February 10, 2018 Tarpon Springs, Florida

We finally made it to Tarpon Springs, FL!!!!  We had originally made slip reservations back in September 2017 for a month from the middle of December to the middle of January.  This was to be our base to jump off from for Christmas with family, celebrating the New Year and revisiting where we had spent the first few years of our marriage (Dec '79 thru Mar '84).   We did do all those things but not in the order as intended given the weather delays in crossing the Gulf.  Christmas was a car trip and we rang in the 2018 new year in Port St. Joe but we did make it to Tarpon Springs January 20th for a wonderful 3 week stay.  This portion of the cruise was mainly all about family, friends and memories.

After sleeping till our hearts content after our over night gulf crossing, we set about planning our stay.  The priority for me was seeing my mom and dad.  So with a car rental and map in hand I headed to Clermont, FL for a 4 day visit with my parents.  Just can't get enough time with them.  Ken and Roofus stayed on board as the morning we were to leave, we had no power on-board due to an electrical issue at the marina, that had the fire department paying us a visit the night before.  All ended well but until hours after I left.

Once back in Tarpon Springs, we walked the sponge docks, ate Greek cuisine at every opportunity and I even had my fair share of Ozo, yum-yum.

Hella's Bakery, Tarpon Springs - Goodies for breakfast, of course!!!

We next headed north to explore Port Richey, to check out what changed and what had not, since we left 33 years ago.  A little bit of background.... Ken and I met in Charlotte, NC while working for Belks as auditors and married a year and a half later in November 1979.  Ken had been offered the Operations Manager position of a new Belk store opening in Port Richey, FL.  Three weeks after we were married, we arrived in town and our new life.  We met and enjoyed the company of many wonderful friends, built our first home together, bought our first boat, got scuba certified, traveled every chance we got, I got my CPA, Ken and team successfully opened and managed the store and before we left had our first child, Stephanie.  The first thing we did was find out what had happened to the store which we heard had closed several years ago.  The trip up US-19 was our first surprise.  It is now 6 lanes and quite congested.  Definitely more stop lights and businesses.  We found Gulf View Square Mall and the surrounding area, a shopping mecca.  Great to see that it is still successful and thriving but in place of the Belk store which was the front anchor is now shared by Best Buy and TJ Maxx.  Just too weird.  Our next stop was to find our house which was just north of the Port Richey in Hudson.  Again the roads have been expanded to 6 lanes with new neighborhoods and businesses.  The only place I recognized with St. Michael Catholic Church which is where Stephanie was baptized.  Once we found our neighborhood we discovered the we couldn't remember how to get to the house.  You would think after almost 4 years of living there we would have driven right to it.  Not so much....but we did recognize our house immediately even with the change in paint color.  Ken's beautifully maintained yard and all my garden flowers are gone so it was a bit sad but still evoked great memories of good times we had there.  Next we headed to the hospital that Stephanie was born in and into town to find where we docked up Tree Frog, our first boat, behind a friend's home.  All in all, a great day down memory lane.

Our house in Hudson, FL

We then headed south to Clearwater for another trip down memory lane, only this time, it was one from my childhood, The Kapok Tree Restaurant.  Both sets of my grandparents lived in Bradenton and actually in the same neighborhood.  I remember visits and overnights at both of their homes.  One of my Grandma Felici's favorite restaurants was the Kapok Tree.  'Only In Your State.com' put it better than I can.  "...one of the most impressive restaurants that ever existed.  Greek and Roman-style statues, cascading waterfalls, magnificent fountains and exotic plants filled the 12 dining rooms and expansive gardens."  It was a dress up affair for us and I remember so vividly the glass ceilings, flowering plants everywhere, the sound of water flowing all around, the chatter of diners and how happy Grandma was.  Well the glass ceilings are covered up, all the indoor plants are gone and it is now very quiet as all the dining rooms now house a huge music store and school but the gardens are still pretty though not all the fountains are running.  I still thought of my grandma with happy and warm memories.

The kapok tree is still growing (below upper left) but the glasses ceilings of the main dining area have now been covered (below lower left).  This beautiful chandelier (below right) remains but the dining room has been turned into a room for drums.

In the days that followed we met up and renewed relationships with friends and family.  Below are co-workers from Belks.  Marian was the women's buyer (below left, in the center) and Ronnie was the children's buyer (below right, second from the left).  The years melted away as we talked about our times and adventures together.

