6/26 - 7/4.....North along the west coast

6/26-6/28 We spent a few days checking out Sarasota and the part of town around Marina Jack, there is a beautiful waterfront park. It's really a nice area. Found several great restaurants and bars.

Took the tour of the John & Mable Ringling mansion, which overlooks Sarasota Bay and the Ringling Circus Museum which is on the grounds - quite interesting and very enjoyable. As always, it was hot during the day and by noon on Saturday we were ready to get out of the marina and back on the hook.

We beered up, iced up and slipped the lines @ 12:30. Took the short run down to Longboat Key and dropped the hook @ 2:20pm. We loaded up the dinghy and headed out the pass and to the beach. It was our first time to set foot on what we call a "real beach" in awhile (sugar white, soft sand). Great relaxing afternoon.

6/29 - Picked up the anchor mid morning to cross Tampa Bay and to check out a location around St. Pete. Dropped the hook in Boca Ceiga Bay across from the the city pier at Gulfport, FL. Someone recommended the marina and area here for a possible place to spend some time. We were not impressed.

6/30 - Picked up the hook @ 7:30am headed for Tarpon Springs/Anclote Key. We crossed into the gulf at Pass-A-Grille and had a nice run (SE winds 5kts., seas 1ft. with gentle swells). We pulled into the Tarpon Springs fuel dock around 1:00pm. While Bill was fueling I called in a "to go" order and headed over to pick it up. I couldn't stand the thought of being this close and not having some of the great Greek food that they are famous for. We enjoyed our gyros on the ride back down the river and dropped the hook at Anclote Key @ 2:30pm. Took the dinghy over for a little beach time. Had a wonderful Greek salad for dinner and some coconut macaroons to die for - you just can't beat Hella's Restaurant & Bakery!

7/1-7/3 We're ready to head north to Cedar Key, but the forecast and weather sucks! It's fine here at Anclote so we have several lazy days - reading, napping and cooling off in the water. The forecast for Thursday night was bad so we headed into the city marina at Tarpon Springs for the afternoon and night. Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponge diving industry (this is one of the boats at the waterfront).
Had a great dinner in town at Mykono's. The major thunderstorms and lightening hit around 3 - 4:00am and blew on through.

Happy 4th of July and Happy 62nd Birthday to Bill !!!

We had a good forecast for the day, so we slipped the lines @ 6:20am for the run down the Anclote River and north up the gulf to Cedar Key. We had a beautiful sunrise and a fantastic day. Put the hook down @ 3:00pm, floated in the water to cool off and to wait for the fireworks show. Two boats beached on the island right next to us to set up and we realized that we might be in the line of fire and become part of the show. We dropped back and reset the hook and had front row sets to a great fireworks show, both on the island and all along the waterfront of Cedar Key.