The Second Half of March

Sunday, March 17, 2013 - Happy St. Patty's Day!

Our celebration began with an eighteen mile bike ride to Wabasso Beach. There we enjoyed a delicious lunch purchased from the deli adjacent to the park. We dine at a picnic pavilion within view of the turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

George and Pat invited us to celebrate with them and their Whispering Palms family, Barbara and Raymond, and Curt and Ruby. We enjoyed Pat's Corned Beef and Cabbage and Ruby's desserts. It was another wonderful evening with our great friends.

Monday, March 18, 2013 - Bike Ride and Beach Walk!

Here we go again, another bike ride and beach walk. Shorter this time for sure, but out there again. Our target was South Beach were we walked for one-half hour. The hour long bike ride included some riding into the wind. It surely slowed us down a bit.

After our walk, we found the South Beach Pizza Shop. One of the daily specials was a turkey hoagie. It proved to be a tasty lunch indeed.

Back at the boat, Anna Marie decided to ride the bus to Publix for a few supplies.
I stayed home and played a few tunes on my guitar.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - "A Chorus Line"

After a typical day that included a walk to the beach, it was date night! We are going to a special place for dinner and then to the Sunrise Theater in Fort Pierce to see the national touring company of "A Chorus Line."

I chose the Melody Inn for dinner. The owner/chef is Swiss and she specializes in Swiss - French cuisine. Our meal selections came with a complimentary glass of French wine and dessert. Both complimented our outstanding main courses. The service was friendly and superb. We enjoyed everything about the place.

The show was fantastic, but the production we saw at our home theater a couple years ago was equally good. Of course the Sunrise Theater is much larger than our home theater. Our seats were high up in the balcony, but we had a good view of the whole stage.

We very much enjoyed this special day!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - Rita Says, "Welcome Spring!"

The weather was threatening so rather than walk across the bridge to town, we took the bus. Our destination was the Rita's Water Ice stand where we would welcome Spring by getting a free water ice. We enjoyed participating in Rita's annual give-a-way.

A quick walk to Publix was next. By the time we finished getting a few staples, the weather cleared enough for us to walk home.

Thursday, March 21, 2013 - Grouper Reuben!

Today's plan was to ride to Wabasso Bridge again. A 15 mile an hour head wind foiled our attempt. Well that and the fact that the cool breeze gave me a major ear ache. We stopped at the Coco's Bistro in the Village Shops for a drink of iced tea.

Our revised destination was the Red Onion for a Grouper Reuben for lunch. It is a great sandwich!

When we arrived back at the boat, Anna Marie set off the get her hair cut while I hung out on the boat.

Friday, March 22, 2014 - Doo Wop!

The Doo Wop concert at the Sunrise Theater in Fort Pierce was entertaining. It started with Elvis impersonator Dwight Isenhower who was followed by Johnny Thunder (loop De Loop, Everybody Do the Sloopy, You Send Me). Johnny had lots of energy, dancing around the whole stage while he sang. He had a strong voice and loads of stage presence. We were shocked when he said he was 80 years old!

The Dubs, originally out of Harlem, still perform with one original Dub, Cleveland Still. He does the choreography while sitting on a stool! Hey, have some respect! They performed Chapel of Dreams, Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely, and, Could This Be Magic.

The Crests (Cara Mia, Step By Step, Sixteen Candles) demonstrating tight harmonies, performed with Tony Mara, the Pavoriti of Doo Wop, who took over from Johnny Maestro in the early 2000's. They were excellent!

The final act was Gene Chandler (Nothing Can Stop Me, Groovy Situation and Duke of Earl (known in Texas as the Silver Airplane Song). It's hard to believe he is 73 years old. The encore was performed by all of the evenings performers.

Saturday, March 23, 2013 - John Flynn

Another day, another concert! This one at the Emerson Center (The UU Church in Vero Beach) by family/children's artist John Flynn. Even though the crowd was small, he blew me away. He had a great voice, good virtuosity on the guitar, and songs the were at times poignant and funny. It was another enjoyable concert!

