Bradenton 10/3/20 - 10/16/20

 So time does seem to fly by when we are down here.  The last 2 weeks went by very fast.   We have settled into somewhat of a during the week routine.  In the morning we usually go to Planet Fitness to try and maintain.  After lunch on the boat we tend to get into some type of project.  I have been mostly buffing and waxing, and Marcia is usually laundry, bills, or cleaning.   I will just try to fill you in on the non routine happenings.

On Saturday the 3rd, we did drive down to Punta Gorda to visit with Mark and Deb.  Although it was somewhat overcast, the stellar weatherman were not predicting rain until early evening.   We took his center console out, headed for Boca Grande beach for the day.  The wind was a little high so we ended up at Cayo Costa beach.  It ended up being a great day with only a few sprinkles.  Jim and Sarah had some family down and they ended up beaching with us after lunch.  

If you look closely, you can see the jellyfish that was right next to us.

After we got back to Mark's house, we grilled up some "T-Bone" steaks and Deb made scallop potatoes, salad and homemade apple tort.  Was a perfect end to a nice day.  The rain did come down pretty hard during dinner but eased up for our drive back to the boat.

We did make a trip to the outlet mall on Wednesday and then to the UTC mall.  We managed not to purchase much other than another pair of workout shorts for me and a top and workout pants for Marcia.  I did go back and exchange my shorts the next week for the 9" inseam.  The 7's were showing just a little too much leg and it was distracting to the other people at the gym.  (in a good way)!!!!

We took it ease (routine) until Thursday.  It turns out that long time friends Barry and Sherry Hollock were on vacation in Sarasota.  Facebook does sometimes have it's value.  We made plans with them to drive up and visit and go to lunch.  We met at the boat and started out with some Bloody Mary's.  Cluck even came out to visit and say Hi.

After a couple of bloody's on the boat, we walked over to the rooftop for lunch.  It was great catching up with them as it has been a while since we had seen them.

We decided that on Friday it was going to be a play day.  We put the dinghy in the water and we went to the beach.  

It was a good stop for a few beers and a cigar.  After the beach we explored a little and then went to Regatta Pointe for happy hour.  I did have to sample the oysters as I have not had any since coming back down.

 Saturday and Sunday ended up being overcast and on and off rain, so we just hung out on the boat.  On Wednesday we made our grocery shopping excursion.  We had waited 2 weeks to go last time and I felt like we were on "Yours, Mine and Ours" with how full our cart was.  I call it an excursion because it ended up being a trip to Publix, Winn Dixie and Walmart before we got everything.  It was such a nice day that we decided to go enjoy the pool for  a couple of hours.  It was a nice mid week break.  I guess we are to the point that we need a mid week break :).  

Thursday was a work and clean day as Marcia's sister Elaine and husband Glen were coming to visit on Friday.  I went to start the engines for the 1st time back and wouldn't you know it the Port battery was dead.  I did put a volt meter on it and it was reading 1.7 instead of 12+.  It was an 8D battery, for those that know.  For those that don't, picture a battery the size of 3 put together and weighing about 200 pounds.  Needless to say it was a royal pain the back, to put is a nicely as it can.  Good news is that the port engine started afterwards.

Elaine and Glen came to the boat today (Friday) and we did take it out for a cruise for the 1st time since being back.  Everything seemed to work OK.  We cruised out to Tampa Bay and then onto the ICW.  Turned out to be a great day.  I don't think Lucy was too happy that we were cruising again.  I think she has forgotten what it was like, even though it was a calm day.  When we got back we were going to go to the rooftop for a beer but they were packed and it was a 45 minute wait just to go up.  We said our goodbyes and have plans to have dinner with them at their house on Tuesday.

Mark and Deb, along with Jim and Sarah are planning to drive up tomorrow.  Mark was able to get reservations at the Bradenton Yacht Club for dinner, so we are planning to check it out on Saturday.  We have a very busy week planned out next week with Tony (son) and Don (brother) both coming down to visit.  We are really looking forward to it and are hoping for good weather.  By the way, it is still in the low 90's here, so not missing Cincinnati right now.

I will leave you with a couple of sunset pictures.  It really is a nice view from the boat.

Bradenton 9/21 to 10/02

 We seem to have been very busy over the last couple of weeks considering we have not been traveling on the boat.  I am going to spare you the day by day detail and just try to recap some of the things we have been doing.  Our Morning routine is to try and go to Planet Fitness and get some exercise in.  Don't think we are losing any weight, but we are at least hoping to offset and not gain.

