6/19 Casey Key Marina, Osprey / Trudging the road of happy destiny....or maybe TO happy destiny in this case today

A slightly better picture of the dolphin fountain as we were pulling out of Marina Jack in Sarasota

Since we were up late the night before visiting with Eric we slept in LATE this morning.   Erik did not wake up until almost 6:30 am....crazy talk!  We made a good breakfast to nourish our bodies for a long walk this morning.   We were excited to go and see the Ringling Brothers Circus Museum.  We decided to walk because we suspected that when we were done at the museum this afternoon we would want to take a Uber back to the marina.   

Just outside of Marina Jack was this large statue 'Unconditional Surrender'.   Nor sure if the plaque below is legible but the characters in the statue have a fun back story.   

May be able to read the plaque if you zoom in...if not look up the funny back story 

Renee posing in front of a seahorse along our walk to the Ringling Museum.   This was a 'Museum & Art of Whimsy'

It started out as a fairly comfortable walk since it had not gotten to the heat of the day yet.   However, in short order the 4+ mile walk got pretty sweaty.  Shortly before arriving at the museum and impressive grounds of the Ringling family we stopped into a Goodwill store where Erik made a $5 investment in a tacky Florida shirt; He is to much of a cheap ass to buy a high dollar one at the pricey Sarasota shops 😆.  The night before Frankie had mentioned how much she loved the Goodwill stores here in Sarasota because of the high quality of stuff that people with WAY too much money donate (Erik wonders if his shirt came from the owners of  the yacht 'Determination').   

New haircut and New (to him!) shirt from Goodwill for Erik 

Also on our walk the the Ringling Museum.  These were the only live alligators that we have seen since the one swimming in the TenTom River many miles back.  These ones are less threatening when in captivity! 

When we got to the Ringling Estate and Museum we found out that there was a circus show about to start in a half hour in the historic theater on the grounds.   Interestingly, the Ringling family is not only famous for their involvement in circus history but also for their love and support of all the arts.   The grounds also houses an impressive art museum and theater that hosts all kinds of shows. 

Small but very ornate and beautiful theater where we saw a 5 act circus performance

The acts in the hour long show were entertaining and fun.  This lady was the BOMB DIGITTY  hoola hooper! 

We are always looking for balance in our lives.....this guy has found his balance

But you can always use a little more balance 😜

If you cannot find balance, at least laugh!  This pair of clowns were very funny and entertaining

Final bow of the 5 acts 

After the circus performance show we ventured around on the 67 acre grounds of the estate.   It is a very grand and impressive.  The house itself is immense and is right on Sarasota bay.  We did not take time to do the inside tour of the mansion but did walk around the exterior and peer into the beautiful stained glass windows. 

Front of the Ringling mansion

Rear marble patio of the mansion that led right up to the waterfront

One of many statues in the very large and beautiful rose garden.   The picture is actually of the lizard on his shoulder though.  some of these small lizards like this one have red, colorful chin ornaments that puff out when approached

Rose Garden 

One of many huge banyan trees throughout the grounds.   These trees are so intriguing to look at.  It is difficult to do them justice with a picture 

After walking around the massive estate grounds for an hour or so it was nice to go back into an air conditioned museum.   The 'Main' museum was actually closed for renovations.  However, the 'learning center' that was open was quite impressive.   There were all sorts of circus memorabilia and history from posters to wagons to costumes.   The most impressive part though was a huge gallery displaying a scale model of the circus and all the activities that surround it.  It was quite interesting to read about the logistics and scale of what a circus involves.   During the hay day of the shows in the late 1800's and early 1900's they would travel with over 1500 people including the acts and workers to set up.  They had hundreds of animals to care for.  The descriptions of the logistics on how the show was all set up, torn down, and moved to a new town approximately 180 times a year is quite overwhelming. 

