Moving South along the Gulf Coast

Super anchorage outside the Don Caesar

We left Dunedin on a beautiful morning to mosey down the Gulf Coast with Ft. Myers Beach in mind to squat for another month.  A little warmer—totally different in that we will pickup a mooring ball and not be plugged into a dock for a month.  First night we anchored in the shadow of the Don Ceasar at the foot of St. Pete Beach and walked about a mile for fabulous pizza on Passé Grille. This was the land of the dolphin playground and they followed us all the way down the coast.

Next we anchored in Otter Key outside St. Armand’s Circle and Lido Key (across the bay from Sarasota).  Ringling Circus kept his elephants on Otter Key and it is a short dingy ride into St. Armand’s where we met up with Karen Gaudy from Captain’s Choice and her fun girlfriends who are in Sarasota for a girlfriend’s trip. It was so fun--made me homesick for my friends. Lose The Sugar, You're Sweet Enough: A Whole Foods Prescription To Better Health-- Karen Calandra is the name of Karen’s author friend –sounds like a worthy book to read and she looks great so it must work.  Mark and Karen on Captain’s Choice will start the Loop again in August and hopefully come by Nashville to see us. 

Anchorage outside St. Armand's/Lido/Otter Key--million dollar view and location

 

Fitz enjoyed loved going to lunch with the girls--Karen Gaudy and Rosemary and the other Karen

 

Loved the lions along the canal into town
 

 

Loved the high end fashion in St. Armand's

 

Anything to fill the pew

 

After coming through Siesta Key, we anchored at Indian Mound Park near Boca Grande where they are replacing a bridge so the channel was closed until Monday morning.  For the 40 miles traveled that day we went under mostly 25 ft bridges and only had to have one open for us.  Glad we could get down to under 20ft. –a trawler we traveled with for the last few bridges could not get under them and so they had to wait—long day for them.

  

Jr. Pirate Ship

Sunset outside Englewood

Tornado damage along the ICW in  Siesta Key across from where we vacated for a few years

 

 

Monday we went traveled past Boca Grande, Cabbage Key and Captiva to Cape Coral and the dock of Kitty Nicolai --one of those people with a lovely home on a canal off the superhighway of the Channel leading into the Caloosahatchee River to Ft. Myers (which along with Lake Okeechobee- you can take to the short cut over to the Atlantic Coast).  We came into here on St. Patrick’s Day weekend (a Saturday) 2 years ago and thought there had been a bomb scare in Ft. Myers—this is the busiest Channel we have seen on the Loop.  Kitty is the Harbor Host in Cape Coral—about 10 miles up this river.  She took us in, allowed us access to her Wi-Fi, pool, electricity, water, laundry and even feed us dinner.  She is a very nice lady and a great Harbor Host--her place is very near the center of Cape Coral.  

 

Lola and Kitty on Sunny Days and Don and Fitz at dinner on Kitty's porch