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.
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| One of MANY high $$ homes in St Pete |
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| Everyone needs a rhino in their front yard! |
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| Many varying styles of homes line the brick paved streets |
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| colorful trees and plants abound |
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| 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!
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| Cool large bridge as we were departing St Pete |
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| Closer view of bridge |
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| One of quite a few draw and/or swing bridges that we had to have lifted or turned in order to get through |
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| Sarasota Skyline coming into view |
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| Coming into Marina Jacks Marina in downtown Sarasota. Not the best picture, but a very nice dolphin fountain |
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| 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.
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