We made lots of different plans for the Super Bowl and finally settled on going to Key Biscayne Yacht Club. While the game obviously didn't turn out the way we wanted, the Yacht Club with a nice pool, bar, showers, and friendly staff and members was amazing. Chrisy stayed busy with daily bike rides, yoga classes in town, and the Coconut Grove Art Show while Roger flew to El Salvador for a board meeting.
From Key Biscayne, we spent one night on anchor in West Palm Beach and then moved up to Delray Beach where we were hosted on the dock of Roger's high school friend, Louise Vanderlip, and her husband, Henrik. The price was right and the hospitality was superb. We were also able to catch up with friends Henry and Suzie O'Reilly, Debbie Maine, Roger's post-college roommate Reed Webster and his entertaining daughter, Margaret. We randomly ran into Lisa and Rob Barker, friends from Chrisy's childhood years, at a wonderful "America's Cup" slide show and lecture. Henrik and Louise made our stay a bit too comfortable, and it was hard to move on, but we needed to keep pushing toward Vero Beach.
Peck Lake is a large anchorage on the Intracoastal Waterway with a state park and a massive beach. After much deliberation as to the legality of bringing Millie to the beach, we gave it the thumbs up and Millie had several long walks. Unfortunately, the anchorage is adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway and there is no "No Wake Zone" sign so our accommodations were somewhat rolly during the day, but the beautiful beach with hardly anyone on it certainly made up for the rolly waves.
Millie was sorry to leave the park but happy to leave the anchorage when we pushed on to Stuart on the St. Lucie River. We've heard lots of great things about Stuart over the years from our cruising friends, but we have never been. It did not disappoint. The marina was very welcoming with nice facilities, and the town even put on an art show for us on Sunday. We caught up with our Jamestown friends Mary Hutchinson and Jim Wharton - our one-man send-off party way back in May and had a lovely afternoon at their resort community and spent the evening with our Michigan Great Loopers, Robin and John.
Last winter we fell into a perfect rental for Vero Beach so we factored that into our Great Loop adventure and booked a stop for the month of March. The condo has three bedrooms and three baths. Basically, we are going through a bit of an adjustment period getting used to all of the space. After spending months where we have been within 15 feet of each other, there are times now when we can't find each other. Roger's wallet and reading glasses are constantly missing, but we are gradually getting used to life on land. Millie had no such adjustment period and quickly settled into multiple walks per day.
Miami in the background on a gorgeous travel day for a motorboat. A special thank you to our Canadian friends, Steve and Dodie, for the photograph.
Your basic Key Biscayne sunset
The ladies enjoying their walk on the beach at Peck Lake.
