Staying in Cape Haze for a while

We have reached our destination of Palm Island Marina in Cape Haze where we will be for 5 weeks. We chose this spot as a "home base" because it is central to several cruising destinations such as Ussepa Island, Boca Grande, Sanibele Island and cabbage key. We also put together a Rendezvous with 15 other Ranger tugs that will take place from February 1st through the 4th. Below are a few pictures of Palm Island Marina

View of our pool

They have their own beach on the gulf and this is the ferry to bring you there

another pool view

This is the entrance from the ICW to Palm Harbor

Sitting at the dock

Sarasota

We spent 3 nights in Sarasota. This is a hustle and bustle town. We had the opportunity to go to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and the Ringling Museum. The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens abut the Sarasota Bay there is an extensive collection of orchids, bromeliads and epiphytes. The Ringling Museum is a two day event. The interesting part is that the Ringling’s left no circus memorabilia. They left all art and their homestead. However there is an extensive exhibit on the circus. All of the artifacts were donated by other sources. Howard Tibble built and entire miniture replica of the circus and that is also displayed at the museum. When he originally made it the Ringligs did not give him permission to use their name so he called it the Howard Brothers Circus.
The history of the circus is interesting. In general back in the late 50’s and early 60’s the circus was a victim of modern medium of that time, TV, the big screen and also a change in lifestyle. The circus would travel from town to town throughout the country by train and set up tents for the day. Their arriving in town was an event in itself. Over 1,500 workers would set up 12 tents in 1.5 hours! The big top was 120 feet wide and 600 feet long. The cooking tent fed all of the works 3 meals per day. The entire operation was a scheduling feat. There are tons of facts and exhibits to see so I will stop here and you can come down yourself and explore.

Yesterday we traveled from Sarasota to Venice and below are some pictures of our trip and also of our visit to Ringling.

On the steps by the Ringling home veranda

One of the many huge homes while traveling Sarasota Bay

One view of Howard Tibble's miniature circus

Jess trying out for the circus

I never promised you a rose garden, I said bromeliad

Look close, even miniture circuses have rest areas

A view looking up at the frame of an open air gazebo



One of the many orchids at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens



In Sarasota

The trip from Bimini Bay was uneventful. We saw a few dolphins off our bow and some white pelicans. These birds are much nicer looking than your typical brown pelican. Their eating habits are a bit different than the brown pelican. They do not dive for their food, they swim along and eat what they can catch. They also congregate in large groups. There is one spot on Sarasota bay that the channel is very narrow and can get very shallow if you go out of it. It reminded me of a stretch very famous for being narrow near Fort Myers called the Miserable Mile. In my opinion this stretch was worse.
Today we will be visiting the botanical gardens in Sarasota with our friends Becky and Dun Smith. They are returning from a two week cruise throughout the caribbean. They have a 12 hour layover before going back to CT so we figured a little excursion with us was in order.
Tomorrow we will go to the Ringling Museum and will report back on what we saw. I bet you can't wait!
Below are two pictures one is a visitor we had as we woke up anchored out in Bimini Bay. The other is a large statue near the marina called "Unconditional Surrender" this statue has caused a bit of controversy among the people of Sarasota, some love it others hate it. You can look it up on line and get the full details. You can see in the picture that Jess did a bit of investigative work. I won't tell what she found out, but to all you guys out there it was amazing.

On the move

Our next destination is Sarasota. We left St. Pete. around 1:00pm and had to cross Tampa Bay. We stayed an extra day in St. Pete because of weather and in retrospect we would have been better off leaving yesterday. Weather reports seem to never be as accurate as one hopes for. The winds were blowing worse today than predicted for yesterday. We survived though. This boat handles the seas well. We have been in some pretty rough seas before. Last year while leaving Key West we hit some 7 foot seas for a while and everything was flying all over. I had all to do to stay in my helm seat. Today we had following seas that went as high as 3 feet. Sometimes following seas can be more dangerous than head seas, but experience helps to deal with all types of conditions. We have stopped and anchored in a protected cove for the night before getting to Sarasota. Anchoring out is one of the most peaceful and pretty at times. Tonight we are sitting among many homes so the scenery is not very natural, but at least we are protected.
Below is a picture of us approaching the Sunshine Highway Bridge. If I am not mistaken this is a fairly new new bridge that was built after the original bridge was hit by a large ship.

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is one of the nicest towns we have visited so far. We are docked at the city marina and it is a great location. This town has their act together. They really cater to the visitor as well as their residents. Right outside the marina is a loop trolley that will bring you around the entire downtown area on a narrated tour for just 50 cents. There is another trolley that will bring you all the way to the gulf beaches for a mere $2.50. There are several museums. We visited the Holocaust Museum and the Dali Museum. The Dali Museum has 2,500 pieces donated by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse. The first piece we saw was originally purchase from Dali for $1,800 it is now worth around 18 million. The museum is built to withstand a category 5 hurricane. Dali's art is more than looking at a picture. He was a genius at telling a story and incorporating optical illusions within many of his paintings. He started painting at the age of 6. He adored his wife and, as Herschfeld who would incorporate his daughter's name in his illustrations, Dali would have his wife Gala in many of his.
The Holocaust museum was one of the best I have seen, with videos of survivors stories and many artifacts. They even had one of the train cars used to transport the detainees. A very well done depiction of terrible times that we must not forget, so that it does not happen again.
Below are three pictures: A bench made Dali style with Jess posing in the photo, one is showing the outside of the Dali Museum and the third is an unfortunate Curious George that jumped ship.

