This blog was published while sitting in our new location - Fort Myers Beach. We arrived here after weathering the big storm. Last week, you might remember in the news, there was a couple of tornado's that came through this area. We were only a couple of hours away. Friday night we went to bed with tornado warnings all around us. It was our first experience with the violent Florida weather. We had our emergency package at the ready, just in case. Cloths, shoes, money, documents and keys were left by the front door in case we needed to run out in a hurry. Thankfully, nothing happened in our area.
Fort Myers Beach is a much different scene than Naples. This is a much younger crowd and with the start of Spring Break the area is pretty full. Bars/Restaurants right on the beach, shops lining both sides of the street and people everywhere. We are 1 mile from the beach in this campground. They really pack them into this place. We are fortunate that our site has a little more space than some of the others. It's the closest campground to the beach. Nice walk or quick bike ride in. It works out better because parking at the beach is a premium. We are on the bay so we can still drop the kayaks in the water just a few steps from Road Hazard. We are here until next Monday.
Our next stop in beautiful Bahamas is Green Turtle Cay. The plan was to drop anchor in the harbor but upon arrival the entrance to the harbor looked more like a maze. The entrance to the harbor was also very shallow. Not wanting to leave more paint from the hull behind, we dropped anchor outside of the harbor, unprotected. After doing the necessary procedures for securing the boat, we jumped in the dingy and went off to explore and eat something. We were starving. After walking around the island and finding everything closed, because it was Sunday, we jumped back into the dinghy and went off to another area of the island where we knew there was a resort. We only found a bar and decided to stay and chat with the bartender, Debbie, who was a delight.
Back on the boat we settled in for another beautiful sunset.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuffy is the best
Finally found a place to get the oil changed in the Pick up. Tuffy. It cost us $12 for an oil change plus tire rotation. Can you believe that? I thought for that price they wouldn't put oil back in but I watched the whole thing. Got that out of the way. Good for another 3,000 miles.
Naples will be home for another couple of days while we wait for a site to open in Fort Myers Beach. This Saturday we will drive the 45 minutes and stay in Fort Myers Beach for a week. Once we are there it will be time for Road Hazard to get some maintenance done. It also helps that we are only a few miles from the beach and we can work on our tan some more.
On to the Bahamas!
After we left Sandy Cay we continued north to Man-O-War. Of all the islands, this one seems to have very few foreigners living on it. Another interesting fact about this island is that it is dry. By dry, I don't mean that there isn't any water or that people have a "dry" sense of humor. I mean, dry as in NO ALCOHOL. There is one restaurant and one ice cream parlor. A couple of grocery places and instead of Starbucks on every other street corner they have church's. Turn a corner and there is another. The reason we came here was for a School Fair that was taking place the following day. People from all over were coming to bid on items, sell their wares, eat from the many booths and meet up with old friends. The next day, while on our walk we came across this road sign that read "Queens Highway". This is a major road that dissects the island from north to south. It is wide enough for two golf carts to pass each other. This is their highway. Of course if you are walking on it keep your eyes open for fast moving carts. After walking around the island we made it to the fair. It certainly worked up an appetite and we were rewarded to find tons of food for sale. Not knowing, we each bought a plate. Only afterwards did we realize that each plate could feed a family. The portions were huge. We have leftovers! The next morning we left Man-O-War behind in our wake as we made waves heading further north.
It is interesting to see that I only took a few pictures while at Man-O-War. I guess there really wasn't anything that took my breath away like the other places.
Naples will be home for another couple of days while we wait for a site to open in Fort Myers Beach. This Saturday we will drive the 45 minutes and stay in Fort Myers Beach for a week. Once we are there it will be time for Road Hazard to get some maintenance done. It also helps that we are only a few miles from the beach and we can work on our tan some more.
On to the Bahamas!
After we left Sandy Cay we continued north to Man-O-War. Of all the islands, this one seems to have very few foreigners living on it. Another interesting fact about this island is that it is dry. By dry, I don't mean that there isn't any water or that people have a "dry" sense of humor. I mean, dry as in NO ALCOHOL. There is one restaurant and one ice cream parlor. A couple of grocery places and instead of Starbucks on every other street corner they have church's. Turn a corner and there is another. The reason we came here was for a School Fair that was taking place the following day. People from all over were coming to bid on items, sell their wares, eat from the many booths and meet up with old friends. The next day, while on our walk we came across this road sign that read "Queens Highway". This is a major road that dissects the island from north to south. It is wide enough for two golf carts to pass each other. This is their highway. Of course if you are walking on it keep your eyes open for fast moving carts. After walking around the island we made it to the fair. It certainly worked up an appetite and we were rewarded to find tons of food for sale. Not knowing, we each bought a plate. Only afterwards did we realize that each plate could feed a family. The portions were huge. We have leftovers! The next morning we left Man-O-War behind in our wake as we made waves heading further north.
