Seeing lots of friends in Venice, Punta Gorda, Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, Florida

On Wednesday, January 28 we left Sarasota for Venice. We had been on this route before a few years ago on a rental boat. There are beautiful homes along the way, especially in Siesta Key. We took photos of some of the spots we knew from being here before such as Pop's Sunset Grill in Nokomis, and the Casey Key Fish House and Tiki bar with a beach. On the way we waited for several bridges to open, most of which are scheduled but we did have to call one of them. We rented a slip at the Venice Yacht Club for 2 days. It is very nice facility and the dockmaster and staff were helpful and welcoming. That night we walked to nearby Crows Nest Tavern for dinner with Todd who was staying at their marina.

On Thursday our friends from back home who are spending several weeks in the area, Tom and Carol, picked us up and we shopped and dined in Venice. During the day we got a text from our Looper friends, Barb and Donn, on their boat Current Obsession,  who were on their way to Venice so we were able to take their photo as they passed by Pop's in Nokomis! Tom snapped a photo of us taking a photo of them. Later all 6 of us dined at the Venice Yacht Club. 

On Friday, January 30,  we cruised with 2 other couples on our way to Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda! We were joined by Tom and Carol, and Carol's brother Ken and wife Cathy, who were spending time in nearby Englewood. They are also from Iowa. Ken and Cathy have a sailboat in Sister Bay. Tom and Carol are also boaters so we had a great, experienced crew and docking was amazing that day. The day started out chilly but later warmed up nicely. We passed familiar sites in Venice that we had seen the day before, such as Dockside Grill.  We also saw many spots in Englewood that Ken and Cathy knew about. The highlight was the number of dolphins that swam next to us or in our wake, usually 2 or 3  at a time! Passing through Charlotte Harbor the waters were amazingly calm. We were able to sit up on the bow and enjoy the scenery. After we got there we were treated to an amazing lunch outside in the warm weather at Cass Cay restaurant at the marina. Later our guests had to leave,  so Tim and I walked around the rest of the marina and saw a band playing and enjoyed the  sunset. 

Saturday, our good friends from back home, Keith and Marcia came to visit us at Burnt Store Marina. They were visiting for a week and seeing several friends who winter down here. Karla also joined us from Sarasota. We had a nice lunch at Cass Cay and a very cold walk to our boat! The weather was going back and forth between cold and warm during that time, and this was an especially cold and windy few days! That evening we, along with Keith and Marcia, met 2 other couples we know from our club back home who winter in the area. We ate at Laishley Crab House in Punta Gorda with Joni and Dave from Punta Gorda, and Tom and Diann, from Cape Coral. Tom and Diann completed the Loop about 15 years ago and they have been very helpful and encouraging! Sunday, we got to see another couple who live in Port Charlotte, that we had not seen in about 20 years! We knew Chris and Dawn when we lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the 1990s. Our first 2 kids are the same age as theirs and the girls are still in touch. We were so busy catching up that we forgot to get a photo so they kindly sent me one. We did eat at Cass Cay and they also took the cold and windy walk to our boat. They used to do a lot of sailing in Green Bay, and now they enjoy camping and seeing sights in their Express RV. 

Monday, February 2, we were excited to head to Fort Myers to see my friend I've known since third grade, Tanya and her husband John. On the way back through Charlotte Harbor it was a bit rough but passable. Tanya and John  live in The Landings off of the Caloosahatchee River which has a marina. We were going to bring our boat right to the marina, but along the way we talked to their captain and he said with our 3.5 foot draft it would be tough to make it in. The  unusually low winter tides and cold weather were causing the marina to have a shallow entrance. After calling a few other places close by, there were no spots for us so we backtracked to nearby Cape Coral to Tarpon Point Marina. Unfortunately the winds there made docking a bit tough and a bracket holding the dinghy broke. (The winds a few days before had already torn one of our vinyl eisenglass screens in the back of the boat.)  Anyway, we were able to repair the dinghy bracket  the next day so all is well again! Not sure when the eisenglass can be repaired but clear packing tape is holding it for now!  The good news was that Tanya and John graciously picked us up and still took us to their beautiful home and cooked dinner for us and then took us back to the marina! They offered to house us but we were still worried about the winds and the boat. John also took Tim to the hardware store so that he could get the part to fix the bracket. It was so fun to meet John and to catch up with Tanya after many years apart. Tuesday the weather was still a bit cool so they again picked us up and drove us to Sanibel and Captivia Islands. These are beautiful areas and really took a hit during Hurricane Ian but it was nice to see much of it has recovered.  The popular Mucky Duck is still in disrepair though. We walked along the Lighthouse Beach in Sanibel and ate in Captiva at Green Flash. They showed us many places including Tween Waters Resort which is now on our list of places to go in the future! On the way back they again helped us with a hardware and Publix stop for provisions.  Later that evening we got to see other friends from back home, Kim and Butch, who winter in Fort Myers, where Keith and Marcia were staying. We all had dinner at High Tide Social Club which is in Tarpon Point where our boat was. Tarpon Point itself has great shops, hotels and restaurants. One advantage of the cold spell was that many bullsharks made their way into the marina so we got good photos of those. We also saw our first and only manatee swim through there,  and  also saw 2 tarpons. 

Wednesday, February 4, Keith and Marcia joined us to cruise to Fort Myers Beach. We had a pretty warm day and could ride up on the bow for a bit. Keith and Tim are in a biking group back home and their biking friend Jim has a boat on Sanibel so he greeted us in his boat! It was a short ride to Pink Shell Resort which some friends had recommended. We are  glad they did because with a reasonably priced boat slip with an AGLCA discount,  we have all of the amenities of the resort! We have access to the pool and beach and even free breakfasts! The area is great too with free shuttles and trolleys and bikes to go to the nearby attractions on Fort Myers Beach. The day we arrived was very warm so we went to the beach and pool. One photo shows the 16 foot storm surge line from Hurricane Ian. They have made a nice comeback from that. For dinner, Jim and his wife Ann,  joined us  at Rae's Italian Cuisine at the resort. Thursday was back to cold and windy again, but we took the enclosed trolley downtown and went to a few restaurants and a couple of us bought sweatshirts due to the cold! We checked out the Margaritaville  resort too.  We came back and played cards and then ate at Rae's again since it is the one inside restaurant at Pink Shell. Friday we took the free pink bikes offered by the hotel downtown and stopped to see the beachfront Margarativille area. Keith and Marcia had to leave at noon so after that we worked on laundry (also free at the resort)  and administrative tasks. We met another looper couple while here who happens to be a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot like Tim. They did not fly together but were good friends with the same people. Brad and Kim have a Fleming Yacht named Weezer. Brad flew Ch46s and also flew for the President while attached to HMX-1 in Quantico, VA. It truly is a small world! We are still at Pink Shell as of this posting and may stay until Feb 23 before heading to Marco Island with Tim's sister and brother-in-law. Stay tuned until later this month!