Monday, December 9: Looking back on the Monday after Thanksgiving
of our Crossing, the one thing I vividly remember is Clay saying to me at 3:50
a.m. as we got out of bed, "I'm in no hurry." Hello! Why are we
getting up at 3:50 a.m.? As the day played out, we made our journey with time
to spare, but didn't know that on the front end. We joined many other Looper
boats at Turtle Cove Marina end point, many having left Carrabelle Sunday
mid-afternoon and making an overnight crossing. We traveled at an average of 19
mph, having 2-440 hp diesels and thus able to travel at a higher rate of speed
than those overnighters who travel at about 10 mph max speed. Following our
arrival on Monday, there were others who docked on Tuesday. It seems that
Turtle Cove, Tarpon Springs, FL was a popular southern endpoint.
We had plenty of time to
explore Tarpon Springs, having now arrived in a warmer climate than the area
along the panhandle coastline and wishing to unwind after the anticipation of
crossing the Gulf of Mexico. The marina was located in historic downtown Tarpon
Springs, offering and promoting the usual mix of touristy attractions.
"Boutiki Hut" immediately caught my attention. This area is highly
populated by Greek descendants, and we found Greek restaurants in abundance as
well as a huge sponge exchange, the harvesting process brought over from the
Mediterranean and used in the waters of the Gulf.
Having opened my closet on
Tuesday morning to find the pole and accompanying clothes and hangers on the
bottom of the closet floor, our walking destination that morning was ACE
Hardward where Clay bought fittings and changed out such to reposition the
hangers. I guess, even with minimal wave action, the vibration of Monday's trip
broke the aged endcaps. Kudos to Clay! Being project oriented, I found it nice
to have a project and a destination for our walk; I'm adapting to retirement,
but I don't think I'll ever really like it!
Tuesday evening found us in a
group of eight Loopers seated at Mykonos, a Greek restaurant recommended by the
marina staff. The congenial waitress took our orders, answering questions about
Greek preparation, then served us huge portions of reasonably-priced menu
items. I'm finding 'Greek' food often means 'seasoned-rubs' and tomato-based
seasoned sauces. Delicious. And, we all took home leftovers!
Incorporated into our
Wednesday morning walk was a stop at the 'sponge factory' to view a movie which
explained the harvesting of sponges, the various kinds of sponges and their
uses, etc. It was quite informative and had been highly recommended during the
previous evening's dinner conversation. I took the opportunity to buy a few
sponges and also some lotions/potions/soaps made with goats milk and olive oil.
That evening, on the way back from dinner, again at Mykonos for me to order
lamp chops (5 plus sides for $19.95--wow, can't even buy 5 chops at the grocery
for $20) and Clay, lamb shank in a tomato-based sauce, we stopped at my new
favorite sponge/soap shop for additional purchases. I found that this business
has a location in Branson, MO, and the Greek proprietor talked excitedly and
antimatedly about his trips to Branson. He's sold on Branson, MO!
On Thursday, Clay decided it
was time to move farther down the coastline (by about 7-8 miles) to Dunedin,
SaSea Sally's home for the next 1+ month while we enjoy Christmas at home with
family and friends! Our departure included a stop at a nearby location to gas
up from the Crossing; it wasn't pretty as Clay had underestimated the current
of this river, and the dockhand was inept at best. A combination of factors
yielded two full diesel tanks but a bent fender holder (lucky the experience
wasn't more damaging!) We journeyed to Dunedin and arrived at Marker 1 Marina
after successfully navigating the nearby bridge (you've received that email
previously!).
