Come Sail Away over the Ocean Blue!

On January 13, 2019 we traveled to Ft. Myers, Florida.  One thing we learned is that Florida raised more cows than Texas!                   one of the cow ranches                                  some horses                                                  some familiar ducks!       parts of Ft. Myers Enjoyed a nice dinner at Cabos Cantina Taco and Tequila Bar. A delightful dessert -  in background - a tirimisu - in foreground - a chocolate mousse The next night we ate at Capone's Coal Fired Pizza.  I had the best anchovy and artichoke pizza! This shows the floor below the restaurant.  It is a room that is supposed to be Al Capone's secret vault.  This restaurant used to be a bank. This is also where we had to say our good-byes to Bill.  W He had to leave us at this point to take of things at home.  We really enjoyed having him with us! Next adventure is Fort Myers Beach!  A beach......at last! Fair Winds to All,

I am going to do as brief a description as possible of what we've done right after crossing Florida on Lake Okeechobee through my photos.  In this way,  I can catch up with the present day! One of our stops was in LaBelle, Florida.  We arrived on January 12, 2019 in this small town.                                 Dolce Vita at her free dock.                                                          The town of La Belle    A well known place known for their honey.  Loved the                                    mural on their outside wall!                                                                    One of it's inhabitants!                                As we have often done in these small towns, we run into festivals!  This time we ran into a Rib Dinner Festival!  The bottom white part, which is the hard to read sign, is the announcement of the festival! There were 2 craft vendors set up.  Some dessert vendors and drink vendors.  They a

On January 11, 2019 we actually crossed Lake Okeechobee!  I really enjoyed this area.  The lake is large.  The land looked very far away all around.  It was a bit choppy the day we crossed, but I don't mind a little chop! The Captain really enjoying the lake!                               We were told by a lot of people to keep an eye out for alligators.  We even read not to put your hand in the water for fear of getting your hands eaten by one.  For a while we didn't see any of these reptiles.  Then we got our wish!  It wasn't until we got past the big part of the lake into the rim route where there was some amazing wetlands!  We definitely didn't want to fall in here!  These were just a few of the many we saw!   There were also an abundance of birds.  We started to see a different kind of bird that we hadn't seen before.  I will be looking this one up.  It was two toned in color with a distinct line of separation between

Now we all know that dolphins are beautiful creatures of the sea.  They are intelligent, graceful and playful.  Well, I encountered a new kind of dolphin on this part of the trip.  These dolphins are made of wood and are used as a place for boats and barges to tie up to for the night.  No one could tell me why these group of pilings are called dolphins.  Any one want to guess? Here our stern is tied up to a dolphin.  There's another boat tied up between two of these dolphins behind us. Here our bow is tied up to another dolphin.  We are tied between these two dolphins a bit like being in a hammock!    There is a bird on almost any kind of piling everywhere!  I get easily amused!  Another gorgeous sunset! Continuing on! Fair Winds to All, Joan

I am not caught up yet, but getting there.  This is still in the past. Not all boats can cross the Lake Okeechobee route across Florida.  The reason being this low bridge.  It has only 49 feet clearance normally.  When we went through it had a little more clearance of  50.7 feet since the water was lower than usual.  Luckily we only have a 45 foot mast. WHEW! Fair Winds to All, Joan