Brown Eyed Girl: February 2012

Well we completed our stay in the Keys and we are now in Fort Lauderdale waiting to cross to the Bahamas. The Keys are great and the marina we stayed at was very nice but it was time to move. We had a car for two weeks and made very good use of it to get around. I guess I should say I used the car to get around because Ginny bought a bike. We went to West Marine where they had a folding bike on sale. It is a pretty nice bike and Ginny has used it a lot.

We went to Miami three times, twice to pick up and drop off Stephanie at the airport and once to go to the Miami Boat Show. As you can imagine, the boat show is huge. We spent the whole day at the convention center where they had a few boats but mostly vendors of boating equipment. We didn't make it to either of the other two venues where the boats were but we had a great time and only spent a few dollars.

We met a lot of nice people at Plantation Key Marina who are very knowledgeable about the Bahamas and other places that we are going to visit. We had planned to stay in Islamorada until Sunday because we wanted to go to the nautical flea market being held at Founders Park. After looking at the upcoming weather we decided to leave on Friday so we could get to Fort Lauderdale before the windy front came through.

Originally we were going to anchor the first night in Biscayne Bay and then run to Lauderdale, but we decided to stay in a marina which turned out quite well because Sid and Evelyn from "Something Special" were there. We stayed at Dinner Key Marina which is in the Northwest corner of Key Biscayne. Fort Lauderdale is only about 30 miles away but we wanted to get in early and we knew that it would be slow going on the Intracoastal so we left at 7:30. Even though it was a weekend, the ride was very easy and we didn't have to wait long for any of the bridges. There were only two bridges that we needed to have opened and they were fairly close together. Boat traffic was not an issue until we got to the Port Everglades inlet in Fort Lauderdale and then it seemed liked everyone who every owned a boat was moving around. We made it to the marina shortly before the wind picked up and we are now tied securely waiting for the wind to stop and we can cross to the Bahamas. I don't expect to be able to cross until at least next Friday or Saturday. I think we are going to cross with at least three other boats -maybe four. Two of the boats are here at the marina and one of the others is coming tomorrow so we will all be ready.

We went to a sandbar one day with Sid, Evelyn, Beth (taking the picture) and Dean.

Leaving Plantation Harbor Marina

Gilbert's Restaurant in Jewfish Creek

Miami from a distance

Dinner Key which is near Coconut Grove

Leaving Dinner Key Marina

Downtown Miami on our way to Lauderdale

Cruise ships lined up in Goverment Cut

"Something Special" and "Alquonquin" behind us on the Intracoastal

Fort Lauderdale also has its share of cruise ships

They start the kids young in Ft. Lauderdale.

Did I mention it is Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale

Our last few days in Marathon were busy. We went to the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key with Marc and Michele. It was a very nice place and a great way to spend a few hours watching dolphins and listening to the trainers give talks. They have programs where kids can stand in the water and shake hands with the dolphins and adults can swim with the dolphins. We had a nice lunch at the bar next door and then returned to the boat to see another wonderful sunset.

We were going to leave Marathon on the first of February but the weather was a little snotty so Roy said we could stay another night. We were glad we did because I got to play golf with the guys and there was a Looper potluck at Marathon Marina on Wednesday night. My team lost in golf but the potluck was great. There were about 50 people and a ton of food which of course was gone by the end of the night. We met some Loopers that we had not seen in a while and many others that we just met. All of the food was great but there were two things that stood out for me. Someone made jalapeno bread which was quite spicy but great and there was a delicious cherry crumb cake.

The next day was Thursday and we had to say goodbye to Marathon. We were ready to leave but it was sad to say goodbye to the people we shared a dock with for almost a month. We said goodbye to Marc and Michele and headed out of the harbor, under the bridge and East along the Intracoastal to Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina in Islamorada. There were a lot of crab pots but Ginny did a great job of not hitting any and staying in the channel which was very narrow and shallow at times. The depth finder alarm was buzzing the last hour of the trip and we were stirring the sandy bottom but we didn't touch. The marina is very nice and is part of a large community park called Founders Park. They have an Olympic size pool, a private beach, dog park, two baseball diamonds, several soccer fields and a lot of walking trails. The park is not really close to anything so you either have to have a bike or a car. Of course I chose a car. We rented a car from Enterprise for a couple of weeks and it has been so nice to be mobile again.

The weather has been a little windy and rainy but we are still having a good time. We did take the dinghy out one day to a place called Toilet Bowl Pass. It is a cut in the water that is lined on both sides with toilet lids on stakes. They are all decorated and from all parts of the country. I am not sure of the origin but it was a fun trip. We are also right next to the Snake River which is a crossover between the Atlantic and the Gulf with some very nice homes and a restaurant that has a dinghy dock. There are other Loopers here so we tend to do a nightly happy hour to catch up on the days important activities.

Wednesday we received a random call from a friend of our daughters who said he was in Islamora and was getting married the next day - could we come to his reception. I checked my busy calendar and was able to squeeze him in. His name is Sam and his new wife is Cristina. Cristina is a marketing director for a clothing store and they were here for a photo shoot for the catalog and Web site. Sam and Cristina decided on Monday to get married on Thursday by a judge and have their reception at their hotel. Cristina's mom was there but nobody from Sam's family so Ginny and I were really happy to represented his home town. The next day our daughter Stephanie arrived for a long weekend. She flew into Miami so we picked her up at the airport and will take her back on Monday for the flight back. She looks great and we are so happy to have her here with us for a few days. Sam and Cristina were still in town for one more night so we met them for drinks and gossiped about their friends.

The next day we went shopping and then had a wonderful dinner at the Green Turtle Inn. Green Turtle Inn is at mile marker 81 and if you are near there and want a great dinner (not cheap), go there. There is a branch of Bass Pro called the World Wide Sportsman at mile marker 81. It is a large Bass Pro kind of store and they have a replica of Ernest Hemingway's boat called the "Pilar" inside the store. We are going to be here until February 27th when we will begin our trip to the Bahamas. I hope to go to the Miami boat show on Friday with some of the guys here so that should be a lot of fun and I am sure we will be checking out some other good restaurants along the way.