Cady Girl

We left Pass-a-Grille and motored all of 21 miles to Bradenton Beach. The good news was that we made it, but the bad news was that we had to motor across Tampa Bay. A rocky, rolling, sporty ride with 6' swell occasionally and wind! Ray and Jan did fine, except for when Jan slid off the couch because of us leaning sideways!  Yikes! Bradenton Beach is a cute tourist town with a beautiful beach & fine white sand! We swam in the Gulf both days as we were just three blocks from the beach!  Free laundry at the marina was appreciated - but we had rather sleepless nights because of the wind. Found a great Tiki bar with music at the Bridge Tender Inn - thank you Kylie Nero. Three of us had a drink called "Becky's Bikini Babe" - Coconut Rum, dark rum, OJ, Pineapple juice with a splash of Pina Colada. Sent a photo of it to our niece Becky! On Wednesday we motored just 15 miles to Sarasota and docked at Marina Jack's, right in the heart of downtown Sarasota. Sarasota has ...

 You've probably been wondering where we are???? We docked in St Petersburg Municipal Marina at around 4 pm on the 15th!  What a beautiful locale, and Frank, the Dock Jockey is a delight! He hails from North Carolina but works in St. Pete for 5 months out of the year and then returns to North Carolina mountains for the hurricane season. Thursday during the day we prepared Cady Girl for our guests - you know, vacuum, dust, make beds - same-o, same-o. After, the slave driver Captain finished washing the boat, we took a 3-mile bike ride to the hardware store.  I was not happy! It's too humid for this Oregonian. Jan and Ray arrived around 5 having hitched a ride from the Tampa Airport with a young man, they met on the plane. They settled in and then we walked up to the Stillwaters Tavern on Beach Dr. NE.  Outdoor seating, lots of people watching and great food and drink. The architecture and homes in St. Pete are beautiful and the flora and fauna are "bitchin", per Capta...

We left Cedar Key in beautiful weather and motored to Crystal River on Sunday.  Crystal River is the Manatee Capital of the World and home to a beautiful National Wildlife Refuge. Manatees are large, herbivorous marine mammals, also known as "sea cows." We took the tender up some canals known as breeding grounds for the manatees, but alas, we found not a one. 😪 We found several abandoned boats and a shipwreck, instead. On Monday we motored for 87 miles to Clearwater.  A beautiful, beachy, condo locale.  We docked at the Municipal Marina and walked up the street to a fantastic restaurant, The District Bistro! They had a great playlist too, and all of their drinks were modeled after the 30's era.  Don had a "Boulevardier" and I had a "Curious Margarita" made of Orange Gin, Tequila, Lime juice and agave.  Extraordinary!!! Yesterday was laundry, boat maintenance -installing new water pumps in the engine, a task the Captain had not done before.  He had his...