A small part of the enormous scale model of the circus that encompassed an entire wing of the museum.   It has taken the guy who built the model over 50 years to complete

The 'Big Top' portion of the model.  Again, pics just cannot do it justice

After touring the Ringling Museum and estate grounds we haled a Lyft driver and made it back to the marina at about 2pm.   We got the boat ready for departure fairly quickly since 'check out' time from our slip was technically 11am....ooops.   No one said anything to us.  We departed Sarasota at 2:30pm to head towards our destination for the day of Casey Key Marina in Osprey.  We were looking forward to visiting our new friends Jim and Kim aboard 'Happy Destiny' at their home marina.  The trip to Casey Key was a short and quick 19 mile voyage.  Kim stalked us on Nebo as we traveled and was sure to rib Erik on how fast he drives our looper vessel.  Most loopers travel at a snails pace.  Erik's pace is more like a snail but on crack!  😲

We were greeted by Kim at the docks who helped us to secure lines.  This was the first covered slip that we have been in since we left Demopolis Alabama.  They are very nice for shade in the hot Florida sun.  After getting plugged in and the AC started to cool down the boat we went over and visited Kim in their already cool boat.  Jim was still at work.  He retired shortly before they started their loop last year.   Since completing the loop he keeps himself busy in many ways, one of which is driving for Uber and Lyft.   We were invited over to 'Happy Destiny' for dinner of burgers and then we headed out to an AA meeting in Osprey.  Always nice to meet others trudging this road with us in other towns.  The gentleman speaking had quite and interesting story.  

Here we go again, pics of everything but the important people in our paths.....ugh!  We will have to get some pics with Kim and Jim tomorrow before departing.  

No pics of Jim and Kim today but we did get a shot of their great looper vessel 'Happy Destiny'

Another grand and exciting day trudging the road (waters) of happy destiny! 

6/17 St Petersburg Municipal Marina, St Petersburg A very beautiful city!

We slept well at Turtle Cove Marina, Tarpon Springs with bellies full of Greek food!  After our usual routine of coffee, breakfast and a few miscellaneous boat chores we departed for our destination of the day, St Petersburg.  Today's voyage would be a 55 mile trip down the GCICW through an area of many islands.  We departed at 7:20am and arrived at St Petersburg Municipal Marina at about 12:30pm.  Many nice sites to be seen along the way including another nice view of a lighthouse.  

Departing from Turtle Cove Marina, Tarpon Springs and back into the GCICW

Passing by the Anclote Key Lighthouse

skyline of St Petersburg

Coming into St Petersburg we phoned ahead to the marina where we had made our reservation online through Dockwa which is an online service that many marinas are now using.  This was our first experience utilizing it.   It was pretty convenient.   The dock master was standing on the dock awaiting us as we pulled in and helped us to tie up.   He had a welcome pack along with our receipt and a key card to the marina gates in had.   We did not even have to walk up to the offices.

St Pete has Pride!  We sent out a message to Chelsea and Derek to hop a plane and come join us :-) 

After settling into our slip we unloaded the bicycles and set out into town to explore.  St Petersburg has many beautiful and historic homes and businesses.  We rode up through the 'Historic Northeast' residential community and enjoyed the brick paved streets and interesting houses.   We continued up further north of downtown where we stopped in at a barber shop where Erik got his ears lowered.  Dave, the barber was a very outgoing and personable guy who shared a little about his story and how he ended up in St Pete a few years ago after having a very busy and successful shop in New York.  

Time for Erik to get a trim

Dave, the barber, works at this brother Ralph's shop a couple days a week after 'retiring' from owning his own shop in New York a few years ago.  Ralph had quite the personality and kept us well entertained while cutting Erik's hair 

We continued on our way north and stopped in at Trader Joes and The Fresh Market where we picked up a few yummy things for upcoming days nutritional needs.  On our way back to the marina we stopped in at the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel (pretty fancy smancy place!).  

Pool and courtyard area of Vinoy Renaissance historic hotel

Rainbows just seem to be following us around as we travel the 'Forgotten Coast' of Florida :-)

Sunset at the marina in St Pete with the skyline 

Arriving back at the boat we fixed dinner and Renee got busy with some studying to prepare for the 're take' of her midterm exam that she had so many issues with before leaving Carabelle.  She is now scheduled to do the re take tomorrow morning.  Erik did absolutely nothing but relax!  

The new hair makes Erik's ears look awfully large!  Thanks for the nice cut Dave! 