It is interesting to see that I only took a few pictures while at Man-O-War. I guess there really wasn't anything that took my breath away like the other places.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Out of shape!
I was talking to a friend yesterday and she mentioned that by looking at the pictures I had put on a little weight. OK, I knew I had been eating and drinking a lot. Then, last night, I talked to someone else and they happened to mention the same thing. Thanks. Because of that I woke up this morning and Reta and I went out for a jog. Talk about being out of shape. I ran 5 blocks and it felt like this pump in my chest was going to burst. Between gasps for air I managed to tell Reta, who by the way was running gracefully like a gazelle, that I needed to stop because I was so out of shape. Hopefully I will be able to fit a workout into my busy schedule everyday. We'll see how it goes.
The weather here in Naples has been hot but overcast everyday. Late evening we get a rainstorm but nothing that lasts too long. Maybe today we will venture over to downtown Naples. For those of you that know this area, we are going to walk down 5th Street. It's a very upscale area with expensive shops. Think of Rodeo Drive in California. I think the pick up will fit right in.
On to our adventures in the Bahamas. Our next stop that we took after Hopetown Harbor was an little island on the lower east side of Abaco called Lynyard Cay. There is nothing on this island but it is a stopping point for many boaters making the trip south. It's the last sheltered area before you have to face the full force of the Atlantic so many boaters hang out in this cove until the weather is just right to make the passage. It could take a sailboat 10 hours if the winds are right to make this passage. If the weather is bad then it could get pretty ugly on the high seas with no where to hide. Charlie dropped anchor about 100 yards off shore and we settled in for another sunset. It was amazing to have only a few sailboats around you with nothing else for miles around. Quiet, dark and peaceful. Charlie, who knows someone where ever we went, had some friends that were waiting for passage come by Magic for a happy hour. It's interesting to hear how these people live on their boat for months at a time just sailing from island to island. They are RV'ers except on water. Let me back up a little. On our sail down to Lynyard Cay I found something out about Reta that I never knew. After 11 years of marriage I found out that I married a fisherman. She pulled out a pole, took the tackle box and hooked everything up and proceeded to fish off the back of the boat. Her first catch was seaweed but her second yielded a fish. Unfortunately this is a story about the one that got away. We saw this fish jumping out of water, fighting her, but the line snapped and the excitement was over.
The next morning after breakfast we put on our wetsuits and jumped into the water for our morning swim. A very large barracuda was interested in what we were doing and would follow us around. I found a huge conch and was surprised that it still had the "thing" in it. If you have never tried conch it is very tasty. You eat it raw. I don't know the technique to get them out of the shell so I took some pictures with the one I found and put him back. Eventually we set off and headed back north to try and drop anchor behind this tiny island to go snorkeling. The waves were pretty rough around Sandy Cay when we anchored but we jumped in the dinghy and went off to see if we could get close to the reef. We chickened out because the waves were so big and the dinghy was getting beat up. We headed back to Magic where the water was much calmer. The great thing about the Bahamas is that you can jump in the water where ever you are and you will find life. After a day of swimming and exploring we continued up north to our next destination and more fishing along the way.
The weather here in Naples has been hot but overcast everyday. Late evening we get a rainstorm but nothing that lasts too long. Maybe today we will venture over to downtown Naples. For those of you that know this area, we are going to walk down 5th Street. It's a very upscale area with expensive shops. Think of Rodeo Drive in California. I think the pick up will fit right in.
