December 16 thru January 11, 2022
Trip home, trip back to the boat, first day’s cruise
We flew home from Ft. Myers on December 16. Friends who also had their boat at the Doyle’s dock, Rick and Monica on Best Mate, kindly drove us to the airport. We had an uneventful flight, and our friend, Bob Ridgway, gave us a ride home. We so appreciate our friends! We found no surprises when we got home after our three month absence – always a relief!
We had a very nice time while at home, reconnecting with friends and family. I was able to spend a day with each of my three Michigan grandchildren. Isaac, age 12, wanted to go to the Detroit Science Museum. I took him first to a unique old Detroit place, Green Dot Stables, for lunch. Ella, a 14 year old young woman, loves Mexican food, books, and Starbucks drinks, not necessarily in that order! We went downtown to Mexican Village for lunch. I had hoped to take her to The Whitney, an elegant restaurant in an old mansion, for dessert – but, they were not open at that time of day. Instead, we went to the bookstore, where there is also a Starbucks! Declan, a young man of 16, wanted to go to The Henry Ford, one of Dan and my favorite museums. Dan went with us, and I was so glad he did! Dan is interested and knowledgeable about so many subjects, and Declan and he enjoyed the machines, cars, and other things – I enjoyed watching them! I LOVE my time with these kids, who are delightful companions.
We spent Christmas with my son and family in the morning, then afternoon and evening with them and my niece’s family and my sister-in-law and her husband. Fun times!
Our Christmas present from Travis and Lisa was an evening together with them – first, dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Traffic Jam and Snug. Then we attended a Manheim Steamroller Christmas concert in the fabulous Fox Theatre. My favorite Christmas present from them for sure. The rest of our time home, we were able to reconnect with our neighbors, Fred (had over for dinner) and Claudia (had us over for coffee and cookies0. I had time with friends, Claire, Colleen, Peggy and Bob, and Laura. We had plenty of time to relax, read, catch up on our TV shows (we don’t watch TV while on the boat).
We were approached by a tree service company – they noticed our scraggly and huge blue spruce in the front and gave us a quote for removing it. We ended up calling a company we had used before, and they did an amazing job of removing the tree – in and out in 90 minutes!
Trip back to the boat
Instead of flying back to Ft. Myers, we decided we wanted to drive…for a couple of reasons. Dan was able to find oil and filters for a couple of oil changes, plus some other items we wanted to have on the boat. Plus, since we will be staying in marinas for a total of 6 weeks in the Keys, we’d like to have a vehicle with us. We canceled our flights (and applied for a refund), and planned to leave the morning of January 5. We had the car all packed, the house secured, the thermostats turned down, and were ready to pull away….then, Dan made one more check in the basement to find that our boiler was cold and unresponsive. Darn! However, it was a really really good thing to discover BEFORE we left instead of getting really bad news while we were away, i.e. frozen pipes, flooded basement… We called repair folks, and were very fortunate to get a company to send someone out that same day. He diagnosed the problem, replaced the part, and we were on the road at 3:00. We didn’t get more than 4 hours from home that day. Next day, Thursday, we left from Dayton in some blowing snow….that fairly soon turned into snow that wasn’t blowing. People down there in Kentucky really have no idea how to drive in snow and ice. Suddenly, there were accidents on both sides of the freeway – time to remove ourselves from that craziness. We crept in traffic to the next exit and turned into the Days Inn that was right there. We stood in line with other wise folks and got a room for the night. So, for our second day’s travel that should have taken us to Atlanta or beyond, we made it about 2 hours to Lexington! We had a surprisingly good time in the bar/restaurant at Days Inn with other stranded folks.
Next day, we were on the road again – this time, in stop and go traffic behind snow plows that blocked every lane! After two hours of that, we were able to get around them and make better time (than their 5 mph!). Soon, we were clear of the bad roads and got down to just north of Atlanta. Next day, we made it to Gainesville, Florida, about 4 hours from the boat in Ft. Myers. We arrived back at the boat around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, two days after we had planned.
In our absence, there had been a big storm with winds 55 mph. The front of our bimini had pulled out of the boat, meaning Dan had some fiber glass work to do before the screws could be reinstalled. Our friends, Rick and Monica, had secured the bimini so no further damage was done. Before we could leave, it had to be repaired. We took the canvas off the frame and scrubbed it. I went to the grocery store for provisions. Next day, we managed to reinstall the bimini (not easy!). With high winds looming in coming days, we decided to go ahead and head out. On trying to leave the dock, we discovered that one of our lines (because of the high winds) had gotten securely wedged between a post and the dock. We COULD NOT get it out! Finally, we tied it tight to the boat, started the boat, and managed to drive it out! Off we go!
We got as far as the Ft. Myers City Marina (less than 2
hours down the river!). We heard the
Coast Guard warning of small craft advisory, high winds, etc. Plus, we were really exhausted. So we decided to stay for the night. Next day, same warning was being broadcast,
but it seemed ok to us. We decided to
brave it and see how far we could get.
We were scheduled to be in Key West on Wednesday, and we really were
excited about being there. What we
found, once out on the ICW and then on the Gulf, that the cruising was
delightful and not a problem at all! We
got all the way to Marco Island, to an anchorage recommended by Rick and
Monica. Lovely bay surrounded by
residential properties, very quiet.
Several boats were already there.
We had a nice evening, dinner on board, and were prepped for an early
morning departure for Key West.
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