6/18 Marina Jack, Sarasota / Good to catch up with old friends

Upon waking up Renee AGAIN got busy studying and prepping for her 9am mid term math exam.  Erik cooked a nice hearty breakfast and did some miscellaneous boat chores until the time came for him to exit the boat for a few hours so that she could take the proctored exam.  While Renee was taking the exam Erik took off again on his bike to explore town a little more.  Riding through some different areas of town he enjoyed the nice architecture and multitude of flora. 

One of MANY high $$ homes in St Pete

Everyone needs a rhino in their front yard! 

Many varying styles of homes line the brick paved streets

colorful trees and plants abound 

Crazy roots on the trees along the canals and waterways

A stop at Publix on the way back to the boat scored us a couple of really nice looking ribeye steaks that were on sale.  With Renee's exam completed, FINALLY (as an FYI she scored a 95%), we prepared to shove off toward our destination for the day of Sarasota.  Today's journey would have us traveling just 38 miles.  The cruise was a bit choppy but nothing bad at all.  Although mostly through a large bay area, the channels had us zig zagging around the bay in order to get to what would have likely been half the miles had it been a straight course.   Oh well....part of the journey and best to follow the magenta line (path indicated on the charts) than to run aground!  

Cool large bridge as we were departing St Pete

Closer view of bridge 

One of quite a few draw and/or swing bridges that we had to have lifted or turned in order to get through

Sarasota Skyline coming into view 

Coming into Marina Jacks Marina in downtown Sarasota.  Not the best picture, but a very nice dolphin fountain

Marina Jacks was chalk full of HUGE yachts!  Our transient spot they assigned us to was right next to 'Determination' which was a 110 foot long vessel.   It made us look puny.  The next morning we were talking with a guy who was there doing maintenance and cleaning on it.   He told us that it was a 17 Million dollar boat....gulp!  They probably just sit there at the dock because they cannot afford gas 😲

We arrived to our slip in Sarasota a little before 3pm.  We made phone contact with a Frankie, a friend of ours from Columbus who had moved down to Sarasota a year or so ago.  Her and her son Eric who Erik has been friends with for over 20 years both moved down here together.   Unfortunately, Eric just started a new job today as a machinist for Chris Craft and he would not be able to get off in time to make it to the marina or to visit until much later.   We made arrangements for her to pick us up at the marina and take us to a local AA meeting and to dinner.   We took a quick nap in the now air conditioned boat; it was a HOT day.  Frankie picked us up and we had a very enjoyable visit, meeting, and dinner at a local pizza shop.   It was nice to catch up.   We do a great job of taking pictures of scenery and other goofey things but somehow in the midst of talking and catching up forgot to take any pictures 😕
Upon returning to the marina we went up to the showers.   While walking up, Eric called and said that he was now home from work and would love to come down to the marina for a visit.   He did not get there until almost 10pm (geesh....that is past our bedtime!) so this made for a late night for us.   We stayed up visiting and catching up with Eric until a little before midnight. 

6/16 The Many B’s of Tarpon Springs

                                                                           BIRDS

Just chilling on the post at sunrise!

Boat Watchman at Crystal River as we were preparing to leave for the day 

Crystal River offered a nice nights sleep after our adventures the day before.  We awoke early and after looking at the weather forecast that was AGAIN calling for some rain starting in the early afternoon (that never seems to materialize) we decided to get another early start on the day.  We did a few miscellaneous boat chores to get her ready for the day and cast off the lines at 7:30am for today's destination of Tarpon Springs.  It would be a 67 mile cruise according to the path we planned on our Navionics.  This will be our last significant cruise out into the Gulf of Mexico.  The remainder of our trip will be almost totally within the GCICW (Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway).  We would be sticking fairly close to shore (approximately 5-6 miles off shore) for the entire trip.  Water/Wave conditions were good and we again made good time on our journey.   We had read and heard many good things about Tarpon Springs and were excited to spend the afternoon exploring the city.  We arrived at our destination (Turtle Cove Marina) at 12:30pm.  