On to our adventures in the Bahamas. Our next stop that we took after Hopetown Harbor was an little island on the lower east side of Abaco called Lynyard Cay. There is nothing on this island but it is a stopping point for many boaters making the trip south. It's the last sheltered area before you have to face the full force of the Atlantic so many boaters hang out in this cove until the weather is just right to make the passage. It could take a sailboat 10 hours if the winds are right to make this passage. If the weather is bad then it could get pretty ugly on the high seas with no where to hide. Charlie dropped anchor about 100 yards off shore and we settled in for another sunset. It was amazing to have only a few sailboats around you with nothing else for miles around. Quiet, dark and peaceful. Charlie, who knows someone where ever we went, had some friends that were waiting for passage come by Magic for a happy hour. It's interesting to hear how these people live on their boat for months at a time just sailing from island to island. They are RV'ers except on water. Let me back up a little. On our sail down to Lynyard Cay I found something out about Reta that I never knew. After 11 years of marriage I found out that I married a fisherman. She pulled out a pole, took the tackle box and hooked everything up and proceeded to fish off the back of the boat. Her first catch was seaweed but her second yielded a fish. Unfortunately this is a story about the one that got away. We saw this fish jumping out of water, fighting her, but the line snapped and the excitement was over.
The next morning after breakfast we put on our wetsuits and jumped into the water for our morning swim. A very large barracuda was interested in what we were doing and would follow us around. I found a huge conch and was surprised that it still had the "thing" in it. If you have never tried conch it is very tasty. You eat it raw. I don't know the technique to get them out of the shell so I took some pictures with the one I found and put him back. Eventually we set off and headed back north to try and drop anchor behind this tiny island to go snorkeling. The waves were pretty rough around Sandy Cay when we anchored but we jumped in the dinghy and went off to see if we could get close to the reef. We chickened out because the waves were so big and the dinghy was getting beat up. We headed back to Magic where the water was much calmer. The great thing about the Bahamas is that you can jump in the water where ever you are and you will find life. After a day of swimming and exploring we continued up north to our next destination and more fishing along the way.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Hopetown Harbor
Today we find ourselves in Naples Florida. We drove from Homestead yesterday across Alligator Alley. It's a stretch of road that runs East to West and is as straight as Elvis Presley and flat as Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon. Nothing but swamps on both sides for as far as you can see.
We checked into this "Resort" and found out how the rich RV'ers live. This is truly a Resort. It has 3 swimming pools, exercise room, tennis courts, boccie ball, putting green and of course the resort favorite, shuffle board. It gets pretty competitive in the morning. We are only 7 miles from the beach but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Still running errands during the day. I took the Pickup out to a Goodyear place to get the oil changed today. The guy said it would take about 1 hour to 1 1/2. OK, I'll kill some time and walk around the shops and have lunch. After about 2 hours I went to pick up the truck and noticed that it looked like it hadn't even moved! I went in and the manager was like "It's all ready to go!" I said that it looked like its still in the same spot and the tires don't look like they have been rotated. He started to look for the ticket and several minutes later came out and said that the ticket had fallen out of the box and no one has worked on it yet. Can you believe that crap? Give me the keys and let me get the f#$% out of here! That's how my day has been. I went back to RH and took a nap. Tough day in the office for me.
WATER HAZARD - Hopetown Harbor
Our next destination in the Bahamas took us to Hopetown Harbor. It is the most photographed city in the Abaco's. You'll see why because of the harbor and the lighthouse. This is my favorite island that we visited. The little city is small so it seems you know everyone. The streets are very narrow so you can really only walk or if you take a golf cart you have to go pretty slow to make some of the turns. The houses are all colored differently and overlooking beautiful blue water that I am always talking about. The people are so friendly. They will stop and talk to you and if you're not careful they will tell you their whole life story. The second day, we went off to explore the light house. We found it and climbed the many, many, many stairs to the top. We were rewarded with a view that is hard to describe because of so many amazing sites. Water, boats, harbor, houses, sky...
I decided to be brave and open this little hatch that took you out on a small platform that encircled the top of the light house. To get through you had to literally get on your hands and knees. I got through and as I did my sunglasses fell off and landed on the platform. I had enough time to look at them sitting there until a big gust of wind took them right off the side. I swear I saw some Bahamian walking around with them. We took off on day 3 of Hopetown Harbor and left behind my sunglasses and a little paint from our hull. That is when Reta and I learned the importance of tides. Not a good idea to leave on low tide.
What an amazing place. I took many pictures there and I tried to select the best ones. Enjoy!
