BACK IN HOME PORT

We arrived in Hilton Head, Windmill Harbour Marina, yesterday. We are so grateful to have thus far travelled about 14,000 miles, been pretty safe, and have truly enjoyed our Adventures! We will head back to Texas for a while and be back to the boat early July. Who knows where we'll go next :-))

THE RESTAURANT WAS OPEN!!!

Of all the times we have stopped at this marina, this restaurant has not been open. Having never been in there before, we didn't know what to expect. We thought it might be kind of a dive. Needless to say, we were VERY pleasantly surprised. It was VERY nice inside with a VERY nice menu. We look forward to arranging our stops to hit it on its Wednesday through Saturday schedule.

JEKYLL ISLAND

Had to stop here. When we left to go South in January, we stopped here New Year's Eve and had a really fun time at the pub. We made friends with bartender, Cindy, and promised her we would stop again on our way North. Being such a small, intimate environment, it is easy to chat with the other patrons and have a couple of enjoyable hours talking about just anything you could think of.

THE DREADED MARKER #19

So the next morning, we have to time our departure so that we can manage the low tide and get off the dock before the current picks up. We were warned that as long as we stayed about 30' off Marker 19 in this certain area, go very slowly, we might be OK. Well......WE WERE BLINDED BY OUR FRIGHT! Instead of passing 19 to our Starboard side, we attempted to pass it on our port side......big mistake. We ran aground and had to sit there for an hour, stuck in the mud, waiting for the tide to rise. Live and learn....keep your wits about you :-)

ROCKIN' AND ROLLIN' in Fernadina Beach

Safely tied up on the face dock here tonight. 20-25MPH NNE winds and strong current. Boat is secure, but we are bouncing. 

ST AUGUSTINE

Last Saturday morning we left New Smyrna Beach about 9AM, trying to wait out the sea fog. We were pretty successful with that. Sea Fog has been an issue the last few days...not a good thing. Next up that day was passing through the Manatzas Pass. It is by an inlet and really shoals in. We called Tow Boat US to get the latest info . As we approached, 2 large boats had run aground and Tow Boat US was on the scene. Thankfully, we passed through without incident, but creeped along. The final thrill for this day was to enter the St. Augustine Municipal Marina during slack tide. The current is strong and can just rage through there. We had traveled 70 miles this day and tried to time it down to a "gnats ass". It turns out we were within 5 minutes of the official slack tide. We did a couple circles outside of the marina and then entered. Our docking went flawlessly. We were so thankful to arrive safe and sound, considering all that could have gone wrong, but didn't. 
I looked up a nice restaurant, Cellar 6, on Trip Advisor and off we went. Wonderful ambiance, wonderful food, wonderful wine...what a great end to our day.....but wait, it was not quite over. As we walked back to our boat, we passed by a large SeaRay with a bunch of people onboard, playing loud music. They announced that theirs was "the party boat" and invited us to join them. We had a ball. We even danced :-) We met a really fun group of younger people and had one of those "spontaneous" good times.

BLUE ANGELS

We are making our way North. Night before last we stopped at North Palm Beach Marina for the first time. A good stop and since it was St' Patty's Day we made our way to Duffy's for some corned  beef and cabbage. Last night we were in Ft. Pierce. I saw on Facebook that fellow cruisers, Ernie and Camille Rogers were at a marina just across the ICW from us. I called them this AM on our way out and had a nice chat. They are heading over to the Bahamas.

We are at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club tonight at the south end of Merrit Island across from Melbourne. We went about 50 miles today on the Indian River. Just about an hour before we were to dock and we were getting lethargic, the Blue Angels saved the day. They are in town for the Melbourne Air and Space Show! They were practicing just above us for over an hour!!!  It was amazing. We felt like we had our own performance by them. I had never seen them perform before. Actually, it was a little unnerving...scary to watch at times.

LOS OLAS / SPRING BREAK

Had a great start to our trip North. We left Dinner Key at first light and made it to Ft. Lauderdale by noon. We walked over to the Las Olas District (did 4 miles of walking today). It is an area of small shops and cute restaurants. Afterwards we headed over to the beach (a block from our boat). Just so happens that this is Spring Break....lots of college kids having fun.

Bridge going up right by our marina

Spring Break!!!

TIME'S UP

Spent all of Friday driving our car up to Hilton Head. Spent all of yesterday driving a rental car back down to Coconut Grove. We are very happy to have had 2 uneventful days, but it sure feels good to be out of the car. Unfortunately, this was Bike Week in Daytona Beach, so I 95 had hundreds of motorcycles coming and going. Most were fine, but there were sure a lot of crazies weaving in and out of traffic that felt invulnerable to being hit by a car at 75 mph.

Tomorrow AM at first light we leave to go North. There is a section of the ICW that we must pass through during high tide (Haulover Inlet area), or risk running aground. We'll spend the night in Fort Lauderdale at the Las Olas Marina. First time there and supposed to be a good spot with lots to do.

STONE CRABS

Since we are getting ready to head North next Monday, we are trying to cram in all the stuff we haven't done yet. One of those is eating Stone Crabs. We had never had them before. Tonight we walked over to Monty's Raw Bar and tried it out. Yes, they were tasty, and yes, they were pricey. The shells are extremely sharp. Can't imagine what would happen to your stomach if you accidentally swallowed a piece of the shell. Anyhow, that is one more experience to check off the list.

BOCA CHITA KEY

Can't understand why it took us so long to visit Boca Chita Key on Biscayne Bay....oh, I know...supposedly no dogs are allowed there at all, and the depth going in was dicey. While we still had Dorsey, we figured we couldn't stop. Yesterday, we finally decided to go. There were lots of dogs there, even though the "RULES" stated that they were forbidden. Also, the depths were just fine.

We absolutely loved this beautiful quiet place. It took us about 2 hours to go from our marina to BCK. It is a small harbor with beautiful turquoise water all around. There is a small swimming beach, hiking trail, picnic tables and a lighthouse. Last night we were one of 4 boats there. We cooked steaks on our grill, watched the sun set and enjoyed a bottle of wine. It was an unforgettable experience and we look forward to going back there many times next Winter.

While there, the Ranger opened up the lighthouse and we climbed up for a gorgeous view

CARNAVALE ON THE MILE

This is an event in Coral Gables. They close the street called Miracle Mile for the weekend. We had heard about it, so off we went yesterday afternoon. It is a festival of music, exotic food, and art. The atmosphere was very much of Latin influence. I love when the music plays, people automatically start moving there bodies and dancing.

One of many Latin Bands

MOON OVER MIAMI

GIANT BOWL OF PAELLA

SOUTH BEACH 2015

This past Thursday, we drove over to SOBE (the popular name for it around here) for the night. It is the mecca for people watching. We walked Ocean Ave, found a good spot for a Mojito , and watched all the sights go by...great afternoon. That evening we had dinner at the Lincoln Ave outdoor mall.  A stop later at the Regent Cocktail Club in the Gale Hotel for more people watching, and finished off the evening at the Cabaret Piano Bar. The Piano Bar was a hoot! All the waiters and waitresses perform. We saw a Cirque Du Soleil type performance as a guy did acrobatics from long silk panels, a beautiful guy dressed as a woman ( not sure of the correct word...trans something) sing, and more singers. It was such fun! If ever you are in SOBE, make this a stop.

The next morning, we walked along the beachfront. Weather was warm and sunny. Love the Winter here!!