March 31 st to April 6th Boca Grande and Venice

Sunday March 31st started the day with a FaceTime and birthday song to our daughter Aideen. One of the minuses of cruising is missing some birthdays but FaceTime offers a nice visual. Mass at St Martha’s and provisions on the bikes before MJ and Dave arrive. A beautiful light breezy day and wonderful to eat outside at SYC. 

Monday April fools day and MJ has traditionally fooled her family so this year was no different. She fooled them all into believeing that IE had ran aground but without major damage. Now thankfully We knew that that was not correct. Nana and Nandad took MJ and Dave kayaking along Otter Key and although we did not see a manatee we did see lots of 🦅 Ospreys, American Egrits, and Pelicans. A wonderful stroll along south Lido Beach. We then took the bike to St Armand’s Circle for lunch at the Venezia. Later that evening we had dinner at the Red Classico and wonderful cocktails on the rooftop at The Westin. Quite the complex.

Tuesday was the perfect layday as once again the engine gets some attention. 🌅 sunset dinner at The Beach House restaurant which is right on the beach. 

Wednesday finally we get to cruise 🚢 and IE leaves for Boca Grande on Gasparilla. A wonderful cruise with the perfect 🐬 sighting for MJ and Dave. MJ also spotted a group of Manatees in the distance but too far to photograph. When we arrived at Gasperilla we rented a golf 🚗 and took our visitors for a delicious cocktail 🍹 at the Inn. What a special place. A great ride to the lighthouse, the state park, and the perfect ☀️ sunset while sitting on the wall at the end of 4th street. Of course we had to finish our evening with patio dining at The Pink Elephant. How lucky are we.

Thursday April 4th IE is headed for Venice. A great breakfast at The Outlet before leaving . A little rough ride with high winds to begin with then calmer once we got into the narrow section of the GIWW. IE stayed at the Venice Yacht club and attended their under the stars jazz evening in the company of members Frank and his lovely wife The Bev. Lots of healthy laughter.

Friday IE heads back to SYC for the Sundown Ceremony and Remberance Ceremony which was truest a very moving ceremony. Dinner at the club with live entertainment.

Saturday April 6th MJ and Dave’s last day onboard. A wonderful brunch at Boaters breakfast 🥞 followed by the perfect stroll down St Armand’s to get one more glance at the ocean before they return to the cooler temperatures in Franklin MA. Of course we had to have lunch 🥗 at the Cafe L’Europe. A wonderful stay with great company, lots of good food and drinks, and sharing many of Nana and Nandads favorite places with our special friends.

March 30th

Nana and Nandad have enjoyed three days of R/R swimming by the pool, kayaking all around Otter Key, biking 🚴‍♀️ and strolling along the beach. The weather has been a glorious 80 degrees with the perfect breeze during the day and cooler at night. While kayaking Nandad spotted a manatee swimming right beside us minding its own business. It was very cool to witness this big floating elephant in its natural environment. We had a wonderful evening celebrating the Sarasota Yacht Club Cares annual event Under The Seas and once again met some very interesting and welcoming new friends. Today we are ready to entertain our very good friends MJ and Dave and excited to share our new club and take a trip to maybe Venice and Captiva. They will stay until Saturday so next blog likely to be April 6th.

March 27th Nana and Nandad are back on IE

Arrived back onboard to a very nice clean and waxed boat. IE had a nice touch up while we were away. A little messy poop deck as the herons and egrets decided they would leave their waste matter for us to clean! Preparation for our good friends MJ and Dave who arrive on Sunday. In the meantime Nanadad continues to be optimistic that Detroit diesel will come up trumps with the engine. 

March 3rd to March 6th IE heads to Venice and The Field

Sunday IE finally left the dock for a few nights away. Headed for Venice on a beautiful 😎 afternoon and the dolphins obliged once again with a wonderful display of frolic just as we arrive at the Venice Yacht Club. Another magnificent sunset at Venice beach.

Monday afternoon while relaxing at the pool at the yacht club Nandad assisted Hakuna Mayachta ( from SYC ) with tie up so we had wonderful company for a great dinner at The Crows Nest.

Tuesday on our way back both boats tied up at The Field for lunch which was truly a wonderful experience. It is a beautiful club with the most fantastic floral arrangements. Nana wishes she could post the beautiful picture of the ladies in the lobby! 

Wednesday evening Nana and Nandad strolled down to the St Armand’s Circle and had dinner at Venezia which was amazing. Nana is excited to be heading back to Franklin to get her Nana fix while Nandad is planning to explore the Panhandle area. Nana will be back blogging again March 27th and will hopefully have sorted out the problem with being unable to upload pictures. Happy St Patrick’s day to all.  🍀 

February 28th to March 2nd

Nana has lost her voice!! Just in time for Ellie and Richards visit. Not to worry Nandad will come to the rescue. It is always fun to have friends onboard and Ellie and Richard come with lots of delicious goodies. After the tour we sit high top on Ireland’s Eye and take in the wonderful view of Sarasota bridge, Bird Key, Lido Key and Longboat Key. A really beautiful view. Dinner at the club, finally able to enjoy outdoor seating with a little help from the gas heater! Great service and good food as always.

