not sure I could have captured the magic). The circle was full of shoppers enjoying the shops and the perfect weather.
Sunday, January 2, we moved the boat to a floating dock making it easier for the Furry Kid (Kodi) to get on and off the boat. The dockmaster had moved us to a fixed pier on G Dock with unusually wide concrete posts that made it super difficult for Kodi as the tides changed. Kodi, bless her sweet little heart, was a trouper. Despite the tides, she figured out how to get onto the dock although it required a bit of encouragement. We only had to pick her up one time.
Sunday's highlight was Kodi's play date with Jake and Molly. Marjorie Singer, the Outreach Coordinator in Sarasota for
Southeastern Guide Dogs, had kindly invited us over to her and her husband Dick's lovely home on Bird Key to let Kodi play with their two yellow labs. This again speaks to the incredible hospitality that has been shown us on our Great Loop adventure. Kodi had such a good time. We may be biased, but Labs really know how to have fun!! And what a setting -- can you see the lovely Bird Key Yacht Club in the background?
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| Molly chasing Kodi (Kodi's favorite game) |
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| Kodi, Jake and Molly in classic tug of war |
Kodi dined with her new friends and made herself at home (with the Singer's approval).
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| Kodi, Jake and Molly dining together |
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| Getting some rest in the Singer's living room after a busy day |
Meanwhile, we shared a bottle of wine along with cheese and fruit that Majorie brought out, and talked about Sarasota, dogs and cruising the Great Loop. Our cruising discussion prompted the Singer's to invite their neighbors, Rebecca and David Taylor, who have extensively cruised these waters. David brought his charts and spent an hour providing Les with "local knowledge" for the next next segments of our journey (Sarasota to Captiva, Fort Meyers, Marathon and the Keys).
David and Rebecca have a 2003 50 foot Sedan Bridge that they have cruised through Florida's Gulf and Atlantic shores. I'm glad we talked with David. I now have a healthy respect for the next segments.
We left Marjorie and Dick at 7:00 PM with a plan to have dinner on Wednesday at the Bird Key Yacht Club.
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| David explaining the issues for cruising the Southwestern Gulf |
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| Les and Diana with Dick and Marjorie Singer |
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| Les and Diana with David and Rebecca Taylor |
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| Kodi poses with her new friends, Jake and Molly at the end of a perfect day |
All in all a great weekend to kick-off the new year.
Written by Les and Diana.
As you can imagine, just love the dogs. Alex and Bella ask me every day when we can go back to the harbor and the park. The yard is just not the same. Glad you found some local knowledge for those areas. It is amazing how "reefy" and shallow it can get, and how far apart the markers can be. By the way, a ways down the road, but if you ever decide when you get to the east coast of Florida to go in at any of the smaller inlets, let me know in advance. We have traversed a couple.
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