Day 142, "on the loop", 2/28/2023

*Next blog will be Friday, March 31st*

Friday, 2/24, We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We (I) thought we had a plan to get there.. Joel indicated we would walk a few blocks and then call an Uber... Well, those 2 blocks turned into 2 or so miles. The problem with this was, I didn't dress appropriately for this walk! Had I known, I would have worn my walking shoes vs. sandals and a breathable shirt vs. a linen type shirt. Side note: It was 4pm in the afternoon. I wore a quarter length shirt to prevent sun exposure. Needless to say, by the time we reached our dinner destination, I looked like a sweaty pig! My make-up (the little bit I had on) melted off and of course, I was NOT a happy camper upon arrival. Joel wanted to eat outside; but, I insisted on eating inside. I was anxious for air conditioning!!! All in all, it all worked out and I was happy for the walk, just wished I had of worn different shoes.

Picture taken before I melted. I lost a pair of sunglasses (yes, in the ocean when I was taking care of my 1st mate responsibilities - lol). I purchased another pair, they were inexpensive in case I lose them!

After dinner, we walked along the canal front and took a few pictures. These pictures do not do this area justice. It reminds me a of the St. Charles (Missouri) waterfront.

Saturday, 2/25, Not sure what I was thinking and thought it was a good idea to enjoy some beach time. Well, it was HOT! We took our chairs, books and water to the beach. I was ready to leave after about 45 minutes... I love the beach and waterways; but, not the sand so much!

The first picture in the second row, is a lifeguard station. These stations are plentiful on the Ft. Lauderdale beach. Flags are displayed on the outside of these stations to notify guest about the conditions of the ocean. On this day, the flags were green and purple.

Green = all clear sign, it's safe to swim (no risk situations for swimmers)

Purple= dangerous marine life has been spotted (most likely means there are jelly fish or stingrays in the water). The purple flag will fly in conjunction with another flag that will indicate the current surf conditions.

We prepared the boat for a Monday (2/27) departure, packed the bikes and loaded back to their designated spot on the boat. Side Note: Alain made a suggestion to take the bikes on and off from the side window vs. walking them down the back deck stairs (every time), what a GREAT idea. Thank you! Sometimes, you just need a suggestion to make things easier.

Sunday, 2/26, First off, Happy Birthday to my BIL, Greg Horsley! I hope you had a wonderful day and enjoy a lot of love and laughter in 2023.

Monday, 2/27, Joel and I had a LONG day, we left Ft. Lauderdale at 9 am and made it to our destination in Palm Beach around 4pm. We went under several bridges (17) and requested 7 bridges to be lifted (these 7 were less than 18 Ft high). We have heard stories of people waiting in access to 2+ hours on bridges to be lifted! We timed them just right. Most open every 1/2 hour (on the hour or 1/2 hour mark), one opened on a 20 minute interval and one opened upon arrival.

Wow! The Safe Harbor marina in Palm Beach was super nice, great work out facility and staff. They greeted us with a bottle of wine, a first for us!

Pictures below are random and taken while underway to Palm Beach, FL (from Ft. Lauderdale)

Bridges: Different styles of Bridge houses, bridge lifts, etc.

Some waterfront properties along the way:

Fancy BIG boats:

Working Boat: These small pilot boats assist in pushing and directing larger barge type boats.

This is what is call a "live aboard," not sure where the people live, the boat is FULL of stuff.

Unique things we saw along the way!

Inter-coastal Superhero house....Tell the little ones, we know where the superheroes live!

2 houses with this type of statue (Gorilla), not sure what it means or the connection to this area!

See the "Big Boy" figure at the right hand side, Joel remembered this figure from an old hamburger place or commercial, thought it was blog worthy!

