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.