On January 31st, Ken and I celebrated 9 months into our loop adventure by eating at our favorite restaurant, Berns Steakhouse in Tampa.  Best steaks ever.  And we topped it off with having dessert in Harry Waugh's Dessert Room.  The pineapple cake was decadent and it was fun to get dressed up. 

The next day we launched the dinghy and checked out our water surroundings.  Saw pelicans everywhere as well as mangroves but no manatees, even though this is one of their winter retreats.

Tarpon Springs, FL - Mangrove.  Love the root system.

Tarpon Springs - These pelicans are resting in the mangroves waiting for the fisherman to come back with dinner.

We had dinner one night at Tarpon Tavern.  A restroom is a restroom but in this case, loved the unique signs for guys and gals.  Ha-Ha....

One of the highlights for me was a visit to the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg.  I had seen Dale Chihuly's glass works one time before at Chrysler Museum in Norfolk but this museum was built specifically to for his art.  I was in awe.  We also went to the Dali Museum but my favorite was Chihuly.

Chihully - Seaform in white.  Ken's favorite.

Chihuly - Sunset Persian Wall.  My Favorite.

Chihuly - Ruby Red Icicle Chandelier.  Red inside glass so notice clear glass tips.

These 3 are all from the same Chihuly piece of art known at the Mille Fiori (Thousand Flowers).  A garden with explosions of color representing nature and places Chihuly had visited over the years.  It's a huge display and every time I walked around it I noticed something new and beautiful.

We were fortunate enough to catch up with Steve and Jen Farber.  Steve was in our wedding and Ken was best man in Steve and Jen's wedding.  Steve also worked with us at Belks on the audit team.  We had them on Independence for a visit then spent the evening at their home for a Super Bowl party.  The food was awesome, we caught up on life and had a great time, even if the Patriots lost.  :(  But I will say that if we had to lose to someone, I'm ok with the Eagles winning, since it was their first ever championship.  I hated to say good-bye to Steve and Jen but they are retiring soon, and we all promised to vacation together in the future.

We also caught up with my cousin Brenda and her family.  It turned out that they live just down the road from Tarpon Springs in Palm Harbor, a quick 10 minute ride.  We were able to see a lot of each other, which was great.  Time to catch up, relax, laugh and make new memories.  We spent a day out cruising the gulf coast, catching rays, watching dolphins and a bit of wine. :)

Clockwise, first pic, top left, my cousin Brenda and her girlfriend Melanie.  Then top right, Jeff, Brenda's husband and Ken. Third pic, bottom right, me and Ken.  Fourth pic, bottom left, my Aunt Teresa, who's 90 years old, what a trooper, and Brenda and Jeff's son, Carson.

Our dolphin, who followed us long enough for everyone to enjoy.

The night before we left we had a cookout at Brenda and Jeff's house.  Aunt Teresa talked about our family tree.  I got a chance to get some family pics I did not have and more family back ground.  My girls are working on the family tree and these will be great additions. 

Below, Brenda and I spent our time while dinner was cooking to enjoy a fabulous Abstract wine  and made a new memory.  I noticed her shirt had a bee on it with 'outch' written under it.  I asked what the 'outch' was and she put it together for me.  It's "bee-outch".  Loved it and I want one too.

Love my cuz!

We left the next day and headed south.  As it turned out, I got to see Brenda and Aunt Teresa again.  Carson joined us in Sarasota for a few days and we met up again Cape Coral.  More of those adventures in the next posting.

PS from Roofus:

I enjoyed Tarpon Springs as my humans let Independence become a floating condo.  I met lots of new humans but especially liked Aunt Teresa.  She sat still long enough for me to snuggle her and I got lots of petting.  I did have one adventure that ended up in the ER.  I got a new toy from Grandma Ockuly that when set up had a treat in it.  I got to push it around and once the timer went off,  I got the treat.  Well, over enthusiastic me couldn't wait for the timer to go off and got my lower jaw a bit stuck in one of the holes.  My humans couldn't get me out so we headed for puppy ER and about an hour later, I was free of my new toy.  But unfortunately, my toy didn't survive the operation, as the vet had to cut it off.  :(  Worst part is I never got the treat.  They left it in the dead body of my toy.  Darn.  I am doing great but I did hear my humans say that I won't be getting a new one.  Double darn!