Odd picture: 2 reasons - 1) See the windows have playing cards in them (gambler?) and look in the background the church steeple (Looks like the steeple is on a House of cards)

Map of Trip: Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Hall of Fame marina) to Palm Beach, FL (Safe Harbor Marina, Old Port Cove)

Tuesday, 2/28,

We left early, making another long day! Weekdays are nice travel days, there is not much boat traffic on the waterways. When traveling the inter-coastal, there are several "no wake" areas, meaning you move at a snails pace. It can be good and bad. Good in that, it's nice to see things, easy to navigate, etc. Bad part is, you are going no where fast! Hence, why it takes 7 hours to go 46 miles.

We met another looper while at the Safe Harbor marina: Trouvaille (Dennis & Karin) from New York. Side note: Trouvaille means "surprising find". Dennis & Karin stopped by the wish us safe travels.

The pictures below were taken right before we left Safe Harbor, Old Port Marina. The water was so calm.

Pictures taken while underway to Ft. Pierce:

Notice the boat that is wrapped in white plastic? This boat is sitting in a boat yard, having work done. It is covered (perhaps it was painted recently). There are holes in the wrapping to allow breathing / drying. There are holes with fans at the bottom to circulate the air.

We wished we had something like this when our boat was repaired a couple of years back, it may have dried sooner than 9 months :-)

There were 13 houses all built the same; with the exception of color and window awnings.

I loved the spiral staircase at the right hand side of the houses.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and a little history behind this lighthouse:

In 1853, Congress authorized the building of a lighthouse near Jupiter. This was one of six Florida lighthouse projects assigned to Lieutenant George Gordon Meade. Due to various weather challenges, and other obstacles the tower was not officially working until July 10, 1860. This lighthouse "light" was disabled during the civil war and retightened on June 28, 1866. From 1860 to 1939, it is recorded to have had over 70 lighthouse keepers.

I love the red, most lighthouses we have seen tend to be the typical white and black in color.

Jupiter Federal Bridge: This bridge was under construction; but it didn't prevent us from passing :-)

Boats that have been (or appear to have been) abandoned:

This is a problem in the Florida waterways. People leave their boats behind for various reasons (perhaps damaged by hurricanes, no insurance, no monies to repair or have them moved). I seem to recall hearing that the local governmental is working to put monies toward a project to clean up these abandoned boats.

THIS IS US! We were pulling in to the Ft. Pierce City Marina, a fellow looper spotted us and took the picture. You can see Captain Joel at the helm and me (first mate) preparing to meet the dock hand(s). Side note: Fellow loopers watch the Nebo app to see the whereabouts of other loopers, check status of looper friends, etc. This looper (which we have yet to meet), took the picture and sent it to us via the Nebo app.

Guess What!? Volition, a looper we met on day 2 of our loop at Paris Landing, is here at Ft. Pierce. We have plans to meet up for docktails on Friday!

Side note: Volition: Eamonn and Rhonda have a dog, Alfie traveling with them! Feel free to follow them on Facebook @Looperdog or instagram the_adventure_of_looperdog.

Map of Trip: Palm Beach, FL (Safe Harbor Marina, Old Port Cove) to Ft. Pierce, FL (Ft. Pierce City Marina)

We will stay at the Ft. Pierce City Marina the month of March. I am hopeful to be busy exploring the area and will not post another blog until March 31st.

In the meantime, if you happen to be in Jupiter, FL for the Cardinals spring training, reach out to us! Joel and I are scheduled to go to the following games:

March 10th, 12th and 16th

March 17th we will go home to St. Louis and return to the loop on March 25th.

Have a wonderful March!

We said good-bye to Breakaway for now and hope to see them again somewhere up the East Coast (maybe St. Augustine). It has been a pleasure traveling with them, learning and experiencing this WONDERFUL adventure with them. We are beyond blessed!

Shout Outs & More:
2/26 - Walt Bodnar, Happy Birthday to you! Hope you have / had a GREAT day!

- We are looking forward to catching up with Kayak (John & Kim), we haven't seen them since our time in the river system (Tenn-Tom) 
- We will head home a short week in March to see Jonathan, get in some appointments in, complete our taxes & I will exchange some of my current clothes out for other items.