In Boca Ciega

Yesterday we spent a leisurely morning walking the trails of Caladesi Island. This place has some history behind it. Prior to becoming a park it was first settled "homesteaded" by Henry Scharrer in the 1800's. He and his wife raised one child on the island and they lived off the land as well as raising pigs and other animals. They made money by selling their produce on the main land. Their daughter would attend school on the mainland by rowing across the bay, which is quite a distance. She eventually married and moved to the mainland. Her mother died at an early age, but her father remained on the island until he could no longer work it. The family eventually donated the property to the state and hence the Caladesi State Park was born. The daughte,r Myrtle, would come back and visit occasionally and was a celebrity in the local area. She died in 1999 at the age of 97.
After our 3 mile walk we got back to the docks and helped a couple dock their sailboat. They were from Vermont and have been traveling since September. They sold everything they own and are full time live a boards. You meet people from all walks of life when cruising. Each has a different story and all are interesting.
We had lunch and then shoved off for our next stop Boca Ciega. No particular reason that we came here other than we heard this particular spot was nice as well as protected. It was a bit of a haul to make it all the way to St. Pete, so we figured a stop here for the night worked for us. We like to cruise at a speed of about 8 knots and that gives you the ability to see things as you go. So 3 or 4 hours gets you about 30 nautical miles.
Below is a picture from the boat as we were anchored.

Starting south

Today we departed from Tarpon springs for a short ride to Caladesi State Park. This is a beautiful area that boarders the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Clearwater Harbour on the other. The are miles of walking along the beach for those who love to shell. This is also home to the gopher turtle. As you walk the trails it isn't uncommon to come across one of these critters

The view from our boat looking up the entrance channel

Sitting at the docks

Settled in at Tarpon Springs

From Huntoon State Park we traveled up River to Sanford. Sanford is the most prosperous and well managed towns we visited since leaving Jacksonville. They have a very nice downtown within walking distance of the marina with many shops and restaurants. There is a great German restaurant called the Willow Tree Cafe. Our lunch was a two meal event with a variety of wursts, potato salad, spatzle, red cabbage and sauerkraut.
We pulled the boat yesterday and trailered it to Tarpon Springs, about a 2-1/2 hour drive. We are staying within walking distance of this Greek fishing village. At one time this community did extensive sponge diving. They have the largest Greek population for any town in the US. Every body here is either George, Nick, Lou or Constantine.
Today we drive our truck and trailer to our next destination Palm Island Marina in Cape Haze Florida. We then rent a car and drive back to Tarpon Springs for our 120 mile jaunt cruising our way back to Cape Haze. We will be meeting 16 other tugs there for a rendezvous from February 1st thru the 4th.

Paddle boat passing us while docked in Sanford, Florida

Disney has a big influence in this area. look at the power pole in the background

Want some Greek atmosphere and some good eating, stop in Tarpon Springs.

Welaka to Huntoon state park

This one will be more of a picture post

Don't walk too long among trees with Spanish Moss

This is the closest we got to something that resembled an aligator

1961 Buick Electra in Welaka

The entance way to Astor. Great property opportunities

The Eagle has landed. This was impressive!

Down by the docks of Welaka

Today was what we were waiting for, a beautiful ride down a stretch of the St. John's River that is pristine. The section we went up is called Murphy's Creek and is an offshoot of the river. This creek has some nice anchorages and plenty of wildlife. We saw three bald eagles, blue heron, egrets and anhinga. Unfortunately no alligators, but I am sure we will get to see some soon. Welaka is a small town and has inviting town docks that are free to stay at or two days. One night is enough. There is a small cafe just up from the docks that has spectacular food. All home cooked, even the rolls. Some of the best food we have eaten. The Town has little to offer, but the people are nice and the place is clean. There is a fish hatchery/aquarium that was interesting to visit, but 15 minutes and you are done. Below are some photos of the day.

Picture one is a local fishing at the docks for whatever comes along.
Picture 2 is, you guessed it, pelicans.
Picture 3 is a bit more exciting. If you can see it, that is a bald eagle.
Picture 4 is what we woke up to this morning..

Palatka

We left Ortega Landing on Thursday and took a short 20 mile ride to Green Cove Springs. This was a must stop since this is the town that is our official residence and domicile so we figured lets stop and see our town folk. The local cab driver is Gilligan. A bit of a character who does look somewhat like Bob Denver. We heard all about his first wife who is in prison for murder and his second wife who died from cancer. After our cab ride Jess and I were in love again.
After a night in our home town we headed out early to Palatka. Besides the recession hitting some of these town pretty hard the change in lifestyles has also had an impact. The St Johns River was a major waterway for transport of materials, supplies and people. This is no longer the case and is evident in the towns. Palatka's stores are half empty in the historic downtown. A once vibrant area is now withering on the vine.
Tomorrow we set off for what starts to be the most interesting and adventurous part of the St. John's River. More to come.