January 19, 2018 Part II Port St. Joe, FL through Gulf Crossing to Tarpon Springs, FL

2018 New Year Greetings to all!  Hope everyone also had a very Merry Christmas!

Before I move forward, I wanted to explain the reason I split this into two separate posts.  It is mainly because of the weather delays we encountered once we got to Port St. Joe, FL on the North Florida Gulf Coast.  Our luck with the weather finally ran out.  Up to this point we had only experienced 25 weather delay days.  Our plans were to do the overnight crossing of the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle and be in Tarpon Springs by December 15th.  Well the week came and went with no good crossing window and with none in the foreseeable near future, we decided to close up Independence, rent a car, pack up our toys and head out to Clermont, FL.  Of course, there were a couple of good weather windows after we left but wouldn't have traded time with the family for anything.  We arrived back in Port St. Joe on December 30th full of hope and confidence that our weather window was on the horizon.  Well, 14 horizons later we finally got the good news and said good bye to Port St. Joe and moved on to Apalachicola.  But the weather gods were not done with us yet.  It turned cold and blustery, so we waited another 6 days before we had a great crossing window.  We final left the north coast of Florida on January 19th to make the overnight crossing to Tarpon Springs.  In total we had 29 weather days, not counting the days we were at my Mom and Dad's for Christmas.  That is more than double the days in a month and a half compared to the first 7 months of the trip.  Ugh!!!! 

So the long and short of it, not knowing when we would depart and turn Independence from a floating condo back in a cruising boat, I opted to post everything we experienced till we got to Port St. Joe.  This second post brings us current, which means we are traveling again and in Tarpon Springs.  Yoohoo!!!!

Our stay in Port St. Joe was great the first 2 weeks.  :)  We got a lot of chores done, explored the town, finished most of our Christmas shopping though must admit did a lot on line this year, had docktails with friends, experienced the town Christmas parade and found several places that had great eats.  Good times!  But the 2 weeks following our return from the holidays, not only did the weather turn off cold and blustery, the days began to feel more like Bill's Murray's movie, 'Groundhog Day'.  New day, no crossing window, wait for better news tomorrow.....New day, no crossing window, wait for better news tomorrow.....repeat.  Don't get me wrong, nothing against the town or the people (all lovely) but time to see and experience new sights, and get this party moving.  

Port St. Joe, FL - A lovely town with a great marina.

The night of the Christmas Parade we ate dinner with Chuck and Margaret our looper buddies on Francesca.  Chuck and I thoroughly enjoyed acting like kids, and got as much candy as we gave away to the children around us.

This was a great hometown parade.  Smokey the Bear made an appearance (above) and the gingerbread man (below).

As a boater I didn't think anything of the fact that Boat U.S. and one of their tow boats was there (above), as well as Sea Tow.  It is a reminder that we are in a coastal town on the water.  And what Christmas parade would be complete without Santa and his 8 reindeer (below).

I actually got more than candy at the parade.  Believe it or not, I got a star that fit perfectly on my oyster Christmas tree as well gold beads for garland.  The next day I bought a Port St. Joe sand dollar ornament for the tree which was actually prophetic as it said 'Port St. Joe - Chill Out!

As the days went by we enjoyed an abundance of fresh oysters, great margaritas and marvelous sunsets.

We even got to meet the marina mascot, a grey pelican that called 

the marina home.

He would literally

crash dive into the water and catch fish.  His skull must be made out of titanium.  :)

We spent New Year's Day with our good friends Terry and Pat Moy, who were vacationing at near by Cape San Blas.  It was great to see them again and though they are now back home in Atlanta, hope to see them soon as we cruise through Georgia.

FINALLY, on January13th, the day arrived to leave Port St. Joe and we headed to Apalachicola with our new friends Bill and Bobbie Bristow on First Forty.  Once we got docked and settled we headed out to explore the town.  Very quaint.  That evening we decided to celebrate at Boss Oyster House.  A highly recommended restaurant in town.  We were not disappointed.  I enjoyed wood fired oysters were to die for and the prefect pairing was a Bloody Mary.  We were also joined by fellow Loopers Allen and Lila on Blue Haven.  Great first night.

Apalachicola, FL - Boss Oyster House.  We all signed an oyster shell to leave a small sign that we had been there.

The weather turned off chilly, actually down right cold, and the winds kicked up over the next few days, dashing any hopes of an overnight gulf crossing.  We spent the next few days eating out, tasting beer at a local brewery, sampling as many different varieties of oysters and ways to prepare them as we could, as well as, shopping and trying to stay warm.  