Now docked at slip A12, we
are enjoying beautiful, above-normal temperatures and sunshine. Thursday
night's bill of fare included grilled burgers and zucchini (we have the boat's
gas grill positioned and grilling mastered by now); Friday's dinner consisted
of Mykonos' leftovers after we spent the day exploring downtown Dunedin by
riding the Jolley Trolley (public transit system additional to the Pinellas
County Transit bus system). The Jolley Trolley was such fun...an open air
trolley of sorts that travels from the northern end, Tarpon Springs, to the
southern end, Clearwater, stopping at bus stops and elsewhere along the way by
merely being flagged down by those wanting to ride. $4.50 ($2.25 for seniors)
buys unlimited one-day access to the trolley which runs on Fridays, Saturdays,
and Sundays. We had quite a bit of trouble figuring out, initially, where the
trolley picks up passengers! Even the locals were of little help. But, we
boarded the trolley and rode first into downtown Dunedin where we wandered
through the historical downtown, explored the Friday farmers' market, and ate
lunch at a cute, little outdoor cafe called the Broadway Deli and Cafe.
Re-boarding the southbound trolley after Sally jumped up and down at the curb,
waving her arms frantically to attract the driver's attention, we rode to the
trolley's end at the Clearwater Publix (grocery), then back to our starting
point in Dunedin. Was fun being on a wheeled, motorized vehicle, but the seats
were sure uncomfortable!
Saturday dawned warm and
sunny, and Sal spent much of the morning doing a large load of laundry at the
facility on-site; because marina staff dock transients at the far end of the
docks/fingers, it's usually a 'decent' walk to and from.
Marker 1 hosted a low
country shrimp boil over the lunch hour which we enjoyed along with a large
crowd, all of whom were anticipating the boat parade Saturday evening in
celebration of the Christmas holiday season. Clay and I were ill-prepared for
the crowd that swelled as the sun set, all of whom appreciated the
exquisitely-decorated/lighted boats.
Having unloaded our bikes
from the boat railings late Saturday afternoon in anticipation of a Sunday ride
along the Pinellas Trail, we were sadly disappointed to awaken Sunday morning
to missing bikes. Of course, that gave direction to our morning walk as we
searched in vain for our vintage-1960's 'funky' foldable bikes. All of a
sudden, the bikes, of which Sal wasn't too fond (funky, rusted, eye-sores, but
worked) became "Oh, my bike :>( " (They photographed pretty darn
well, we realized after filing a sheriff's report and having to email pix of
said stolen bikes.) Returning to the marina after our morning walk, Clay
extended boat hooks (poles) and raked the bottom of the harbor surrounding our
boat, hoping against hope that maybe the 2 bikes got knocked in. No luck--yet.
I realize that, this boating
world in which we are currently living, is an artificial society (Clay
appropriately selected the adjective 'artificial'), this realization brought on
by losing our bikes. Boaters are friendly, accommodating, quick to help/aid/and
assist without being asked, courteous and congenial. We find few pretenses
among our boater friends/acquaintances; we women wear no make-up, clothes with
holes, and take orders from the captain, mostly without questioning (the
saying, "The captain is always right" is accepted and makes for
smooth sailing in most instances). The presumed theft of the bikes (slim chance
they are on the harbor bottom which the marina diver will check out soon) came
as a rude awakening because we've become lax in locking our belongings and
careless in our assessing the honesty of the crowd around us.
Sunday and Monday have now
passed in anticipation of Tuesday's flight home for the Christmas celebration.
Again, we are leaving beautiful weather for home and family...gladly, tho' we
may regret our eagerness once we arrive to 7 degrees windchill.
Until our S3 (SaSea Sally)
journey resumes in mid-January, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and the
happiest of New Years, 2014!
We got to the airport, ate
lunch, and settled in at the gate for a wait of several hours. I
decided to check with the counter and they advised that the flight had switched
gates, the plane was at the new gate now, and would leave at the time scheduled
when we initially booked the flight!!! We scurried to the new gate to find
that rather than using the plane that had been delayed (which hadn’t even left its prior stop, New
Orleans yet), SWA had dug up another plane and crew that were already in
Tampa. Despite 175 mph headwinds we made it into STL only a few minutes
late—hurray for Southwest.
BONUS This is the first flight we’ve been on for years
that was less than half full on both legs!!!!!!!
