Bazar’s Second Wave

You can't tell from the picture below that the small marina was packed when we arrived. Boats of all sizes (even a sea plane) were docked as we tried to squeeze into the slip you see Second Wave backed into below. Ferry boats and pleasure boats descend on the small island's restaurant marina every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then vanish afterward. Once inside the tight marina, we spun the boat and danced between the others to bring her to rest. Cabbage Key is an unspoiled island (only accessible by boat) that offers many opportunities for observing nature in all its forms.  We went on a nature trail and saw ducks, gopher tortoise, and a variety of trees, shrubs, plants, and bird life and unfortunately chiggers that are still with me as I type a couple days later.  These guys are everywhere. They burrow beneath the tree roots in the sand and return to the same nests each evening. The staff has named them and customized nameplates now hang abov...

Sarasota, FL at Marina Jacks. When we were on our "Great Loop" road trip back in October, this marina was one of the best that we visited.  We are so glad we got to stay here. Ironically, we learned after we arrived that it was voted the #1 marina in America recently. Yes, there is even a Tiki Bar. Made it to Happy Hour! These are rules that are posted for a fishing tournament hosted by the marina this coming weekend. They take their fishing pretty seriously around here. Look at rule #8! Really!! The marina has a park adjacent to it with a huge mooring field behind it.  There is O'Leary's Tiki bar there, many benches and swings to enjoy the view of Sarasota Bay, and small sandy areas where you can pull your dinghy up from the mooring field. I photo-bombed the Irish bagpipers (it was an accident). The photo above is of some of our boat neighbors. There are a lot of Thurston Howell III's running around here. ...

The correct pronunciation of Dunedin is not "Done-din" as we called it all day. It is pronounced "Done-Eaden" and we rode the Jolly Trolley there on our last day in Clearwater. Its only about 5 miles away. Its a cute little town whose Main Street is lined with patio cafes, ice cream shops, and (of course) several bars with happy hour specials all afternoon. Dunedin is also the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Many of the Major League teams have spring training homes in this part of Florida. Their spring season is now underway. We continued on the Jolly Trolley north to Tarpon Springs (about 15 miles from Clearwater). Tarpon Springs was the home of the sponge trade in the US in the early 1900's. Greeks (who were very experienced in harvesting sponges from their home waterways) were hired and relocated to dive the deeper waters near the town of Tarpon Springs to harvest the local sponges. And thus the sponge industry in t...