Saturday, May 31, 2014 - Dunedin to St. Pete

On Memorial Day we decided to go back to Tarpon Springs. Annette wanted to exchange a purchase from Friday and we all wanted another shot at some Greek food.  Afterward, we walked about two miles to a shopping center that had a West Marine AND a WalMart.  After some shopping for a few provisions, we called the cab and headed back to the marina.

Tuesday was wash day and groceries. Plan was to leave Wednesday morning but Barney and Annette were both a bit under the weather. We decided to wait until Thursday.

We left Marker 1 Marina on Thursday morning and headed south toward St. Petersburg. It was a nice trip, lots of interesting communities (and big dollar homes!) along the way. Clearwater is being bought up by the Church of Scientology, according to one of our bus drivers, so we are guessing that is where the money is...

We passed through several bridges, some a little too close. Saw a pirate ship with some mean looking passengers (pictures below).  But we made a safe crossing...lol!

We anchored outside Gulfport, FL, in Boca Ciega Bay.  There are a lot of sailboats anchored out and a nice dingy dock in the center of town.

Friday, we dropped the dingy in and headed in for lunch and exploring. Had lunch at O'Maddy's and sangria at the tiki bar. Walked up and down the Main Street and explored some of the shops. Found a quaint outdoor Italian restaurant and made plans to return Saturday for dinner. Then back to the boats.

This morning we are cleaning up and doing a little housekeeping. Plan to dingy in later and find the hardware store, Journey needs a part for their ice maker. I am sure we will find something we need, too!

The Pirates!

The  close, low bridges.

Sunday, 5/25 - Tarpon Springs and Dunedin, Florida

Friday morning we headed to the Jolly Trolly bus stop a few blocks from the marina. I thought we had the map figured out, but no!  We were about 1/2 block away when it passed the Publix...had to wait an hour for the next one.  Wrong Publix!  But, we had a shaded place to sit and to wait...the first of many long waits for the Trolly. :)

Once on the way, we passed through Palm Harbor before getting to Tarpon Springs...a little sight seeing along the way.

Tarpon Springs is a sponge fishing town and has lots of Greek restaurants and unusual shops. We toured the docks, checked out the sponge museum, and checked out the town.  Had lunch at Yanni's by the museum.  Kind of a family place.  Had several different types of hummus/dips and pita bread, the famous flaming cheese dish (saganaki), which is just fried cheese that they set on fire with a little brandy when they serve it.  I love cheese!

We went to the waterfront and stopped at Rusty Bellies, then back up to a little tiki bar, which was the Sawgrass Tiki Bar and Head Shop!  These are the kind of places you only find off the beaten path. Talked to some locals (Johnny B Good gave us coupons, one was just a hand written note!) and got lots of advice on places to eat and the info on the Greek street party that they have on Main Street on Saturday nights.

We ended up at Hellas Restaurant & Bakery. It was the place everyone said to try but we were a bit disappointed. However, the bakery goods...coconut macaroons...were awesome. Then it was time to sit and wait for the Trolly.  It was running about 30 minutes late but it picked us up and we headed back to the marina.

Saturday morning we walked to the Trolly stop (which was running late!) and headed into Dunedin and then to Clearwater. It was much hotter than Friday and not as much to see/do in Dunedin. We did have lunch at a local (authentic) Mexican place that was pretty good. Clearwater was not what we expected. Ended up on the wrong Trolly, transferred to a city bus, ended up back in Dunedin. Decided to stop in an Irish pub to cool off. Then back to the Trolly stop...to wait...and wait...

We ended up on the southbound Trolly, so got another tour of Clearwater. But, after a big loop, made it back to the marina.

Today we slept in, had coffee watching the crazies out on the water, and taking it easy.  We are now watching the LSU vs Florida baseball SEC Championship game. Geaux Tigers!!

Thursday, May 22, 2014 - Anclote Key to Dunedin

Tuesday, we planned to spend the day at Anclote Key checking out the lighthouse and shelling. But, that did not work out.  Somewhere along the way, while we were rocking and rolling, we sucked up salt water into our fresh water tank through the vent valve and it contaminated all of our fresh water. We decided to head in to Dunedin and flush the tank.

Arrived at Marker 1 Marina right after lunch and started dumping the tank.  It took a while...but we finally flushed it all out and started over.  The marina is very nice and we had planned to stay in the area a few days anyway, so we decided to stay through the Memorial Day weekend. Barney and Annette lined up an A/C man to check out their unit while we are here.

The dock master, Steve, had met us at the Loopers rendezvous in Wheeler last fall.  We sat at the Marina office and visited, met some of the locals and found out some places to go and things to do while in the area.

Wednesday morning, Hoppy and Barney both had some boat maintenance to do so Annette and I called a cab and went to the mall for a little shopping.  It wasn't far, in Clearwater, and we had a nice time.  When we returned to the marina, we all walked a couple of blocks to Frenchy's Outpost for dinner. Just a casual seafood/sandwich kinda place.

Today, Thursday, we put the dingy in the water and went exploring. We went around the neighborhood then over to Honeymoon Island. Then over to Caladesi Island, which is a state park.  There is a marina, kayak trails through the mangroves and the beach.

Tomorrow we plan to catch the Jolly Trolly and head to the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Yesterday was a rough day.  We have decided we are Coastal Cruisers...NOT offshore cruisers :). It was suppose to be calm with not too much wind but it was much rougher and most of the waves were on our beam.  We rocked from side to side the first part of the day and front to back the second half.  Ten hours.  I had to twist tie my cabinet doors together to keep the dishes from hitting the floor. I would not open the refrigerator until we anchored. Like flying, things do shift along the way.