Although Marica does not want to admit it, she did have another birthday.  We had been wanting to check out the rooftop bar, so we decided to go up for an after dinner drink.  It was extremely windy so good thing we were not trying to eat dinner up there.  The views are very nice though.  It will for sure be on the "one of the places to go" if people come to visit.

When I was putting our Bimini top back up I noticed that one of the zippers was starting to tear away.  After a call to the local canvas shop, I made plans to take it there to get stitched up.  The shop ended up re-stitching all the zippers and two other tears that I was not aware of.  $25 well spent and the top fits a lot better now.

We did do a couple of house hunting trips, but nothing we liked so far.  We did find a neighborhood that we both liked but nothing for sale in there yet.  We will keep it on our watch list if something becomes available.  We did walk up to Tom's Bad Ass Bar for dinner one night as it was recommended by a couple of the locals here.  Our expectations were not high, but it turned out to be a great place.  Food was good and very reasonable.

For those missing the food pictures, I had the meatloaf and mashed potatoes and Marcia had the fish tacos.  Yes Maggie - I ate my vegetables!

During the week we have been keeping up on the normal boat chores.  Marcia cleaning, bills and doing laundry and I have been checking the strainers, washing the boat, and doing some buffing and waxing on some of the areas that need it.  We do enjoy the sunsets off the back of the boat.  I did manage to finished off a bottle of Bourbon and cigar also.

Last Saturday we made plans for Marcia's niece Alyssa and her friend Randy to visit.  We put the dinghy in and went up to Woody's for afternoon drinks and fish spread.  After Woody's we took a cruise up the Braden river to check things out.  We were going to go down to the beach, but the boat traffic was pretty rough in the dinghy so we ended going to the pool at the marina.  We grilled up dinner and ate on the boat.  Randy was demanding a rematch on Rumicube so we played a couple of games and he was happy that he won one.  We sat up on the bridge and enjoyed the evening, me with a few bourbons and a cigar.  Yes I was over served.

Sunday was another full day.  We met Dave and Leeann, Al and Debbie, and Lisa and Steve for lunch at Regatta Point.  Felt like we were back home with all the Cincinnati folks.  Was a slow start with Mimosa's and Bloody Mary's but it was a great lunch.

After lunch we came back to the boat for a few beers and said goodbye to Lisa and Steve.  The rest of us decided to go to the rooftop for a drink.  We could see the storm off in the distance, but the rain never made it to us.  We did get some nice rainbow pictures though.

I was doing some cleaning on the boat on Monday and the sailboat behind us invited us over for dinner that night.  Turns out there were 6 of us and he had grilled up filets, shrimp, potatoes and asparagus.  We ended sitting out with them for a few hours and enjoyed dinner and the evening breeze.  I am counting Monday as an AFD day because we only had some sangria with dinner.  I am not sure if that really counts as drinking.:) 

Good thing Tuesday got back to normal with a AFD (alcohol free day) because we drove down to Venice to have lunch with Dave/Leeanne, Al/Debbie, Jim/Sarah and Mark at Pop's Sunset Grill.  Had a great time with everyone.

After lunch we drove over the see Dave and Leanne's place and then back to the boat.  

On Friday, today and our 27th wedding anniversary, we decided to drive up to Tampa and go to a boat show that was going on there.  It was a small show but still fun to walk around.  The show was free but we had to pay 8 bucks to park.  I think it was still bigger than the Cincinnati boat show.  We did spend some time on a couple of center consoles that we liked.  I tried to get Marcia to buy me the 33 Blackfin for an anniversary present but she was not going for it.

We did end up getting the bundt cake though to celebrate with later. Not sure how Marcia is going to wrap up the Blackfin though,

After the show we came back to the boat.  It is overcast here with a nice breeze and in the 80's, so a nice day.  I decided to sit up on the bridge and have a cigar and update the blog.  

A couple of updates, Cluck is still here and doing fine.  I know a few people have been asking about him, but he is keeping a low profile.  He likes it better when we are traveling.  Lucy seems to be settling in OK.

My view as I went in to go to bed the other night.  I believe she is trying to take over the whole boat and it is starting with my side of the bed.

One of her "rough" days.

Plan is to grill up some burgers for dinner and then enjoy a Bombay and Tonic for our anniversary sunset.  We are driving down to visit Mark and Debbie and go to the beach on their center console tomorrow. 

Take care and I will try to update the blog weekly, but don't count on it.