We checked into this "Resort" and found out how the rich RV'ers live. This is truly a Resort. It has 3 swimming pools, exercise room, tennis courts, boccie ball, putting green and of course the resort favorite, shuffle board. It gets pretty competitive in the morning. We are only 7 miles from the beach but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Still running errands during the day. I took the Pickup out to a Goodyear place to get the oil changed today. The guy said it would take about 1 hour to 1 1/2. OK, I'll kill some time and walk around the shops and have lunch. After about 2 hours I went to pick up the truck and noticed that it looked like it hadn't even moved! I went in and the manager was like "It's all ready to go!" I said that it looked like its still in the same spot and the tires don't look like they have been rotated. He started to look for the ticket and several minutes later came out and said that the ticket had fallen out of the box and no one has worked on it yet. Can you believe that crap? Give me the keys and let me get the f#$% out of here! That's how my day has been. I went back to RH and took a nap. Tough day in the office for me.
WATER HAZARD - Hopetown Harbor
Our next destination in the Bahamas took us to Hopetown Harbor. It is the most photographed city in the Abaco's. You'll see why because of the harbor and the lighthouse. This is my favorite island that we visited. The little city is small so it seems you know everyone. The streets are very narrow so you can really only walk or if you take a golf cart you have to go pretty slow to make some of the turns. The houses are all colored differently and overlooking beautiful blue water that I am always talking about. The people are so friendly. They will stop and talk to you and if you're not careful they will tell you their whole life story. The second day, we went off to explore the light house. We found it and climbed the many, many, many stairs to the top. We were rewarded with a view that is hard to describe because of so many amazing sites. Water, boats, harbor, houses, sky...
I decided to be brave and open this little hatch that took you out on a small platform that encircled the top of the light house. To get through you had to literally get on your hands and knees. I got through and as I did my sunglasses fell off and landed on the platform. I had enough time to look at them sitting there until a big gust of wind took them right off the side. I swear I saw some Bahamian walking around with them. We took off on day 3 of Hopetown Harbor and left behind my sunglasses and a little paint from our hull. That is when Reta and I learned the importance of tides. Not a good idea to leave on low tide.
What an amazing place. I took many pictures there and I tried to select the best ones. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Homestead
Sunday, what are we going to do in Homestead? Let's go see what all the excitement is about watching cars go in circles. We headed out to the Speedway hoping we would be able to get in. I decided not to shave so that I could blend in a little more in case we ran into some rednecks. We pulled in front of the main office where I parked the car and got out. My lovely wife was saying "You can't just park here and expect to walk right in. The place is closed!" Of course the security guard came right out and I spoke with him explaining that all I wanted was a chance to see the track. He showed us in and we jumped on the elevator to the club level and walked right out to see the track. Take a look...
You can see victory lane on this last picture. I wanted to ask the guard if I could drive my Pick Up around the track once but I figured I shouldn't push my luck. Can't see myself sitting in the hot sun watching loud cars go around in circles for 3 hours.
We came back to Road Hazard and threw some steaks on the grill and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow, Monday, is moving day. Destination - Naples.
Read the next blog entry for day 2 of Bahamas.
Day Two of our trip to Bahamas
I'm sure by now you have noticed the new header to our blog. We thought that it was only appropriate that we give Magic it's due respect and place it's picture on our header. We did spend 18 days on her, enjoying the views, fishing, swimming, eating and sleeping.
Day 2 was a Sunday and in the Bahamas almost everything closes this day. So, with little options we decided to jump aboard the ferry and head to an island 1/2 hour away called Guana Cay. This island is known for its two restaurants/bars; Nippers and Grabbers. The day turned out to be sunny but pretty windy. The ferry trip over was uneventful but gave us a chance to see the land from a different prospective.
We arrived at Guana Cay and took a short walk over to our first stop, Nippers. It's interesting that this island is much smaller than Marsh Harbor so everyone uses golf carts to get around. The streets are very narrow and they drive on the wrong side of the street. You wouldn't think that it would be very different but try crossing a street when cars are coming from different directions.
When we finally arrived at Nippers the view was incredible. It sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. Right off shore, about 25 to 50 feet, you can see a reef. Just imagine that clear, blue water with white sandy beaches, beautiful rocks along the surf with music playing behind you and great company.
Day 2 was a Sunday and in the Bahamas almost everything closes this day. So, with little options we decided to jump aboard the ferry and head to an island 1/2 hour away called Guana Cay. This island is known for its two restaurants/bars; Nippers and Grabbers. The day turned out to be sunny but pretty windy. The ferry trip over was uneventful but gave us a chance to see the land from a different prospective.