Anclote Key as we were coming into Tarpon Springs.  The first of the barrier islands.   Many boats were anchored in the very shallow and VERY blue/green water coming off the tip

Anclote Key Lighthouse.  We think that the boat you see just to the left of the lighthouse was 'Rowe Boat' owned by the Rowes who are AGLCA harbor hosts for St Petersburg Beach area.  We saw them on NEBO anchored out there but did not stop to visit

Tarpon Springs has the largest population of Greek people in the United States.  The city is teaming with their influences from the architecture to the food.  After docking and getting settled in we set out on foot down the streets.  It was the final day of a festival that they were having so there were bunches of vendor tents with wares and food in the closed off street.  The main drag through town had WAY to many gift shops all of which had basically the same stuff.  Not exactly our ball of wax, but we did go into a few of them.  We did actually purchase some souvenirs for the boys (Rusty, Derek, Devin and DJ) at one of them.   We had gotten stuff for the girls (Chelsea and Lexi) at a previous stop a few days ago.  

After walking around town and ducking into an ice cream shop/bakery for a treat during a short rainstorm we headed back to the boat where we rested up a bit before heading back out to dinner.  We chose a place that had been recommended by fellow AGLCA members, Costas.  It was very good but our eyes when ordering were way larger than our stomachs.   Oh well....we know what will be for lunch tomorrow.  We walked home (back to the marina) and gathered stuff to go up to the marina shower facilities which were by far the nicest, newest, and cleanest we had seen yet.  While walking back to the boat after showering we heard a large crash and looked over just in time to see a boat on a lift go crashing into the water!  WOW!  It was pretty crazy.  No staff was at the marina any longer and we could not find any emergency phone number.   Along with another couple who also heard the noise and came out of their boat we did manage to call a number we found on the lift advertising it for lease.  We sure hope that the boat isn't damaged too badly, but it looked pretty rough. 

Our slip at Turtle Cover Marina in Tarpon Springs 

BIG HOMES

As with many areas along the coast there are many huge homes along the channels leading into the towns 

Erik with his number waiting for ice cream and pastries while waiting out a rain storm at the busy Hellas

BAKLAVA

Yummy!  Greek pastries are the BOMB!  We couldnt decide on a slection from the huge case of different baked goods so we just settled on this sampler tray.  What we did not eat tonight will make for a nice breakfast treat on the bridge tomorrow! 

Salted Caramel BANANAS FOSTER ice cream

During a brief 20 minute or so thunderstorm we stopped in at Hellas where we bought the pastries as well as a frappe and a salted caramel/bananas foster ice cream cone.   It was decided that Bananas and caramel compliment each other well and this is to be added to the list of our MANY favorite ice creams  

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY 

Very nice fountain and statue near our marina

BELLY  DANCERS

While on our cruise from Crystal River this morning we were reading up on things to do and see.  We often do this as part of our preparations when entering a new town.  We were kind of bummed that we would be coming in on Sunday and not have the opportunity to have the live musicians and belly dancer entertainment at one of the more popular restaurants (They only do that on Friday and Saturday night).   However, since the festival was going on we did get the chance to see some dancers!  Erik tried convincing Renee that she should join in and maybe get some BIG tips so that we could afford to fill the boat up with fuel in the morning.  Renee was having no part in this idea 😳

BIRTH CONTROL

OK, maybe they were not those kind of sponges....lol.  Tarpon Springs is known as the worlds largest producer of natural sponges though.   They were everywhere...in the shops, on the docks, in the boats.  We watched a short video in one of the larger shops on how the sponges are harvested and made ready for sale.  Actually kind of interesting.   The other big item produced and for sale here is natural olive oil soaps 

BOATS that go BOOM

We were walking back from the office and shower house at about 9:30pm when we heard a loud bank and looked over across the docks just in time to see this boat go crashing down into the water.  The lift mechanism had somehow failed :-( Major bummer for this poor boat owner.   We actually met him and spoke with him for a while the next morning.  Real nice guy who was from Cincinnati.   Also an ardent supporter of Habitat for Humanity and retired exec from Nationwide Insurance

BIG BEAUTIFUL FULL MOON 

There was a big and beautiful full moon in the sky.  This also created an 'Ultra Low Tide' tonight.  Should be interesting getting through the narrow canals and out to the main channel in the morning.   We are told that this area is well known for boats getting hung up  

Stature commemorating the many sponge divers 

Plaque talking about the sponge industry that made the city thrive

Nice pool and hot tub at the marina 

BEAUTIFUL sunsets

You guessed it, they have nice sunsets here in Tarpon Springs also