Apalachicola, FL - Temperature dipped below freezing a couple of nights.  We are not going a very good job of chasing summer at this point.  :(

                                                      We even had bananas growing next to our dock.  They looked pretty good considering how cold it was.  Hope they survived.  Had to take this pic of all the different crab pots and colors, so neat to see in this fishing town.

As the week progressed more and more Loopers arrived.  We met daily to discuss the weather, Eddy's Weather Wag on crossing projections, where everyone was going to leave from and where they were heading once the crossing was completed.  In the end, we left from Apalachicola with First Forty and Dream Quest.

One of our planning meetings with the crews of Blue Haven, First Forty and Fancy Free.  This one aboard Independence but as our numbers grew we moved to a bar called 'Up The Creek'.  It also allowed not only more room but great drinks and eats....docktails inside!!!

Apalachicola, FL - Beautiful sunrise and calm, calm waters the day before we left.  Time to do final prep for the crossing.

We actually ended up with a choice of days to make the gulf crossing.  We decided on the second crossing day, January 19th, as it appeared to be the better of the two.  We also decided to disembark on the over night crossing from Apalachicola instead of Carrabelle, it added a couple of hours to the trip but it was time to move on to the west coast of Florida.  The morning was clear and calm, and we happily said good bye to Apalachicola.

Farewell Apalachicola

We left about 2 in the afternoon with First Forty and Dream Quest for the 23 hour overnight crossing of the Gulf.  Ken and I planned to take turns at the helm so we could each get some rest.  As it turned out Ken stayed awake the whole time, helped along by the wonder of night cruising, coffee and a couple of '5 Hour Energy Drinks'.  I had a cup of coffee that kept me up with the exception of a short nap here and there.  The stars were so bright and breathtaking, I could have stayed on the fly bridge all night except for cold breeze.

Hello, Gulf of Mexico.  First Forty in the lead and just a small dot on the horizon.

Late afternoon on the gulf.

The sunset was absolutely amazing.  The colors got more vibrant as the evening progressed.  It was so cool to see it in all its glory and to be completely surrounded by water, was to truly feel at one with nature.

Moon over the gulf.  

The sunrise was just as awesome though I expect part of that was because we knew we were close to finishing the crossing and excited to have made it through the night with no incidents.  Later in the morning we took the lead and headed into Tarpon Springs, to dock up and be ready to celebrate First Forty crossing their wake.  It was our second opportunity to witness the changing of the burgee from white to gold.

Bill and Bobbie, a kiss of congrats and then the changing of colors.  We were so happy for them to finish their first loop.  Now as Gold Loopers they were taking a rest and then heading out to do it again.  I have no doubt there is a platinum burgee in their future.  

Good Luck!  Fair winds and calms seas.

Bill and Bobbie with their furry mates....Luna and Chase

We plan to stay in Tarpon Springs for a week or two, then head down the west coast for the next part of our adventure.  But at the moment we are enjoying new sights and warmer weather!!!

On the home front in Virginia we were not immune to the bomb cyclone that hit the East.  January 4th brought 11" of snow and ice to Chesapeake, along with 50 mile an hour wind gusts and 4 days of single digit overnight temps.  This is a pic of Stephanie's back yard.  Neither she nor Melissa left their houses for 4 days.  Melissa had a 4' snow drift in her front yard.  Thankful they did not loose power nor have any damage.  Hopefully this is our only snow storm for the winter since this one managed to dump more snow than we see all season.

I must say though, I was not sorry to have missed it, even if we were cooling our jets, waiting for a weather window here in sunny Florida.

See PS from Roofus below....

PS from Roofus:

I have thoroughly enjoyed Independence being a 'floating condo' as my mom human mentioned.  No engine noise, no exhaust smells, no rocking and rolling, no moving to the pilot house (much prefer my cozy spot on the couch) and no sudden bumps of any kind.  Heaven!!

I did enjoy Christmas as I got lots of hugs and kisses from Steph and Mel.  I miss my girls.  Grandma got me a really nice dog bed and Uncle Jeff sneaked me treats.  Good times.

The only incident was that I lost a battle with the bathroom door.  I was inside the bathroom and wanted out but that darn door just wouldn't move.  I ended up a big boo-boo on my nose.  See the red spot in the pic.  My mom human kept putting this sticky, smelly stuff on it and though it feels much better now, I do have a battle scar which I wear proudly.  Take that you old door!