Hi Everyone,

We traveled all day through Clearwater, Pass-A-Grill, and across lower Tampa Bay area. Stopped at Seafood marina in Cortez for the night. Not much to say about this, Mike and Lu went eat, while Dixie and Dicky went wash clothes. Up the next morning back to traveling. They even have ferries here. (pictures). Felt like Cameron, except this one was rather small in size and only had to cross the bayou. Made our stop for the night at Placioda Cove, just short of Boca Grande Swing bridge. We dropped the anchor and the dinghy's and took a ride to Gasparilla Pass. We went shell hunting, came back to boat for supper and some chit-chat then hit the sack.
June 7, had short run to Charlotte Harbor, which took us to Matlacha (picture). Matlacha is where Ronnie and Karla have their home. We anchored at their dock (2 pictures). Lu started washing clothes and we visited with Matt (Karla's brother). He was kind enough to lend us his van to replenish groceries and fuel. Thanks Matt. Mike took a swim in the pool while the rest of us sat around, talked and had a few drinks.
Got up late. did a few projects, then Mike and Lu went to coffee shop and stopped by to say hi to Bob, who is a family friend of Ronnie's. Dixie and Dicky did some projects on their boat today, as well. That afternoon Mike lit the pit and we all sat around and told stories. The next morning Dixie and Lu took a couple of hours to walk into town to get in a little shopping then headed back to the boat for 11:45. The canals are shallow and that was the time for high tide.
Made it to Cabbage Key and docked at their marina. Went eat at their restaurant (pictures). It is full of one dollar bills with peoples name on them. The story goes along time ago some one said he would leave a dollar at the restaurant and try to go make his fortune, if he failed he would not be broke, cause he still had that dollar, so the tradition started as you can see in the pictures. It was told to us by the waitress there is about 80,000., on the walls. Dixie pressed on the post and there was a nice cushion. (not just a bill then wood). We walked up the water tower (pictures) the view was gorgeous (pictures). the pictures do not do it justice, I took some of our boats tied up at the harbor. Back on the ground heading back to the boat we noticed 2 or 3 turtles wondering around. (2 videos) along with ducks just sitting under a tree. It was a real treat to visit Cabbage Key. After we made our way to Captiva Pass where the water was 10-13 feet deep about 100 yards from the north side of the beach. We decided to anchor there for the night. (pictures). Dropped anchor and dinghy and headed to the beach for some more shell hunting. We had a northerly breeze so we sleep outside in the cockpit that night. The breeze stayed all night, it actually got cool and the stars were bright.
Well it is time to head east. We are going through the Okeechobee Waterway, which is a passage that runs through Florida instead of going around by Key West. That will be another trip. (possibly winter) We are trying to head up the east coast and go as far as we can before the cold weather gets us .
Well till next time, Love Lu and Mike, Dixie and Dicky