Day 125, "on the loop", 2/10/2023

Saturday, 2/4 was a rainy day in Islamorada. The marina we stayed at was a tight fit, our boat barely fit in the slip. We didn't get the bikes off the boat because the slip was a finger pier and difficult to get on and off the boat. During low tide, our boat was probably about 2 feet from the deck, we had to pull ourselves up from the boat onto the deck.

Mid morning, the rain seemed to let up a bit and weather reports indicated there would be breaks in rain throughout the day. We were running low on food and decided to provision the boat. Since we didn't want to get the bikes out, we decided to walk, use the Burley (the bike attachment) and wagon to get groceries. On the way back from getting groceries, it started raining again, we got soaked!

While out and about, Joel managed to work in a haircut.

We returned to the boat and unloaded the groceries. Since it was such a gloomy day, we decided to go to the movies! Keyla and I saw "80 for Brady" a fun, lighthearted movie. We enjoyed it. Joel and Chris went to see a more serious movie, "Otto" with Tom Hanks. Side note: We wore our raincoats to the movies. We had 4 raincoats on board, not sure why we didn't pull those out when we went to the grocery store :-) Going to the movies was a treat!

Side note: While Joel and I are enjoying the warm weather, Jonathan took a few UARK friends (from TX) home to St. Louis to snowboard at Hidden Valley. Jonathan is the one in the khaki pants. We miss him but happy he is enjoying the winter and making college memories!

Map of Trip: Islamorada, FL (Mangrove Marina) to Key Largo, FL (Gilbert's Marina)

Sunday, 2/5, we said goodbye to Islamorada and made our way to Gilbert's Resort in Key Largo. This is a first come, first serve marina and although there is not much to do here, it is a hot spot for boaters. We arrived at 10:30am, and were assigned to a prime spot on the dock. We were told that when the weather is good, it is hard to find a spot at Gilbert's.

Breakaway was assigned a slip directly in front of the bar area to Gilbert's restaurant. We sat on Danielle & Alain's boat in deck area where we enjoyed an appetizer and drinks. Thank you, Chris & Keyla for getting the appetizers!

While at Gilbert's, we saw several dolphins and talked to the security guard. He shared there are sharks, alligators and several other types of Marine life in the area. We had talked about anchoring out in the Everglades; however, when I learned that pythons are in the Everglades... I was NOT having any part of that!

We saw some really cool "fast boats," Joel called these "fast Cats".

We had so much fun, enjoying the music and food at the dining area. We were glad that we arrived early and got the prime spots. Side note: The Gilbert's Resort at Key Largo is near the 1st bridge to the keys from mainland Florida.

Pic 1 & 2 - Gilbert's Marina

Pic 3 - Danielle & Alain's boat: Breakaway

Pic 4 - sky line w/ palm trees

Pic 5 - Gilbert's - known for a drink named Boobie (made a variety of ways). Gilbert's track the number of Boobies sold. On this day, the count was 56, 439. A portion of the drink sales goes to Breast Cancer research)

Pic 6 - Don't skinny dip, chunky dunk - lol

Pic 7 - Our boat, Summer Place

Pic 8 - Our boat with 2 "fast cats", docked behind us, they just came in for lunch

Monday, 2/6, we made our way to Loggerhead Marina in Miami. It was a long day as we had to go under several bridges. We had to request that 2 bridges to be raised because we need a 17 foot clearance for our boat (Summer Place) to travel under them. The other bridges had a clearance of 18 feet or greater.

In the 1st picture below, Shepard Broad Causeway bridge is one we called to have lifted.

We had a hard time securing a marina; however, Loggerhead Marina made room for us. We were assigned to a T dock (also known as transient dock). Generally there is a 100+ ft boat assigned to the dock we were docked at. The owner of the slip / pier had his boat pulled out for repairs. We were able to dock stern to stern (w/ Breakaway), we barely fit!

Map of Trip: Key Largo, FL (Gilbert's Marina) to Hollywood, FL (Loggerhead Marina)

Tuesday, 2/7 , we made a decision and will NOT travel to the Bahamas. After checking weather reports, we didn't want to risk a bad crossing. We are still having nightmares regarding the Gulf crossing. We notified our boating buddy "Aquaholics" so they can make their plans accordingly.

