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.