Day 199-204 Longboat Key Marina Tuesday thru Sunday, December 4-9, 2018

Day 199-204 Longboat Key Marina Tuesday thru Sunday, December 4-9, 2018

Warm and sunny days mid 80s until Sunday which was cloudy with showers and mid 70's.

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The week has passed and we wonder where the time has gone. But we have had fun.

The focus has been on getting out and about and getting our exercise. On Tuesday we walked around the area by the Longboat Key town center that includes very nice public tennis courts. Hope to be able to play some when we get back. We also found nearby a public access point to the beach - it was beautiful.

I had to snap this photo of a vintage Eldorado parked at the tennis courts. There are all shapes and brands of expensive cars in this neighborhood, but this is the one that I thought was worth a photo. Checkout those whitewalls. Bet the owner has to hunt hard for them nowadays.

 

Tuesday night was warm and we went in town to a Christmas party at the house of Pat, a lady of the church class we attended on Sunday. It was in the City so we took the bus and then we had to walk about a mile but it was great being out in warm evening weather - and at the party going outside on the patio. What was funny was to see the Christmas attire and decorations and not to have the accompanying snow and freezing weather - but we are working hard at adapting to this winter weather paradigm.

On Wednesday we had a wonderful visit from friends back in Maine. Francis and Pat along with their son Jim and friend Salomon. They came up from their home in Venice. Francis and Pat have a Bayliner 38 as well. We met them a number of years ago when we joined the Downeast Yacht Club. Sounds real rich, eh? Well the DEYC is really a wonderful club of boaters who like to get out on the water and enjoy together the unique boating world of Maine. We don't even have a clubhouse- but I would wager that we have more fun than most yacht clubs - and with the slogan of "the fun yacht club" I guess we better. Francis and Pat are long time members and have been a real pleasure to get to know. Talking of our respective boating experiences over this year was great fun and the afternoon was over too quickly.

On Thursday we took a longer walk north along the main road along Longboat Key to the Ace Hardware store - always need to scope out the most important store in a locale. We passed many homes on the beach but found some places of open beach and another public beach access point. Look at the glorious weather - yes we know we may appear to be gloating - but we are not, we are just amazed at being able to be here.

And on Friday we tried Pickleball. What? Well I never heard of it either until recently while talking with old folks like myself. It is a old folks version of tennis. In fact two pickleball courts fit on a tennis court. The ball is a wiffle type ball and the paddles are solid faced. It was great fun and we look forward to playing more - and just maybe finding some doubles players.

And I walked the docks some more to find interesting boat names.

Ain't it the truth

Also true

Needed on a boat trip like the Great Loop for sure.

Ying and Yang

I need to meet this fellow.

Wonder from where or what this name originated.

Maybe Neil Young owns this boat

The grounds are so wonderful and different than back home

On Saturday we attended the 3:00 pm show of the Singing Christmas Tree concert put on by the Sarasota First Baptist Church.  We again used the bus into the City. We stopped first for a coffee and wonderful muffin at the Pastry Art Bakery. It reminds me of a shop you would find in the Old Port area of Portland.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I should have taken a photo of the church. Well I remembered this time. And a beautiful day as a background. The all white building is another reminder of home.

The production was wonderful for the music of the season. And it was far more professional and impressive than church productions we have seen. The "tree" is a choir stand that holds 100 singers. There was a full orchestra and well done lighting. It turned out to be a real enjoyable and a substantial boost to our efforts to try to more fully sense that Christmas but a few weeks away.

The stage is a steel structure with rows for the singers to stand within. This shot shows the singers well. At other times the lights hidden them at all you saw was the lighted tree.

And what would any self respecting southern retiree do after a matinee (minimizes snoozing relative to an evening) performance? A nap is a good guess but no - try again.

Hint: We need time to digest before going to sleep (if you missed your nap) at sundown.

Wonderful!! Now you are thinking like a retiree in the south!!!

Yup!!! Look for an "Early Bird Special!!"

And we found one, yes siree!!

The Admiral (on shore leave) is happy so the crew is happy too. And we were able to get the bus back to the marina without needing to resort to Uber.

And today, Sunday, we enjoyed our second service at the church. And we went in early to have breakfast at the First Watch again - it is really a great place with a creative and tasty menu. And the coffee comes in big thermos and is hot and real good - and I don't have to wait for the coffee pot to make the rounds when the hole in my cup drains mine empty. (There was a hole in my cup - the big one in the top that drained it ever time I tipped it toward my face.)

And the day was certainly not done.

We had the second wonderful visit from friends back home in Maine. Bob and Paula drove up from Venice to meet us in town. They drove us back to the marina, but being those good retirees we all needed to eat lunch (it's a cheaper meal than dinner) at the Drydock Restaurant that we had heard was good. We were not disappointed.

Back at the boat we caught up some more and laughed some more. Bob is like me and does all his own work. We talked of cussed water leaks and broken propellers and boating in FL versus Maine and the ladies talked sewing, kids, grandkids and we all talked about their dog Scupper - a two year old labradoodle (think I got that right).  And for my sleuth friends, what is a Scupper? If anyone knows add a comment below.

I also showed them the slide show I just completed that does a fast run through of our trip from NH to Fl. It was fun to show them as it was great to have them see places that would be impossible to describe in words. But as with our visit with Francis and Pat, it was all too soon time to say good bye for now.

And with that thought I will say it is time to say .........

Good Night and May God Bless