We left Tarpon Springs with Amy Marie and were anxious to head south to warmer weather. We skipped several towns we had intended to visit (Tampa, Sarasota, and St. Petersburg) but as Loopers are fond of saying “next time we go around we will get there”.
We crossed Tampa bay in beautiful weather and flat seas with Classea. We saw a container ship going under the Sunshine Bridge. I didn’t remember the famous incident there but Brian did. We anchored at Long Boat Key near Sarasota.
From there we headed to Cayo Costa State Park. We took the bikes on a trail to the beach. Definitely getting that tropical feel now!
Beth and Mike arrived and the next day we all went over to Cabbage Key where Jimmy Buffet was inspired to write Cheeseburger in Paradise, so we had burgers and boat drinks. There have been improvements since we were there last.
From there we were in full reminiscing mode as we motored past Redfish Pass and South Seas Plantation. We got a slip at Tweenies which is now “Tween Waters Resort”! We stayed three days – I could have stayed a week!
We immediately got on our bikes to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. There are more and larger businesses and there are huge homes, but enough was the same.
The boats are getting larger too as we get further south. Can you see us?
We went to Wightman Lane, still a private street but with the buildup around the islands it is so much more special now. Our house also stood essentially as it did in the 80’s with mansions around it. Believe me we didn’t have this type of entrance to the side apartment back then! The owners even liked Brian’s hand made dolphins and named it The Dolphin House.
The Island store where I made deli sandwiches for the construction workers building the Plantations’ Lands End buildings remains but it is owned by Baileys now.
The house where we lived when we first got to Captiva stayed true to its Old Captiva feel. A neighbor said that Nan’s family still owns the home. We were happy to see it looking so pretty.
So on biking day two we went to South Seas. OMG it is a monster resort now. So lush and posh. We stopped by Offshore Sailing School. We went to where we were married on the Plantation House lawn. The Kings Crown building was still there.
It was amazing to bike around Captiva.
We then headed to Sanibel and were able to anchor right off the Causeway. It was pretty rolly but very close to Kirk and Lisa’s home. We had dinner and caught up.
Some of the Offshore Sailing School staff from the 80’s
Wonderful Vacation week – but now, back to Looping.
The next day we began three long days to get south and beat some questionable weather coming in at the end of the week.
It was a pretty foggy run to Smokehouse Bay on Marco Island. The inlet was shallow and crazy busy but we entered a beautiful anchorage with gorgeous homes and a dinghy dock at the Winn Dixie.
We decided to skip Everglades City and left for Little Shark River Key. We spent the day; out in the ocean, out of sight of land, and in the fog. We did have some following seas though and we made great time. There were lots of crab pots, flying fish and jumping dolphins. The anchorage has No WIFI !!! but there were many boats and the anchorage was very protected. It was very remote – we are in the Everglades.
We left in the fog following Czech Mates as they had done the run to Marathon before. It was very foggy in the morning but we saw 5 dolphins, and reserved at Bahia Honda for a couple of nights
The water temp kept going up from 74 – 83 it was very exciting to watch as we slalomed the crab pots. Once we got there we went to the beach and swam.
We will be in and around the keys for the rest of the month.
Amazing! Love all the photos. Happy times!
What a wonderful post! Loved the pics of “then” and “now”! So glad you’re having the dream trip!