January 21, 2015 Day 61 South for Winter
Legacy
Harbour Marina
Ft.
Myers, FL
It
has been two and a half weeks since we have updated the blog! That’s what
happens when we are around friends. We have been incredibly busy and are having
the best of times!
We
crossed Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River in two days with Pazza Bella and Harmony, stopping overnight at Moore Haven. The days were long and
we had to go through five locks, but we did fine. We arrived in Ft. Myers on Wednesday,
January 7. We came for the Gold Looper Reunion and extended our stay here for
three weeks. We got settled in our slip on
the B Dock and then walked to a seafood restaurant with ten other Loopers.
Joyce
walked to the Farmers Market the next morning and came back with good fruits
and vegetables! On Friday morning we
joined several others for breakfast at First Watch, a restaurant open for just
breakfast and lunch. Great choice! We accepted
Ross and Laura’s offer to use their car for a day, so Bill dropped Joyce off at
a hair and nail appointment at a delightful salon on a houseboat at Ft. Myers
Yacht basin! Bill ran errands to get things like engine oil and oil filters
while Joyce was getting pampered. Then we
drove to Walmart after lunch to refill prescriptions. We spent a delightful evening
at Ross and Laura’s lovely home and had a delicious Italian dinner that Ross
expertly prepared. Anita and Don,
Loopers (Limelight) joined us also to
complete the evening. Ross and Laura are one of many couples we know who have
made Ft. Myers their home after completing the Loop.
On
Saturday, Skip and Barb (Moor Stuff)
came to visit and then took us back to their pretty condo on a golf course. We had a great visit and a very nice dinner at
their yacht club, complete with a perfect view.
They also just moved to Ft. Myers recently! By now, Joyce started getting big ideas about
where to relocate after we are finished boating in a couple of years. The condo lifestyle in Ft. Myers seems like a
perfect answer!
On
Sunday, several of the ladies got together in the boaters lounge for an afternoon
of a fun game of cards, Shanghai Rummy!
On Monday, Tom and Linda arrived on their boat, Raydiance. It was so good to see them again! As soon as they got settled, they came with
us to join several other Gold Loopers for a trolley ride downtown where we had
lunch. We all decided to walk back. Just
as we left the restaurant we had a call from Shannon & Richard who had just
arrived on Esmeralda. We did part of
the Down East Loop with them. They were docked at a nearby marina and saw us on
AIS! We walked over there for a nice visit!
We had Tom and Linda over for dinner that evening and then watched the
BCS football game, delighted with the Buckeyes’ win! The Gold Looper Reunion was a two day event
on Jan. 14-15 with over 125 attending! Several of us gathered for the social
hour before the dinner and it was so exciting to see people here that we had
not seen in two years. We did not even
know some of them were coming. The next two days were non-stop talking! We
enjoyed the catered dinners too!
On
Friday, we walked back downtown to have lunch with 18 other Loopers at Ford’s
Garage, a popular restaurant with huge burgers!
That evening we went to dinner at Cristof’s on McGregor with Tom and
Linda, (Raydiance) and Eddy and Linda
(Spiritus). We never seemed to stop eating!! Since Tom had a rental car, we all decided to
make a stop at Publix after dinner.
We
had to relocate to the A dock on Saturday morning since the slip owner was returning
to the slip we were in initially. Several Loopers had to change dockage during their
stay here. We were ok with that – it meant we could stay longer! We enjoyed
dinner on board Raydiance that
evening. The guys beat Linda and Joyce in a fun game of Mexican Dominoes!
On
Sunday, Jan 18, Bill’s brother Bob and friend Debbie arrived for lunch on our
boat. Then we took another nice walk with them along the waterfront and
downtown. We watched an unbelievable
Packer game later that afternoon and then went back to Raydiance to watch Downton Abbey with them.
We
said goodbye to Tom and Linda Monday morning and helped with their lines as
they departed. Two hours later, Brooks
and Sarah (Our Time) picked us up and
drove us to their beautiful condo in Cape Coral. We had a very nice lunch in
their home and then walked around the marina and the boutique shops that are part
of their condo development. We topped that off with gelato for a perfect
afternoon! They are another Gold Looper
couple who has relocated here! Yes, definitely a pattern….
Actually,
we have not been partying the whole time! Bill installed a new VHS radio on the
fly bridge to replace one that started working intermittently. We also met with vendors on the boat to replace
the carpet on the sundeck and flybridge (being delivered as I write!) It was good
to get the old carpet up and thoroughly clean those floors! We are also having some of the isinglass
replaced on the bridge and look forward to having it delivered soon. Joyce has been busy making bread in the new
bread maker Bill gave her for Christmas. We are eating all too well. Two more
Loopers are now buying bread makers!
We
will post more in a few days before we depart on January 28.
