Islamorada Florida

Want to see where Liberty is? CLICK HERE!

Yo Ho! Yo Ho!
A pirates life for me

This is where the heavens and waters meet

Lighthouse entry at Plantation Yacht Harbor

Dusk on the bay

Backed into her slip at Plantation Yacht Harbor

Denise waits for her drum of melted butter

They grow them big here

Trying to see the green flash



Giant rat loves his hot dogs and ice cream

It's Official

Bye Bye Miami

The waterway is cut through the mangroves here

Deserted Island

Liberty tied up in Key Largo

Look who's here..... Petey

We have made it to the Florida Keys............Yeah
We are in Key Largo.  It was nice and calm on Key Biscayne today. The bay is wide so if the winds are blowing you will feel it. The water was a pretty shade of green and very clear. You could see the 10' to the bottom even while we were moving.
Tomorrow we  will be in Tavenier Key.
There is a restaurant next door......you know what that means.

Miami Day 6

 We have not moved so I have not blogged everyday. When you just sit still and enjoy you find you have nothing really to blog about.
The dock masters Susan and Bill could not be more helpful. They have offered to take us anywhere that we needed or wanted to go.  The grounds are gorgeous with alot of varieties of Palm Trees. If any other boaters are in this area I recommend Palm Bay club Marina in Miami.
We have decided to stay now until Wednesday. There really is no reason to keep moving south as fast as we had. We are just going to slowly cruise through the keys and stay longer at each stop as long as we like it. If we don't we will find a spot that we do like.
We have reservations in Key West for Feb 20-25, that is when Elizabeth and Sean will be coming down. I can't wait to see them again. After they leave we will start our journey north.
I hope everyone up north is trying to keep warm.( I won't even mention the weather that we have had in Miami.) I hear on the news that you are expecting another snow storm.
We might be getting Chinese or pizza takeout for dinner tonight. I don't know what I feel like having at this moment.

Todays question is: What two national parks are located within the borders of metropolitan Miami?

Boat Maintenance

While we are at the Palm Bay Club and Marina for these few days, Bob has decided to do and get done boat maintenance. He changed the zincs yesterday. The water's are alot warmer here than we have seen so far ,so he went in the water. He said  it was cool at first but he got used to it quickly.
We also had the oil changed on the boat by a mechanic that was recommended by the people here.
Another thing that we did was to change the television. The one on the boat was an analog TV which we used a digital converter with. We have found that the channels have been hit or miss at the marinas using the existing TV and that alot of the marina's offer cable.  So we went out and bought a digital TV and the cable so now we can get cable when it is available.
The weather has been great so far here. Today we are expecting a few passing showers before a cold front arrives.
I am hoping to get pizza tonight.

Miami

Looks like a school bus

Sweet

You've got to be kidding me

An "average" home on the ICW waterway in Miami

Check out the copter on the rear

Marina pool area
A nice way to spend an afternoon

Our first good manatee sighting

Here they are again

We made it to Miami. I feel like it is some kind of milestone but I don't know why. I pinch myself every day thinking here we are cruising down Biscayne Bay. To think that we have taken our little boat this far south. I know don't get too excited yet, Key West is only 150 miles away, then we can really celebrate. We are in a nice marina that has a special stay 2 nights get 3rd free, so we will be staying. This marina has a hot tub,heated pool and captains lounge. The dock master Susan has even offered her kayak if we want to go exploring.
This marina was recommended by the crew of Northern Symphony. That is a sailboat that we  have met up with at a couple other marinas. Thanks for the recommendation.
It was slow going on the waterway today again because of all the No Wake Zones. It took us 5 hours to go 32 miles. It was another beautiful day cruising on the water,so going slow was a great way to enjoy everything that we were passing by.
Ravioli's and salad is what I am serving tonight.

Bridges

Joe, is this B. Reynolds house?

North Palm Beach Marina is surrounded with highrise apartments

More highrises

Each home is more opulent than the previous one

This is proper winter attire

Either it's very shallow or they're walking on water

Time for a dip in the heated marina pool
104 degrees

Wow.. So many bridges today.  We had to go through 16 bridges all which either had schedule openings or on demand. Luckily we only had to wait for the opening of 5 of them. That was enough. I felt bad for the sailboats who had to wait for all of them. When we were not waiting for the bridge openings, we were going slow because of manatee zones. It took us 6 hours to go 39 miles. We thought we could make it to Fort Lauderdale but we stopped 1 hour north in Pompano Beach. We needed fuel so we stopped and just took a slip at the marina for the night. Tomorrow I think we will go to Miami.
The homes along the stretch of the waterway today were incredible.  The further south the more opulent the homes seem to get.  I can't wait to see what Miami has to offer in their real estate.
This marina has a pool and Bob just got back from swimming. It is a nice warm sunny day here..
Shrimp and rice for dinner tonight.

