FT MYERS BEACH, SANIBEL, CABBAGE, PUNTA GORDA, VENICE

He Said:  Howdy.  It has been a while, but wow does time fly when you are having fun.  First of all I want to thank all of our friends and family who went the extra mile to come visit us.  It is a little tricky to leave the boat and visit you guys, so thanks again.

We departed Naples on Saturday, March 22 and headed to Ft. Myers Beach.  Due to the location of the waterway we decided on FMB instead of Ft. Myers.  We spent the following 5 days there and enjoyed it very much.  At times, this is long enough when you are our age and about 80% of the people are there on spring break.  What a big ass party in the beachy areas - it was like Ft. Lauderdale and other areas that us older folks visited for spring break, lots happening!  

Sunset  on busy Ft. Myers Beach

While we were in FMB we timed it so we could spend time with my nephew Todd Belt and his wife Katie.  They have 2 children and rented a cottage in Sanibel for a week during the kids’ spring break.  From the cottage to the boat was no great distance, but lots of spring break traffic heading for the beaches.  After our stay at FMB we moved the boat to Sanibel.  This is a very cool little laid back town. The cottage was about a 5 minute walk to the beach - very cool. We had a blast hanging with them; it was Todd’s third trip visiting us, Katie’s second, and the kids’ first.  On Friday we kept my great niece Anna (9) and my great nephew Jake (13).  They both stayed on the boat with us and we all had a wonderful time. We had a great time.

Jack bringing Todd, Katie, Jake and Anna out to MTB on the mooring ball

On Tuesday April Fools Days we left the area and headed to Cabbage Key.  We anchored out and headed into the little peaceful marina that evening for dinner.  Rumor has it that Mr. Buffett wrote “Cheeseburger in Paradise” while visiting here.  It was very cool and very laid back.  You could only get here by boat which made it even cooler.

Sunset set on Cabbage Key

The following morning we pulled the anchor and headed to Punta Gorda. We enjoyed this area very much and spent 2 nites here.  The marina had bike rentals for free.  We like jumping on 2 wheels and visiting the town.  It was a very cool area.  We found a great Mexican joint and some fun happy hours - what a surprise.

Partying at the Tiki Bar in Punta Gorda as the sun sets

On Friday the 4^th we left and headed to Cape Haze.  The following day we headed to Venice.  This is a place that our good friend Tim Wild told us not to miss - he was right. We biked into town.  That evening one of us had to get to the local bar for the Final 4.  I am so happy that I do not bet on college hoop or I would be flat broke.  What a surprise evening that was.

We took the dinghy to this little island in Venice.  Close enough to swim there, but it's illegal to swim across the GIWW

Checking out the sunset before dinner and the NCAA basketball games

On Sunday the 6^th we departed for Sarasota where we spent our first nite on a mooring ball.  It was a very windy and bumpy nite.  The Florida weather has spoiled us but our nite on the ball was a reminder of the older days of getting tossed around a little.  The following day we moved into Marina Jacks - how cool is that name??  Our good friends from the Cave Creek area are going to visit us here in Sarasota.  Mark and Kathy will meet us here and spend about 3 days here with us - this will be determined by the weather man.  Then the 4 of us will travel about 4 hours to St. Pete where they will stay with us for a couple of days before heading back to Arizona.  This will give them a chance to see 2 different cities and also see what it is like to travel with us.  We are very much looking forward to their stay with us.  They get the whole boat world; Kathy has spent her whole life around boats and together they have owned a 24 ft. boat and have traveled to lots of the waters in the SW part of the country.

Sarasota sunset

I think this is about a 3 week wrap up of our world according to Jack.  We are still having a blast after about 10 ½ months - still floating, still speaking, still alive.  How’s that!! 

Take Care, Sorta Captain Jack

 

She Said:  I thought things were going to quiet down when we left Naples, boy was I wrong!

 There’s no inside/ICW route from Naples to Ft Myers Beach, so we hopped out into the ocean for the 35 mile trip.  We’ve been in the ocean since leaving Marathon.  The ocean/gulf is typically rougher water than the ICW and we’ve been fortunate to have good water conditions while at sea.  We arrived early afternoon, grabbed our mooring ball, and headed into town to explore.

 Ft Myers Beach (FMB) is very different than Naples.  The average age is much younger and everything is much more casual and more “touristy.”  People walk up and down the streets in nothing but their bathing suits.  Most of the shops are the T-shirt and beach variety.  Naples may have a bit highbrow for my liking, but FMB was too laidback for me.  We did find a fun dive bar, Bonita Bill’s, filled with old people (even older than us) having a great time.  The place was packed and everyone was dancing.  As we were boarding the dinghy to return to MTB, a homeless-looking man with a hospital bracelet and a sling asked if we could take him to his boat in the mooring field – we obliged.  He was directing us to his boat and directed us right into a shoal and the dinghy hit bottom – hard.  I had to get out of the dingy and pull her off the shoal – we were back underway. 

