Longboat Key and Sarasota

On Saturday the 9th we left Bradenton in a light rain heading west on the Manatee River into the ICW. There were lots of huge mansions along the way. Here's a couple of them:

We needed to have the Anna Maria and Cortez Bridges opened. The Cortez bridge tender commented on our Packer windsock – he’s formerly from a small town near Ashland, WI so it caught his eye. We went along Anna Maria Island leaving Tampa Bay and entering Anna Maria Sound. We anchored around 5pm at Longboat Key near Sarasota. There were four other boats anchored off Moores Stone Crab Restaurant. We were surprised to get a really strong wifi signal there and enjoyed a very peaceful night. This is the view at sunset from our anchor spot. (this isn't us!)

In the morning we took the dinghy to shore and walked to The Market where we had a second breakfast outdoors. It's great that so many places are dog-friendly with outdoor seating. We left there around noon heading for Sarasota. Here's some interesting architecture nearing Sarasota:

We actually got to sail along the way where the channel was wide enough in Sarasota Bay. With just the genoa out (the foresail) we did around 5.5 knots but we were in no hurry. It was great not having the engine running for a change. We got to the anchorage near Marina Jack’s, just past the Ringling Causeway Bridge, mid afternoon. There are about 65 boats on moorings or anchored here – much different from last night! We took the dinghy to shore at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar and Grill, evidently a really popular place on Sunday afternoons with live music. The big thing seemed to be to bring your dog (or dogs) along so we fit right in! The view of the downtown is beautiful at night. We had a lot of rain Tuesday night but not the high winds, thank goodness.

We've been making a daily trip to the Library in Sarasota. This is Ginger waiting with me outside the door while Paul was taking his turn on the computer. She sure generates a lot of comments from passersby. Paul said IF he were looking to pick up women she'd be very helpful! The statue is entitled "Best Friends".

THIS ‘N THAT

We were happy to see recycling bins at the marina in St. Petersburg and thought that would continue but that doesn’t seem to be the case. We HATE throwing our cans and bottles in the trash; evidently most places don’t value recycling as much as Wisconsin and Michigan. I was saving them for awhile but it became a space issue. We did actually haul them from the boat to a little grocery store here in Sarasota.

We miss seeing other “Loopers” along the way. Most of the boaters we met along the rivers are ahead of us now, hopefully we’ll catch up to them further south in Florida.

In the Tampa area, the State Fair was being promoted for later in the month. That seemed very odd to hear about a State Fair in February!

After hearing about all the nasty winter weather “up north”, we’re especially glad we picked THIS year to do this trip. We feel your pain, people of the northlands!

The next planned stop is Venice; the weather is still a bit iffy today so we may stay put another day. We're trying to see how long we can anchor out. Tonight will be night #5.