BUT...we made it to Cedar Key (and away from Steinhatchee!).  Came into the channel and anchored. We made a snack tray, grabbed a glass of wine and enjoyed the sunset.  After relaxing a bit, we decided to watch Captain Phillips. What a good movie...intense!  Makes you appreciate what these people do on these ships.

Today we put the dingy in and headed into town.  Nice place. Several restaurants along the pier area and some neat places a few blocks up from the water. A lot of the shops were closed on Sunday.  Even found a quilt shop, The Salty Needle (closed).  Took lots of pictures and headed back to the pier. Had lunch at Steamers and headed back to the boat.

Around 4 we took the dingy over to Atsena Otle Key, which is a National Park area and horseshoe crab sanctuary with trails to an old cemetery dating back to the early 1800's. Other than the mosquitoes, it was a nice outing.

Tomorrow we will head out early for Anclote Key, which is near Tarpon Springs. We will anchor out a few nights and explore the area.  Looking forward to some Greek food.

Friday, May 16, 2014

We are still in Steinhatchee, but the end is in sight. We arrived here on 5/6 and planned to stay a few days as we waited for a weather window. However, Journey had issues with the anchor windlass and had to order a new one to be shipped in from somewhere on the east coast and installed by one of the local mechanics so we have been hanging out...

Each day we have walked around the town.  Found Hungry Howies...enjoyed lunch there two different days.  Found the grocery store, Ace hardware and another restaurant.

On Mothers Day, we stopped in at Crabbie Dads - a local bar and grill.  Met lots of locals, enjoyed the fried food specials and good music on the juke box.  The bar tender, Doodle, was so nice.  William, a local fisherman (and Kenny Chesney look-alike), kept the music going. One couple gave us their phone number and told us to call if we needed a ride to pick up groceries or supplies.  Scott, the owner, told us to call if we came back and he would take us fishing!  Lots of hugs to go around when we left.  Fun day!!

Monday, Journey's parts made it in. We were sitting at the Marina waiting for the UPS truck! Plan was to install as soon as possible. They started first thing Tuesday and finished early Wednesday. Now we are waiting on a weather window.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning we had thunderstorms. Not as bad as the days in Panama City, but lots of rain.  Just hanging out, waiting for it to clear.

This morning the temperature was in the 50's!  It warmed up to mid-70's, so we put the dIngy in the water and went exploring.  Beautiful houses along the river, which goes and goes.  On the way back, we stopped at Fiddlers and had wings.  Not as good as Hooters, but not bad.  We also stopped at Who Dat but it was not a good experience.  Our waitress did not have work on her mind so we left and went back to the boat.  Enjoyed PB&J sandwiches and turned in early.

It is looking like Saturday will be a good day to head toward Cedar Key.  It is about 50 miles south. If it stays calm, we will pull out early.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Well, as boating adventures go, you change plans with the weather!  We got up Monday, looked at the weather predictions and decided our window for crossing the Gulf was moving up.  Instead of Wednesday/Thursday, Tuesday was the optimum day.  The seas should be calm and not much wind. We quickly decided to leave Apalachicola (we saw the town yesterday...just did not get any of the famous oysters) and head to Dog Island and be ready to cross Tuesday morning.

Took on fuel, paid our tabs and left around 1:30 pm for the short trip.  Another beautiful day and we are now in new territory. Hoppy and I have never been past Apalachicola in our boat. This is the "new" Journey's first time, too.

Anchored just past St. George Island off Dog Island around 4:30 pm.  Quiet afternoon, beautiful sunset (but then, all of them are!!) and an early night. We plan to pull anchors at 6 am tomorrow.  We have an 80 mile day (10 hours) to Steinhatchee.

Tuesday morning was beautiful and calm.  Nice sunrise (I am not a morning person, so I do not see many of them!) and very calm. Anchor up and moving out to the cut by 6:15 am. Set the course and we are on our way!

We saw dolphins, flying fish and a turtle along the way. We also picked up a hitchhiker! Guess he was tired (picture below).  Made it into Steinhatchee about 4:30 pm, tied up at Sea Hag Marina and settled in. It is a rustic place, mostly fishing charters. They were cleaning today's catch when we went to the Ship's Store to register.

Sat on the deck at the marina and watched the boats come and go. Decided to take a walk and find something for dinner. Short walk to Roy's, where we had fried oysters. Not as good as what we remember about Apalachicola oysters, but very tasty.

Walked back to the marina and checked out the weather. We may be here the rest of the week. Lots of wave action and winds (I will be an expert on that before long) so we will hang out here until it's calm enough to move on down the west coast.

Our track for the day.

Our hitchhiker :)

Coming into Steinhatchee and the Sea Hag Marina.

Sunday, May 4. 2014

Yesterday we pulled anchors at 8 am and headed for Apalachicola.  Decided last night that we had seen Port Saint Joe and could move on and get ready to jump across to Steinhatchee.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we made good time. Tied up at Scipio Creek Marina  about 5 pm eastern time.

Sunday morning we were up early. Decided to wash a load of clothes and then headed out to town for lunch. Had a great lunch of crab cakes and fried greed tomatoes at Up The Creek.  Then walked into town.

We were ready to do the triangle...first stop Tapas (a new place).  Margaritas and tequila sunrises were the specials. Then over to Spoon Bill where we talked to some locals and stayed too long!  Decided we would hit the Gibson tomorrow before dinner at Boss Oyster (great oyster menu!).  Walked back to the marina and called it a night.

Happy Birthday (30th)  to our youngest daughter, Lauren!!  Love and miss you.