Pistol shrimp, lie detectors and reggae

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.

During our first night here in the marina, we kept hearing a loud snap, crackle and pop sound all throughout the boat. It was so loud it woke me during the night. It sounded like we were floating in a bowl of Rice Crispy cereal. We thought some stray electrical current was running beneath the boat and eating away our zincs. We honestly didn't know what it was but it was loud.

The next morning we learned that the culprit was likely pistol shrimp firing their "bullets" or Sheepshead fish feeding on the barnacles on the bottom of the boat or on the pilings within the slip.

Google pistol shrimp and you will read about what happens when its larger claw snaps. It discharges an underwater bubble bullet that stuns its prey. There is even a YouTube video that recorded the sound of the pistol shrimp.

Of course the other explanation we got from our dock neighbor and the marina office was that the Sheepshead were feeding on the barnacles. I guess this is possible also, especially when you see the teeth on these things. Check out the second picture below and tell me you want to put your toes in the water.

Every Saturday morning from 8-1 there is a 4 block Farmer's Market right up Main St. from the marina.  I have never seen such a large affair with so many vendors.  It was a farmer's market on steroids!!

From our slip we can see the 26 foot Unconditional Surrender Sculpture. A nameless serviceman dipped an unknown nurse for a kiss to celebrate the end of WWII on August 14, 1945. This sculpture was done by J. Seward Johnson.

We came across an artist on the street on our way back from the Farmer's Market and this was one of his pieces.

We went to a Reggae Festival in downtown Sarasota on Saturday night. We always think we like Reggae music until we hear it again. Every song sounds the same. I guess we really just like a few Bob Marley songs if we were honest about it.

Spring training has begun here too.  There are 12 MLB teams that come to Florida for spring training. We plan to spend the month of March in Fort Myers and hope we can attend a few games there.

Here's Liberty, but in Longboat Key, FL now, not Canyon Lake, TX.  When we sold Liberty in 2015 the woman we sold her to brought her to the Sarasota area.  We have kept in contact with Lisa for the past 3 years and when we talked to her in October, she said if we were ever in the area, call.  We did and she just so happened to be on the boat 5 miles from us. 

We paid her a visit and Liberty looked amazing!!  She has totally redecorated and made her look extremely homey and comfortable.  She withstood 132 mile an hour winds from the hurricane that came through this area back in September and the only damage was one blown out piece of eisenglass!  Pretty amazing!

St. Martha's Catholic Church

Our 4th new church to visit on our journey.  The priest was a hoot!