Since we will not go to the Bahamas, we will need a Plan B. We are not disappointed to miss out on the Bahamas as we hope to enjoy some Cardinal baseball in Jupiter, FL (it's Spring Training for the Cardinals). Since we are staying stateside, we will be able to travel home to St. Louis. We have secured flights and look forward to being in St. Louis for a few days. This is Jonathan's spring break and hope to see him a couple of days, prepare our taxes and work in a few much needed appointments.

We rented a car and the group (Breakaway & Walkers), went to the Hollywood, FL Boardwalk, it was nice to get in some sunshine and some walking after a long boat travel day (the day before). We came across this water park that had a surfing venue. People can purchase tickets to try surfing. It was fun to watch!

Picture below: my seat while we had the rental car (yes, the way back). Guess it is better than the trunk - lol. There was not enough room for all 6 of us to have an actual seat. Some others took a turn; but, I took this seat the majority of our driving time.

After our afternoon excitement, we returned to boat for drinks, talked about random stuff and went to dinner as a group. We ate at an Italian restaurant called "Sicilian Oven". Great food, we may go back before we leave Loggerhead Marina (Miami).

Wednesday, 2/8, We finally had the holding tanks pumped out at Loggerhead Marina. The last two marina's didn't have the capabilities to pump out holding tanks. We were getting nervous about the tanks; however, we know now that we can go a little over 2 weeks before needing a pump out.

Any Anheuser-Busch friends reading our blog? Well, guess who we met up with here in Miami. It was Rick Lee, he treated me and Joel to lunch at Port South Bar & Grill. Thank you Rick for a great lunch!

Rick, Denise McClure (C-ville Brewmaster's scheduler and admin) said to tell you hello. She is retired and living in Cartersville.

Joel and I both worked with Rick at the Cartersville, GA brewery. Joel and Rick go way back though. It was great to catch up and learn how he ended up in Miami. Rick is enjoying the warm weather, golf and food here in the Miami area. He is living the dream!

While we had lunch with Rick, Keyla and Chris went for a bike ride to Dania Beach. They walked the pier and saw tentacles from "Man of War" jellyfish.

Pic 1 - Man of War tentacles (broke off from the jelly fish and washed up on shore)

Pic 2 - The Walkers, taking a break from their bike ride

Pic 3 - Pelican

Thursday, 2/9 Chris made breakfast (eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy). It was delicious! Thank you Chris for making such a yummy breakfast!

Funny story regarding breakfast, we had made a grocery run the day before and picked up a few items that Chris requested for breakfast (eggs, milk, butter and heavy cream). Fast forward to the morning of the breakfast, Chris asked for the flour. I responded that is something we don't have on the boat and had wondered how he was going to make gravy since flour was not on his list. At first we thought, the gravy is off the table; but, luckily our boat neighbor had flour to share! Thank you Danielle & Alain for the flour (they even let us keep an extra cup or two).

After breakfast, we left to enjoy a day at the horse races. Keyla (her new boat name is Keylime :-) and Joel were the big winners, both winning around $100.00+. A horse named Peach Cobbler was listed in one race, Danielle and I bet on that one and won! I also bet on Boston Princess and won with that horse also! My winnings were around $25.00 but I gave it all back on the races I lost! This was a full day of fun.

For dinner, we ate at a Canadian restaurant: Frenchie's Bar & Grill. The restaurant is not to be confused with Frenchy's in Clearwater and Dunedin, FL. The majority of the staff speak French and were told English speaking people do not typically stop in. Danielle and Alain were right at home and happy to translate to the staff members on our behalf.

Joel and Alain had poutine and the hot sandwich. Danielle and I had Coquille de fruits de Mer (a seafood casserole). The food was delicious and extremely filling. Chris had fish and chips while Keyla had a hamburger.

Side note: Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. The cheese curds are cooked in the gravy vs. being deep fried (like we know them in Missouri). Poutine is a well known dish in Canada.

Danielle and Alain were happy to share their culture with us Americans!

Picture below is our group and Joel's poutine and sandwich.

We will more than likely have a busy weekend with the Super Bowl and other happenings, watch for the next post.

Thank you for reading the blog. Hope you all are doing well.

Happy Valentines' Day!