 

Ft Myers Beach sunset from the mooring field in FMB

 Jack's nephew, Todd, and his family were spending spring break in a cottage on Sanibel Island, about 5 miles from FMB by boat.  This was Todd’s 3^rd trip to MTB and Katie’s 2^nd.  It was the first time for their kids, Jake-13 and Anna-9.  We caught up with them our second day in town.  They shuttled back and forth between Sanibel and FMB; we eventually moved to a marina on Sanibel and that made things so much more convenient.  Together we went to the beach, looked for seashells, went shopping, had our nails done, cooked in, took a boat ride, ate out, took the kids dinghy driving, and watched college basketball – to name a few of our activities.  We especially enjoyed the night we “babysat” Jake and Anna overnight on MTB.  We made burgers on board and then went out for ice cream.  In the morning – after the marina delivered the newspaper and blueberry muffins (the marina’s tradition) – we saw 3 manatees and several dolphins.  We hopped in the dinghy and went cruising with the dolphins.  It was a fun week – a nice combination of activities and kicking back. We always have fun with Todd and family. 

 

Three manatees swimming off the stern of MTB

Sanibel is a cute town - a nice mix of both Naples and FMB.  Sanibel’s population is typically 5,000, but while we were there the population jumped to approximately 50,000.  It was crazy busy – especially since there’s one main street that transits the 7 mile island.  It’s a fun place with lots of sea shells, beaches and bike trails. 

The Sanibel lighthouse

When the gang left, we headed back to FMB and a mooring ball for a couple nights.  We needed to get provisions and Jack wanted to find a sports bar to watch more basketball.  It also gave me time to plan our upcoming week.  We were meeting friends in Sarasota – 77 miles away – and we had 7 days to make the trip.  The Gulf IntraCoastal Water Way (GIWW) starts just outside FMB so we’ll be back in protected waters.

 Our first stop was Cabbage Key – a small island only accessible by boat.  We dropped our anchor and spent a very pleasant afternoon hanging out on MTB.  The weather was great and the water absolutely beautiful.  It was an ideal day living on the water.  Later in the day we took the dinghy to the Old House Restaurant on Cabbage Key.  The walls of the restaurant are lined with dollar bills – approximately $70,000.  Visiting tarpon fishermen are said to have posted signed dollar bills on the walls to ensure a cold beer upon their return.  Dollar bills that fall off the wall are donated to local charities.  Some people believe that the burger served here was the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet’s song “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  I’m not sure I believe it, but they do have Jimmy’s signed dollar bill framed. 

 

The entrance to Cabbage Key

 


I've never seen so many dollar bills in one place
 

Jimmy Buffett's signed $$$ bill

 

 

Pulling up the anchor the next morning was a real challenge.  The motor just didn’t have any power, so we ended up pulling up the anchor manually.  What a pain in the neck!  After about 15 minutes we were underway.  Our next destination was Punta Gorda – a 20+ mile detour off the GIWW.  Punta Gorda has a 40+ ball mooring field, and we were the only boat there.  These balls are rarely used and that made hooking up to them very challenging because the lines are overgrown with algae and barnacles.  The lines were so heavy I had a hard time lifting the line.  I eventually got in the dinghy, rowed to a ball, and lifted the line into the dinghy (I could finally lift the line of the 5^th ball).  Jack drove MTB to the dinghy and dropped a line to me.  I then threaded the line onto the mooring ball.  What a challenge!  But it was well worth it, because Punta Gorda is a great destination.

Check out the growth on this mooring line. 

 We found a couple of cute Tiki Bars on the water with great happy hours.  These places were hopping with live music and people dancing.  Everyone was very friendly and having fun.  We found a great Mexican restaurant, Dean’s, which had live music.  We ate there our first night in town and went back the next night to listen to the music.  On our final night we had an excellent stuffer grouper dinner at The Riverfront Grill.  We met a couple at the bar and had a “small world” experience:  She and I worked in the travel field in Chicago and knew a lot of the same people; he taught high school in Columbus and knew a lot of the same people as Jack.  We really enjoyed Punta Gorda, and would strongly recommend the detour.

 


The Tiki Bar on the Peace River, Punta Gorda

 



Punta Gorda sunset from MTB

Our next stop was Cape Haze – this was more of a convenience stop than a destination stop.  We’d been anchored/on the ball for the better part of two weeks and I needed a marina.   Here we had cheap dockage, cheap fuel, a laundry, and a pool – it was a very nice marina.  We got caught up on everything and I would stay here again.

Jack cleaning algae off MTB

 We continued northward the next day to Venice.  What a great setting.  The marina was right at the junction of the GIWW and an inlet.  The water was really pretty and there were lots of boating activities.  The town was about a mile away, but the marina had bicycles and it was an easy ride.  The town was very cute and there were lots of restaurants and shops.  This is definitely a place to spend a week. 

This is the inlet from the Gulf to the GIWW as seen from MTB

 

 I have really enjoyed the west coast of Florida.  The water is pretty and the towns are cute and fun.  There are also a lot of areas where it’s nice to drop an anchor and just hang out.  I am looking forward to spending more time in this area.

 It was a short trip the next day to Sarasota.  It was pretty windy and we had a reservation on a mooring ball.  It wasn’t my best effort tying up to the ball – it took me 3 tries to get on.  But I think I learned something, so better luck next time.  We were right in the heart of Sarasota.  Our friends from Phoenix, Mark and Kathy, will be joining us here for 5 days.  We’re really looking forward to their visit.