Errands

We are still in North Palm Beach. The weather did turn out to be stormy just like it was forcasted.
 We rented a car and ran around getting things done that you can't do without the car.
Last night I was preparing the ingredients to make stuffed peppers for tonights dinner when we ran out of propane. So that was put on the list of things that we needed to get done today. We made a trip to West Marine, Grocery store, Uhaul for propane filling, and yes to Petco for Brady's grooming.
On to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow.
Tonight was stuffed peppers.

Perfect 10

Today could not have been any better weather wise than it was. We left Fort Pierce around 8:00am and arrived in North Palm Beach around 1:30pm. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining all day and the temps were just right. This was the first day that we wore t-shirts and shorts all day long.
Depending on the weather tomorrow, we will either leave or stay another day. I think that right now they are calling for rain and thunderstroms tomorrow. We know that the weather is unpredictable so we will decide in the morning.
We think that my computer got a virus,  so we will be down to one computer to use between the two of us.
We are still trying to find a groomer for Brady.  So far no luck, so he is not looking his best.  Right now the hair on his head is so long that it is parting in the middle.
Tonight we will be having hot dogs and beans.

Farmers Market

Today we took a trip to the Ft Pierce farmers market. Well, actually the market is right by the marina so all we had to do was stroll down the dock, walk up the ramp and there it was. The Ft Pierce farmers market has been held every Saturday for the past 14 years. Many booths were set up selling every type of fruit and vegetable as well as breads and pastries. There were also vendors selling barbeque, cuban and guatamalan foods, dips, hot sauces, fish and more. If you crossed the street you could find more vendors selling arts and craft  items. We stocked up on bananas, tomatos, cucumbers, honeybell oranges and peppers. Because it was early we decided to get some coffees and pastrys and joined the crowd at the seawall for breakfast. Brady's fine sense of smell found the vendor selling gourmet dog cookies and so he had a little morning snack. Later  on the crowd was entertained by the "Critters". A group from the 60s. One of the members of the band, Don Ciccone
played with two other famous bands. Does anyone out there know the names of those bands?

Tonight we got takeout from the Tiki bar and restaurant. I got lobster ravioli which was delicious. Denise got what looked like some kind of pork that appeared to have been flattend by an 18 wheeler truck. Although it looked a little like a meat pancake she said it tasted ok.

We leave tomorrow morning for North Palm beach

Beautifully landscaped grounds

A lovely waterfront walkway bordering the Indian River

Saturday was Farmers Market Day in Ft Pierce

A large turnout for fruits, vegetables and arts and crafts

Live music

Playing many hits from the 60s

Tiki man has an over bite

My friend Petey

Grooming Day

I'm sorry that I did not post yesterday. The day just got away from me. Okay, that's not the real reason. I just was to tired to do it.
We are now at the Fort Pierce City Marina. The marina is very nice and right next to the town. Great waterfront park where they have a farmers market every Saturday. We hear it is suppose to be really nice. So we will stay here until then.
 Yesterday's weather was alot windier than the forecast predicted. It was to be 5 - 10knots, but it was alot more than that. The wind was from the NE and it was a cold wind. Getting in to the slip here was challenging but Bob handled it well.
We are hoping to get everyone groomed today. For me there is a salon just down the street that takes in walk ins so I am heading there later. Bob will get his haircut by me tonight. We are still trying to find a local groomer that we can take Brady to.
Yesterday we had a late lunch. We got it at the tiki bar at  the marina. So I did not make dinner last night. Breakfast this morning was bacon and eggs. Dinner tonight has not yet been decided.

Birds

White Ibis

 Julie, you had the correct answer! It is absolutely a White Ibis.
 Bob did find it in his bird book.

Todays question is:
 What is the only state in the union that did not have any snow on the ground yesterday.

Moving South

View of the Indian River Melbourne FL

Another shot of the Indian River

Artwork
Under the overpass ?

We have made it to Melbourne,FL. Its just one more stop on our southerly  journey to find warm weather. So far its been very elusive to find the warmth that will stay for more than just a few hours.
I know that just about now all my family and friends back home have taken out there tiny violins and are playing a tune. I hope that everyone is safe and sound back there and be careful shoveling.
On the water today we pretty much went in a straight line with a large body of water to motor in. We were able to go pretty fast and not have to slow down for any manatee zones. Again today we only passed 3 south bound boats.
Tomorrow we head to Fort Pierce,FL
Tonight is savory peach chicken. The recipe comes from Ellie Krieger from the Food channel.