Crossing Florida...Okeechobee Waterway

After almost three weeks in the Ft. Myers area, we provisioned our boats and headed out Wednesday, 7/9.  Said goodbye to some new friends and left around noon.  We went about 33 miles toward Okeechobee, through our first lock and stopped at the free city dock in LaBelle.  We met a couple from Texas that have been living aboard and traveling for 6 years.  It was a cool evening and we enjoyed the relaxing evening.  There were lots of fish and some small turtles swimming around our boats.

We got up Thursday morning (11 weeks since we left!) and walked about 1/2 mile to Big V's for breakfast. It was noted on the bulletin board as a great place for breakfast/lunch and the reviews were not wrong.  I had a great ham and cheese omelet, Hoppy and Annette had bacon and eggs, and Barney had biscuits with sausage gravy and corned beef hash.  Everything was good and lots of it!  Good thing we were walking...

We dropped our dock lines at noon and headed east.  Then it rained...  Passed through some small towns and another lock, which we shared with 8 manatees (and another boat that did not know what they were doing...a real circus!).  One of the manatees was bigger than our dinghy!  Next lock was Moore Haven (about 16 miles further) and went through with no issues, then dropped anchor just outside the lock area. We shared the anchorage with a few alligators!  We also picked up thousands of mosquitoes.  The boat looked black when we got up...but they did not bite...weird!

Anchors up at 7 AM on Friday morning.  We crossed Lake Okeechobee and continued on through another lock and then on over to Indian Town (about 52 miles) where we stayed at a marina/boat yard.  After washing off all of the bugs that hitchhiked over from Moore Haven, we sat under the palm trees on the patio to enjoy the afternoon. Talked to some of the other boaters, walked around the boat yard and headed back for dinner and an early evening.  Tomorrow is our last leg before the east coast and Atlantic Ocean.

Dropped the lines this morning at 7 AM headed east the last part of our trip across Florida.  Our last lock dropped us about 15 feet.  So cool!  Made it to the Atlantic Ocean at 11:37 AM.  It was a crazy Saturday, boats everywhere!  Note to self: only travel on weekdays!

We went 53 miles today (about 8 hours) and we made it to our new "home" at Harbortown Marina in Ft. Pierce, Florida, for the next 3 months.  It is protected and we can have our boat hauled in case of a hurricane. We will spend our time exploring the area and hope to enjoy some time anchoring in and around the area.

Arrived on Saturday, 7/12, at 3:00 PM.

First view of the Atlantic Ocean!

 Moore Haven...with the gators.

 LaBelle's FREE dock!

 Sunset!

 Maybe next adventure will be a boat plane!

 Journey leaving the lock

 Tending the lines as we rise up

Heading into the lock

 Some interesting art work

June28-July 4, 2014

Another week in Ft. Myers

6/28, Saturday
Decided to take a ride today. We headed south along Ft. Myers Beach and down to Naples. Stopped at some nice beaches to pick up shells and sand and spent the afternoon shopping at Tin City in Naples.  Just a relaxing day!  Met a couple that lived on their boat in Ft. Lauderdale and found out she was originally from Hammond, LA.  Small world!

6/29, Sunday
Decided to head out to the big Flea Market we keep hearing about in Ft. Myers. Decided to check out a Tiki Bar that we heard had great Bloody Mary's before we headed over.  Needless to say, we missed the Flea Market...maybe next weekend :)

6/30, Monday
The guys had plans to do some maintenance on the boats today, so Annette and I went to the mall.  Just something to do...

7/3, Thursday
Hoppy and I decided to take a ride to Pine Island and Cape Coral.  It is just across the River. We found Bert's Grill and stopped in for Fish & Chips and to check out their advertised "$$Million View".  Nice...picture to follow.

On our way back we stopped at Lowes (one of our fans died!) and found the WalMart for another day.  Then back to the Marina...plans to hit Happy Hour at the Firestone Sky Bar!  Afterwards, we walked to Capone's for an Italian dinner, which was great!

7/4, Friday
Today is the big July 4th celebration in downtown Ft. Myers. The marina has a cookout planned with hamburgers and hot dogs. There is an Art Walk and live music in the park as well as fireworks at 9:30 pm.  Our plan is to watch the fireworks from our boat, which was a good choice.  Happy 4th of July!!!

Sunset at the Sky Bar

$$milion view

June 26, 2014 - Ft. Myers, FL and Statistics

Thursday, 6/19
Goodbye Cabbage Key!  Hello Ft. Myers!

Made it in to the City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin around 5:00 pm.  Found our slips and the dock guys helped us get tied up and connected to electricity. Walked up to the office and completed the paperwork and got the lay of the land.

Up until today, here are the statistics:
8 weeks since we left Orange Beach, Alabama
655 miles we have traveled by boat
21 total days in marinas
35 days at anchor (21 of them in a row!)
16 different stops
About 500 gallons of diesel
6 gallons of gas for the dinghy
golf cart, trolley, bus and cab touring
A bazillion miles on foot (it seems!)

And we are still having fun!!!

We spent the weekend checking out the historic downtown area which is about two blocks from the marina. Found the Publix, laundry, several nice places to eat and enjoyed the Music Walk (a monthly affair in downtown).  Had lunch one day at Ford's Garage, which is decorated with all types of car/garage memorabilia.  Sunday afternoon we went to the Firestone's Sky Bar for sangria and a nice view of the sunset.

Monday morning we rented a car for the week.  We headed out to find West Marine and WalMart. We stopped at Wendy's for the "Senior special" and enjoyed a $2 lunch (for 2!!).

Tuesday (6/24) we packed the car with ice chest, sandwiches, beach umbrellas and towels and headed to Sanibel Island. We finally found a public beach that was not too crowded and settled in for some beach time.  The shelling was great...picked up some nice shells and some sand for my bottle. Played in the surf, had lunch and packed it all back in.  We then rode to the northern point of Captiva Island before headed back to the boats.  We cooked steaks and all the trimmings for dinner to celebrate our two months on the water!

Wednesday (6/25) Hoppy and I had a breakfast date. We were told about Gwendolyn's a couple of blocks up, so we walked over. Everything was so good.  I love breakfast, but it isn't something I usually cook on the boat. Too much trouble. After breakfast, we walked around the park and back to the boat for a day of chores.

Today (6/26) we walked over to the Farmers' Market (they have it every Thursday morning) and picked up some fresh tomatoes. We have enjoyed tomato sandwiches since our stop in Sarasota (where we walked to the Farmers Market). Afterwards, we stopped at Gwendolyn's for lunch, then off to tour the Edison-Ford winter homes and grounds. Very beautiful but hot!  We know why they stayed there in winter.