We arrived at Guana Cay and took a short walk over to our first stop, Nippers. It's interesting that this island is much smaller than Marsh Harbor so everyone uses golf carts to get around. The streets are very narrow and they drive on the wrong side of the street. You wouldn't think that it would be very different but try crossing a street when cars are coming from different directions.
When we finally arrived at Nippers the view was incredible. It sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. Right off shore, about 25 to 50 feet, you can see a reef. Just imagine that clear, blue water with white sandy beaches, beautiful rocks along the surf with music playing behind you and great company.
This place has been known for people enjoying themselves and because of it they forget where they are and party hard. Not difficult to do when you have this ambiance. We enjoyed "people watching" and a nice lunch but decided to leave and check out the other restaurant before the ferry took us back. Grabbers is almost a complete opposite of Nippers. The view is more relaxed with a calm inlet and protected from the wind. Nice pool with comfortable chairs to sink into and just unwind. We found a hammock and tested it out before we realized that we had to go. Great 2nd day. You will see from the pictures that this doesn't look like the Bahamas that you have seen pictures of before. This isn't Freeport or Nassau. This is true Paradise!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Back on Terra Firma
We are back in Road Hazard and getting the "house" back together. All the fun stuff, washing clothes, cleaning, grocery shopping and the honey do list. I thought I wasn't working anymore? Where is all this crap coming from? I going to need a vacation after all this work.
Right now we are in a campground in Homestead, Florida. We decided to stay here for a few days because first, the RV was stored right up the road from here and second, we wanted to get things back together before we started out again. Well, the truth is, it's still warm down here and we are afraid to go any further north and run into that white stuff that falls from the sky. Homestead has two things: Big NASCAR race track up the road and Homestead Military base. Not much happening here. Rednecks and guys in uniform carrying big guns. We are here until Monday.
We had an incredible time with Deb and Charlie visiting all the different islands in the Marsh Harbor area of the Abaco's. Did you know that there are over 700 islands that make up the Bahamas? We could spend over a year there trying to explore all the different islands. Charlie, what are you doing for the next year? Lets go...
What I am going to do is break up the next several days blogs into the different days we spent in the Bahamas. Along with the blog I will upload pictures. Be sure to click on the slide show so that it will make the pictures full screen and you can read the captions to understand where we were and what we are doing.
This first round is our arrival to Marsh Harbor. Here is a map of the area and I have place a red dot to indicate where we are for today's blog.
We spent the first day traveling and spending time with Deb and Charlie to catch up on everything. Let me back up just a little first. We had to get into this tiny prop plane to get to the Bahamas. The ticket counter is in the last building at the airport. You walk into this building and there are a few small counters with attendants that look like they just passed their GED. While we are checking in the lady asked us each how much we weighted. The plane is so small that they have to account for every pound. After we checked in we sat close by and were entertained by the people that would go up to the ticket counters and get just as startled as us when asked their weight. One woman gave her weight and the women behind the counter didn't believe her so she made the passenger get up on the scale that you normally put your luggage on. It was like having front row seats to the Jerry Springer show. Jer-ry, Jer-ry, Jer-ry! The plane is so small that it only holds 8 passengers and for you to walk down the aisle you had to bend over at the waist. One seat on each side of the aisle. We sat in the first row, right behind the cockpit. Of course they never closed the door because I don't think they even had one, so we could watch everything and look out the front window.
On our first night we went to this restaurant called Snappas. There was a live local band playing with this guy playing a saw. That's right, a saw. He had a screw driver and would run it along the teeth back and forth in time with the music. Sounded pretty cool. You definitely don't want to be drinking when you play that instrument. You may end up with less digits. There was also some maracas that we had fun with trying to look cool. I need to get a pair of those things. It was a great evening but the trip hasn't even started! On our first night on the boat we were sitting on the deck when we heard all these people blowing conch shells. It's tradition to blow your conch at sunset. Pretty cool to be watching all these colors across the sky and hearing these conchs all around you. We took over 600 pictures and 10% of them are just of sunsets. I never tired of looking at them. Every night it was exciting to see what display you would see.The next morning it rained very early so by the time we woke up and looked outside there was a beautiful rainbow. Is that a sign of good things to come? I'm sure.Now, enjoy the first round of pictures.
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