Days #139-140: 2847.6 total miles
Port #63: Palm Island at Cape Haze, FL
OB and crew knew these would be a fun stops. After seeing Nancy and Pete in Sarasota, Todd had made plans to visit his cousin, Luann, and her husband, Bill. He also found two classmates who lived in the area and made plans to see them, as well.
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| Marina Jacks and Sarasota were one of our favorite ports. It will long be remembered for its convenience to downtown, as well as the great time we shared with Nancy, Pete and their friends. |
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| The anchorage to the south of Marina Jacks. There were many sailboats, a few derelicts and wrecks and only one powerboat. |
In the middle of the picture is the Dolphin Condominium complex. It was built in 1974. Before June of this year, the condos were sought after and went for between $100,000 and $450,000. Today the condos hold captive the furniture, appliances and personal belongings of all the tenants. The tenants had to evacuate the building in June with the clothes on their backs and a suitcase. A separation in a major support beam on the 4th floor of the building was found. Engineers felt the building could collapse at any time. They feared if furniture and appliances were moved or removed, it would cause a shift of enough weight to bring the building down. The separation has continued to grow since then and as of yet engineers have not been able to develop a plan to save the structure. Such a sad situation for such a beautiful building.
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| Large estates on Bay Island, across from Sarasota in Sarasota Bay. |
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| Another nice neighborhood on Siesta Key in Sarasota Bay. |
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| This neighborhood was more our style... |
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| ...especially after we saw this flag. |
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| We passed these scullers and their coach in Little Sarasota Bay. They were really flying! |
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| The Blackburn Swing Bridge leading into Dryman Bay. |
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| When we got closer, we could see the bridge attendant standing in the middle of the bridge! It was a very chilly morning and we felt sorry for him. Todd asked him what would happen if the bridge stuck in the open position. The attendant laughed and honked a loud horn. |
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| Just past the Blackburn Swing Bridge, we came upon Mr. & Mrs. Osprey tending their nest. |
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| Next up was the canal going past Venice. It was so stark and narrow, I actually thought we'd taken a wrong turn. |
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| After leaving the ICW canal by Venice, we entered Lemon Bay and saw the MetLife Snoopy blimp alongside. I figured it was going back and forth between Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami for all the Bowl Games. |
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| At channel marker #14, we passed Bill and Luann's condo...Todd's cousin and her husband. |
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| Palm Island Marina at Cape Haze, FL. This was a nice little marina. We were right next to the pool and hot tub...but, of course, we had the Ohio weather with us. It was too cold to take a dip! Johnny Leverocks Restaurant was in front of the pool area. Very convenient for happy hour as well as lunch and dinner with family and friends. |
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| Johnny Leverocks Restaurant. Luann and Bill brought along some friends that were very interested in hearing about our adventure. They toured OB, heard the story and we had a wonderful lunch with them all. That's Luann and Bill on the left. |
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| Yeah, that's what we like to see....GO BUCKS !!! |
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| We had dinner with Todd's classmates and their husbands. L to R: Don Hallman, Dave and Stephanie (Barr) Ryder, Todd and me, Susan (Thomasson) Hallman. |
Todd and I had such a good time with all of these folks. We will be seeing Susan and Don again in Punta Gorda. Hopefully they will be able to celebrate New Years with us. Stephanie and Dave will be in the Keys while we are there. We're looking forward to an evening or two with them as well.
A big thank you to everyone...we had a wonderful day with ALL of you!
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