While we were in Marathon, we had reconnected with 3 of our past Krogen buddy boats: Waterford, Sea Dweller and Lauryl Anne. Sadly, as we left Marathon, we all went different directions. Waterford north up the east coast of Florida, Sea Dweller to the Bahamas, Lauryl Anne stayed in Marathon but her keepers; Tricia & Dave went back home by land to welcome their new first grandchild-granddaughter into the world and we headed north up the Gulf Coast of Florida.
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| untouched beauty |
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can't believe how tall
& thin |
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protected against the
"no see ums" |
We had really enjoyed anchoring in the Everglade region on the way down, so we wanted to spend more time there and we were glad we did. This visit, we took time to kayak and explore the beaches and native life. A sea turtle startled me, coming up right next to our kayak and in my first quick glance, it's head looked like a human skull. I screamed and scared the poor thing, so that was the last we saw of that particular turtle. We did see more sea turtles who's shells ranged in size from 2-3 foot in diameter. Manatees came by to say hi along with our friendly dolphins. Something else big, that makes a big splash made it's presence known a few times. At one point, while kayaking, a group of fish with small black fins kept swimming ahead of us, ruffling the water but we were not able to catch them. We did not have another boat near us, it was so quiet we could hear the wings of the birds & ducks and ourselves breathing. We were lucky to have beautiful weather @ both our anchorages: Little Shark River & Russell Pass. The mangroves go on for many miles in intertwining mazes. One could get very lost here without GPS. We explored about 10 miles of it with our dinghy, only grazing the edges.
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| Sea Turtle |
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| our private beach |
We loved our seclusion in the Everglades but it was time to move on. Back out into the Gulf of Mexico for another beautiful cruise north. As you know, if you follow this blog, we love exploring new places, so we chose Marco Island as our next stop. We also have friends who are there. At first, we were experiencing difficulty finding a marina, Esplanade Marina, which received 5 star reviews on Active Captain, did not have a dock available. We made a reservation @ Rose's Marina, but they were limited on dockage and we were going to be on the fuel dock there. Our friends, Doug & Diane who live just off Marco Island told us they had plans to spend Happy Hour @ Marco Island Yacht Club (MIYC). After talking to them, I checked out the Yacht Club on Active Captain & they had good reviews. I decided to give MIYC a try. Marco Island Yacht Club & Marco Island Marina Association share the same marina and take transients-Yes! This place was the right fit for us and we were able to surprise Doug & Diane by showing up unannounced @ the Yacht Club for Happy Hour.
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| Diane & Doug's Lanai |
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| Marco Island Yacht Club |
When I think of Marco Island, I think of flowers. This island is a well planned community, with a large portion of the island developed and strategically designed as recently as the 1960's. Diane & Doug, who recently moved to this area permanently, toured us around the waterfront, then to their home in the more rural area only 10 minutes away. They have a beautiful home with pool/hot tub and gators in the canal behind their house. That night we dined with them @ Snook's waterfront Restaurant on MI. The next day, our friends Janet & Bob who come here now as snowbirds, toured us through Goodland, which is The Sunday party place. Goodland, on Sundays reminded us of Put-in-Bay on any summer weekend. They also showed us the Very Upscale end of the island, with high rise hotels and condo's. They rent a very nice condo near the beach with beautiful sand & miles to walk. Marco Island is also a bike friendly community, so we found the Publix, drug store & library.
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| The Bubble Room |
Years ago, when Doug & I were young & broke, we would drive our Van nonstop to Florida and camp either in campgrounds or sometimes in parking lots. We loved camping @ Periwinkle Way Campground on Sanibel Island. Looking forward to reminiscing, we didn't want to miss visiting this island now. It amazes me how places look so different traveling by water vs by land. We cruised to an anchorage near Tween Waters Marina, which is near where Sanibel and Captiva Islands meet & the landmass is very narrow between the bay and the Gulf. We took our dinghy to the dock of the Green Flash Restaurant, enjoyed lunch and then walked around to some of the places we remembered from our past visits:The Mucky Duck, which is a great pub to watch the sunset over the beach, The Bubble Room, which is very unique & quirky with delicious cakes & desserts and of course the beautiful sand beach, with tons of shells. The next day, we kayaked some and then took the dinghy to South Seas Plantation Resort @ the tip of Captiva Island, another spot where we had stayed some years ago when we weren't broke. Here among all the people, houses and boats, we saw Otters, Manatees and Dolphins.