Sunday, March 24, 2013 - Back To Typical!

Today was a stay-at-home day! After our long walk, that is. It was very windy 20-30 knots). The most wind we've had since being in Florida. We also had our first thunder storm of the trip. Besides that, it reached 90 degrees for the second day in a row!

Monday, March 25, 2013 - The Point?

Several years ago as we were heading in a southerly direction while on a beach walk here in Vero Beach, we thought it would be nice to walk all the way to the Point. The Point is a bit of the coast line that juts out into the ocean and blocks views of the beach to its south. After two hours, we still had miles to go. Reluctantly, we had to turn around for the two hour walk back to our starting point at the boardwalk.

Last week, we rode the bikes to South Beach intent upon making the Point from this shortened distance. We walked for fifteen minutes before turning around. The cool, strong wind head wind caused me to get a massive earache. It quenched my desire for a long walk.

Yesterday, we rode the bikes to the mainland were we took care of some business and shared another Grouper Ruben, this time at the mainland Red Onion. Although we had 15 knots of wind out on the north, the air was warm and I had packed a couple of cotton balls. Instead of returning home, we decided to ride to South Beach and walk to the Point. It took 1.25 hours (about 3.75 miles) to get there, but we made it!

On the day, we rode the bikes for 1.25 hours and walked for 2.5 hours.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - Typical!

Beside engaging in our typical activities, we loaded the truck in preparation for our trip to visit friends in Bradenton, on the west coast of FL.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - A Phlock Reunion!

The drive to Bradenton took about 3 hours. We arrived at about 1030 hours and were greeted by Patty and Ray and Andrew and Vanessa. Larry and Fran arrived shortly with their friends. Karen and Steve and Terry and Dave were not far behind. We spent the next few hours flitting from one subject to the next, having a great time in the company of cruisers and former cruisers.

Thursday, March 28, 2013 - Goodbye Patty and Ray!

By the time we awoke, Vanessa and Andrew were long gone on their drive back to Annapolis. After breakfast, Patty and Ray took us to the River Walk. Preparations were underday way for a festival that is to commence on the weekend. Several giant posters were already set up. Designed by school children, we were very impressed with the execution and message contained on each.

When our walk concluded, we bid a fond goodbye to our hosts and started out on the first leg of our trip to Myrtle Beach. Along the way, we stopped at Lazy Days to look at campers. Our night's lodging was at a new Microtel about 70 miles south of Savannah.

Friday, March 29, 2013 - Myrtle Beach!

Stops at Boats and RVs and Wendy's were made first to look at Quicksilver Pop Up campers and then for lunch. We arrived at Kingston Plantation at 1530 hours shortly before Sandy and Matt and the kids. Let the fun begin.

Saturday, March 30, 2013 - Happy Birthday Fodder!

That's right. Another trip around the sun is in the books! This trip was marked by a few bumps in the road but I'm still happy to be here! We celebrated the historic event in Margaritaville!

Decided to list SUNSHINE for sale. Thinking about purchasing a Nimble Nomad Pocket Trawler to use at home and for living aboard in the winter. Also thinking about the Quicksilver XLP 14 Pop Up. Liked the one we saw at Boats&RVs but still committed to tenting for now. Also made arrangements to see a 2005 model Nomad in Knoxville on the way back to SUNSHINE. In the meantime, We are scheduled to leave Vero Beach on April 16. We will either head to Stuart Yacht Harbor where SUNSHINE will be available for potential purchasers to view or, we'll head back to Titusville for summer storage.

Besides the Nomad in Knoxville, there are three others I can look at in Annapolis and one in NJ. There is also a Nimble Kodiak trawler with diesel inboard in Canada that Looks to be in good shape. I might be interested in that.

Sunday, March 31, 2013 - Happy Easter!

Our day started by watching the kids hunt for Easter Eggs in the condo. They had a great time. We escorted them to the pool, as usual, and even though it was rather chilly, they had fun.