Friday March 1st after a great breakfast onboard we went for a short but really pretty boat ride under the Sarasota Bridge and back up Siesta Key. We admired the many beautiful homes, wonderful mangroves and the scattering of Bird life perched on the mangroves which included the magnificent roseate spoonbill. No dolphin sighting today! A great lunch at The Muse cafe in the Ringling Museum. That evening Nana and Nandad with other new members attended the Cannon Ceremony followed by a wonderful dinner and again a great band to dance to. Richard and Ellie met their friends at Owens Fish Camp downtown Sarasota which sounds like a place we will have to visit also.

Saturday Morning after a great breakfast and lecture at the club about The Red Tide, Ellie and Richard were on their way to Tampa to return to MA. Great to have friends to share special movements with. 

February 21st IE has a permanent slip at SYC

Nana and Nandad return to Sarasota and are officially members of the yacht club with an assigned slip - a nice feeling and looking forward to making new friendships. On the night we arrive back we attend a wonderful performance at the club by Pianist Matthew Graybill and Svetlana Smolina for the first time ever Nana listened to Piano Four Hands which was amazing. The performance was presented by The Chopin Project.

Feb 22nd Jason once again does a diagnosis on the boat and IE needs a new harness for the computer! We move the boat to her slip C5 which will now be her home. Nana and Nandad are settling into the Sarasota lifestyle enjoying the sunshine. 

Feb 24th Nandad rents a pickup truck and we head to Lakewood Ranch to see the most amazing exotic cars - unfortunately Nana is unable to load up pictures on the blog which is very frustrating. We also go to the Circus Sarasota which brought back memories of childhood circus events. The performers from all over the world were simply amazing under The Big Tent .

Feb 25th Nana decided that she would like to repair the extra fold up bike so we take a ride to Pedego Electric Bikes. Now Nandad was in his element and started to ride the electric bikes so we are now the proud owners of a Magnum fold up electric bike with suspension!! Nana  has converted to an ebike rider - much easier to ride over the bridge especially against the wind. We celebrated our purchase with a wonderful dinner at Euphemia Haye which is on Longboat Key and is a very unique converted historic wooden cottage surrounded by tropical greenery and twinkling lights. We ate at the bar upstairs called the Loft where a piano player sang and a couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary got up to dance. 

Feb 26th and 27th Rain, Rain and more Rain which also means lots of leaks!! Hopefully all the rain will come and the sunshine for Richard & Ellie who will visit us for a night or two. 

January 12 to 26th 2019

Jan 12 th after a wonderful Christmas Nana and Nandad returned to IE to prepare for our good friends Jack and Marie who will stay onboard for a week. 

Jan 14th Jack and Marie arrive and of course we have to take them down to St Armand’s Circle for a fantastic dinner at The Columbia.The next day we visit The Ringling Museum which is just an amazing place especially if you have not been before - Nana never gets tired of this wonderful place - Art, Gardens, Mansion, Music and restaurants all make for a great day. We got to celebrate SYC’s going Platinum event that evening which was very special.

Jan 16th, 17th, 18th. IE left for Venice to give Jack and Marie a taste of the ICW. The dolphins on our way down were so entertaining. We secured a slip at the Crows Nest where we had a wonderful dinner. The next day we cruised to South Seas where we joined the SYC cruising event. The weather was finally warm enough to actually sit at the beach and enjoy the amenities SS provides. A very expensive dinner at the Harbourside Bar & Grill ( we are being spoiled at the yacht club) and a lovely evening at the Docksaide with lots of cruisers from SYC. Great dingy ride over to North Captiva where Marie and I find some great shells.

Jan 19th With the weather changing and Jack & Marie’s flight on Sunday we make the decision to return to Sarasota on Saturday. As it turns out due to weather in MA the flight got delayed and they had to stay until Wednesday - more time to explore.

Jan 20th The playoffs between The Patriots and The Chiefs. Now normally Nana and Nandad are not that interested in football - dare I admit that!! However Jack and Marie are avid fans so we got front row seats right at the bar and Jack coached Nandad and Marie coached Nana so we are now expert football fans. A great game for the Patriots.

Jan 21st we took the opportunity of visiting the Mote Aquarium which is a fantastic place and can’t wait for the grandkids to visit some day. The next day we had a wonderful lunch at Cafe’L Europe with a stroll around the circle and the perfect walk on Lido Beach. For our last night we had dinner at the new piano restaurant 15 South which was wonderful- we will go again. We will miss Jack and Marie when they return to Boston. Very much enjoyed sharing our experiences with them. 

Jan 23rd Nana and Nandad had their luncheon orientation at the yacht club and the next night we attended a fantastic Wine Pairing dinner. Southern Australian wines from Leeuwenhoek Estates & d’Arenberg.

Jan 26th time to return to Franklin to celebrate all the February birthdays and catch up with the grandkids.