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| Flowering cactus on the beach |
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| our own private aquarium |
Continuing our trek north, we stopped again in Pelican Bay @ Cayo Costa State Park. The weather has been so gorgeous and it is such a nice anchorage, we couldn't resist spending a few more days anchored. There certainly are a lot of fish here; at times, especially around dusk, the water sounds & looks like it is boiling in sections. These sections of ruffled water move like dominoes throughout the bay. The cause of this bubbling & ruffling are schools of small silver fish, (sorry not sure the name of these fish), but they come to the surface and then flash their scales in the air. These same fish during the day like the shade so some of them hung out under our dinghy @ the stern of our boat. The weather was so beautiful & it was Easter weekend, so it brought out many boats, especially to the sandbar. Oh, what a party!
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| And this says it all for Doug & I, we are so lucky! |
We had really enjoyed anchoring in the Everglade region on the way down, so we wanted to spend more time there and we were glad we did. This visit, we took time to kayak and explore the beaches and native life. A sea turtle startled me, coming up right next to our kayak and in my first quick glance, it's head looked like a human skull. I screamed and scared the poor thing, so that was the last we saw of that particular turtle. We did see more sea turtles who's shells ranged in size from 2-3 foot in diameter. Manatees came by to say hi along with our friendly dolphins. Something else big, that makes a big splash made it's presence known a few times. At one point, while kayaking, a group of fish with small black fins kept swimming ahead of us, ruffling the water but we were not able to catch them. We did not have another boat near us, it was so quiet we could hear the wings of the birds & ducks and ourselves breathing. We were lucky to have beautiful weather @ both our anchorages: Little Shark River & Russell Pass. The mangroves go on for many miles in intertwining mazes. One could get very lost here without GPS. We explored about 10 miles of it with our dinghy, only grazing the edges. 
When I think of Marco Island, I think of flowers. This island is a well planned community, with a large portion of the island developed and strategically designed as recently as the 1960's. Diane & Doug, who recently moved to this area permanently, toured us around the waterfront, then to their home in the more rural area only 10 minutes away. They have a beautiful home with pool/hot tub and gators in the canal behind their house. That night we dined with them @ Snook's waterfront Restaurant on MI. The next day, our friends Janet & Bob who come here now as snowbirds, toured us through Goodland, which is The Sunday party place. Goodland, on Sundays reminded us of Put-in-Bay on any summer weekend. They also showed us the Very Upscale end of the island, with high rise hotels and condo's. They rent a very nice condo near the beach with beautiful sand & miles to walk. Marco Island is also a bike friendly community, so we found the Publix, drug store & library. 
Years ago, when Doug & I were young & broke, we would drive our Van nonstop to Florida and camp either in campgrounds or sometimes in parking lots. We loved camping @ Periwinkle Way Campground on Sanibel Island. Looking forward to reminiscing, we didn't want to miss visiting this island now. It amazes me how places look so different traveling by water vs by land. We cruised to an anchorage near Tween Waters Marina, which is near where Sanibel and Captiva Islands meet & the landmass is very narrow between the bay and the Gulf. We took our dinghy to the dock of the Green Flash Restaurant, enjoyed lunch and then walked around to some of the places we remembered from our past visits:The Mucky Duck, which is a great pub to watch the sunset over the beach, The Bubble Room, which is very unique & quirky with delicious cakes & desserts and of course the beautiful sand beach, with tons of shells. The next day, we kayaked some and then took the dinghy to South Seas Plantation Resort @ the tip of Captiva Island, another spot where we had stayed some years ago when we weren't broke. Here among all the people, houses and boats, we saw Otters, Manatees and Dolphins. 
