EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS

We are now official members of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Got our own Burgee!

Got back in my tennis groove yesterday with a ladies round robin at the Grove Isle Resort. Met a nice group of girls and enjoyed being back out on the court.

Last night we had 2 adventures! We signed up and used UBER for the first time. We had been wanting to do this to "stay with the times". It worked out just fine and we are proud of ourselves for doing it. I know, it doesn't take much to make us happy :-)

Our second adventure of the evening was to go to the Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel for
.Beer, Bourbon, Burgers and Blues
This was an event held poolside at this grand old hotel (1926). It has a fascinating history and was a very enjoyable evening. John very much enjoyed the variety of REALLY high heels that a lot of the women wore. I sported the cute flat sandals that Debbie Sherwin gave me :-))

Biltmore Pool was once the largest in the world

Many of Esther Williams movies were filmed here

DISNEY WORLD

OFF TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM, EPCOT, AND ANIMAL KINGDOM

CELEBRATING KRISTI'S BIRTHDAY

THESE CUTIES KEPT US ON THE GO......WE WERE REALLY TIRED WHEN WE GOT BACK TO THE BOAT!!

READY, SET, DISNEY!

We are back to the boat after a wonderful, fun filled trip to Disney World.
We are settling into boat life in Coconut Grove. We now have our car here, but we still walk almost everywhere. The weather continues to be superb. I am off to yoga and John is getting an oil change. Tonight we will go over to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club for dinner and to hear a world traveled sailor speak on going to the Abacos.

MADE IT TO OUR WINTER HABITAT

We arrived here in Coconut Grove on last Sunday afternoon. All was as we had left it, pretty much. The weather is warm, our dock mates are friendly and all is good. We were hoping that the work on the new marina office, laundry, and showers would have been completed. Looks like that won't happen  until mid March.

We have rented a car and  leave tomorrow for Hilton Head to pick up our car (10 hour drive ). From there, we will drive down to Disney World to be joined by Kristi, Connor, Keri and Charlie. Kristi has a vet conference in Orlando, so while she does that, the rest of us will go to Disney World for 3 days. The boys are 5 years old and it is their first time there. Should be a fun few days coming up!

DAY # 2 WEST PALM BEACH

We woke up to 30mph winds this morning, so we decided to stay put. We spent the morning doing boat duties, then headed off to a movie at City Center.

Didn't eat here but maybe the next time through!

There are some really gorgeous mega yachts here in the marina. I tried to post some pics but couldn't figure it out. Google Motor Vessel SkyFall......$37 million, 190 ft long......amazing !!!!!

CRUSTY COMMENTS AND OTHER STUFF

Made it to Palm Harbour in West Palm Beach today! Last time we had the miserable docking experience...this time we got it right :-) So happy :-))))

Anyhow, our chuckle from yesterday was a crusty comment from a woman on a sailboat. Can't call her a lady, as she was a bit rough around the edges. We hailed her on the VHF . She came back with a yelling "port side"....nothing else. As we proceeded to do a slow pass, she came back and in a very unpleasant tone yelled out that she could not slow down, as her fridge was running. To a non boater this probably isn't so funny, but it was to us.

This is the last Pilgrim made...same boat as TMCA friend John Allison...saw it in Vero Beach and again on ICW in Ft. Pierce. Such a beauty...as is John's 

Spent the night here on Ken and Kelly Hutchinson's great, great, great grandfather's island.....we think :-)

Party Barge

 Eagles nest above Hobe Sound

Red Scow

FOG AND FANFARE

Had a beautiful start to the morning headed to Daytona. We left at 7:30 AM under sunny skies. About 2 hours south we ran into sea fog at Matanzas Inlet. It came on suddenly and was awful . Sometimes we could see nothing.  There were 2 sailboats a ways behind us and 2 up ahead. We chatted on the VHF and kept each other abreast of conditions and visibility. We all went very slowly and were guided by our chart plotters. This event lasted about 45 minutes. The sun finally won out and the fog cleared.

We stayed at the Halifax River Yacht Club tonight. It is a reciprocal club to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club that we joined. They welcomed us warmly. Today was their Changing of the Guard. We arrived just in time to see all the fanfare and festivities for this event. All were dressed in blue and white, nautical flags on the boats, cannons, etc.

 Of course, we finished off the afternoon with an hour walk around town. Ever since I got my Garmin VIVOFIT for my birthday, I feel compelled to get in my 10,000 steps in a day....doesn't always happen :-( Downtown Daytona is a good place to walk!

Lovin' St Augustine

Arrived at St. Augustine yesterday. Usually, we stay at the Camanchee Cove Marina just north of town. This time we put on our Big Girl and Big Boy Pants and decided to stay at the SA municipal Marina....notorious for its strong currents. We figured out when slack tide was and arrived then. Docking went very smoothly with the assistance of 2 skilled dock hands and Captain John. We just LOVED being in downtown St. Augustine. It is so pretty with so much to do!!! We plan to stay there many more times on our transits to and from Florida.
Good TMCA friends, Phil and Matilde were in SA, as well. They are on their way to the West Coast of Florida. We met up with them for dinner at a fabulous local spot called GAS FULL SERVICES....food was local and delicious.  It was  just across the Bridge of Lions.

HEADED SOUTH FOR THE WINTER :-))))

After a wonderful Christmas with the girls and their families in Atlanta, we are back on Knotugal headed South. We left Hilton Head December 30 and made it all the way to Kilkenny Creek just before dark.

Sun setting as we head into Kilkenny

We got up early on  Dec.31st and had a good cruise to Jekyll Island....dodging low water and optimizing the notorious Georgia tides. We walked about a mile to the grand old hotel there and had a celebratory glass of wine in the quaint pub. We ended up chatting with a bunch of Jekyll local residents, ordered a pizza and had a wonderfully good time. We walked back to the boat in the dark following a moonlight path. It was a grand way to spend new year's and we were in bed by
10 PM.

Today, we had another early start, a relaxing cruise and arrived in Jacksonville Beach about 3 PM. After getting settled into our slip, we took a 2 mile walk to the Beach and back. Got to keep the body moving after being on the boat all day.
We had a beer and hamburgers at a cute place adjacent to the marina. So far, a great start to our trip. We are thankful!