Just a few more days in Marathon…we hung out by the pool Sunday 2/17 and planned on having docktails at Marlin Bay Marina with loopers staying There plus a few friends from Faro Blanco Resort and Marina. I made some Asian pork meatballs for the docktails with a Korean Gochujang Sauce…its a fermented chili paste. Very tasty and the second time I made them. We had a nice group of 20+ people at docktails. The sun takes a lot out of you, we went to bed early as we had to make plans for the upcoming week of travel.
The 18th was Presidents Day and I had to do some work. Joe hung out by the pool and He helped me with laundry. I ended up going out later and met Nancy from Misty while there was a group of loopers in the hot tub. She and Rob are docked next to Rowe Boat. I enjoyed meeting Nancy as we have much in common, she was in marketing and she loves to cook. We hope to run into Misty as we both make our way up the east side of Florida. We ended our day with meeting Kevin/Steve, Ann, Alan/Sandy and of course Mike and Leann for dinner at Key Colony for dinner. These are all gold loopers that completed the loop in 2016. It’s nice that they are able to give us info from what sticks out in their minds. I have a page of notes with all the suggestions we pick up along the way.
Wednesday brought more sunshine and a short walk to the stuffed pig for lunch with some of Mike and Leann’s friends that had stayed behind their house. It’s amazing how many people they have met through their boating! Anyway, after lunch we decided to walk up to the turtle hospital for a tour. Only one problem, they were sold out of tickets for the day. Not what we wanted to hear. We walked back to the marina stopping to look around a cute little shop. Coming out empty handed we made our way back to Marlin Bay. We stayed in tonight. Cooked some chicken and veggies. Trying to be halfway good on our meals. Everyone says they gained weight while they were on the loop. We are hoping that doesn’t happen to us. Fingers crossed.
We packed our bags and left Marathon, finally. This day was a bit stressful as the water was shallow. Our 55’ Fleming needs 5’ of water today, there were times when we were below that. The keel got polished to say the least…we traveled over 7.5 hours to get to Steamboat Creek. We anchored out with Rowe Boat rafted up…,fixed ourselves a cocktail chilled a bit then fixed dinner. The water was so clear, beautiful blueish green!
polished the Keel some
photo taken by Leann Rowe on Rowe Boat
Off on another long day to Ft Lauderdale
No stopping in Miami for us. Been there done that!
We made it to Ft Lauderdale and the Lauderdale Yacht Club. The dock master, Brandon had on a Maker’s Mark cap. Being from Kentucky, that spurred on a conversation and low and behold his uncle had worked for Kentucky Central. The radio station I worked at in the 80’s was owned by Kentucky Central…The world truly is small! Brandon made a couple restaurant suggestions. We decided on walking to Southport Raw Bar. We were tired and wanted a quick dinner that we didn’t have to fix! Their oysters on the half shell were delicious! The walk back to the marina was nice after being on the boat all day.
Our first day in Ft Lauderdale Joe and I went to visit and take Janet to lunch… his dad’s wife.We had a hard time finding a good Asian Restaurant which is one of her favorites. She said she had lunch for the next several days. Huge servings…..We had a nice visit. We gave her hugs and said goodbye. We were glad to see her doing well.
There were some errands we needed to run since we had rented a car. Fresh Market was on my list since we were in a city large enough to have one. We ran our errands and went back to the marina. Tonight we grilled out a marinated flank steak had a baked sweet potato and a spinach salad with apples, dried cherries and pecans. It was delicious! I will add here, doing dishes everyday is a pain. I sure miss a dishwasher!
Big guy looking for love 
About 4 foot long
The next day we went down to the Riverwalk. We saw a boat being towed. It’s name was Blue Guitar, Leann looked it up and it was Eric Clapton’s boat. Darn, we didn’t get a photo. We walked back to the car and saw this big guy hanging out on the edge of the river. Funny thing…we were looking for this restaurant that says it’s by the Yellow Farmer’s market. It was weird, it was in this huge farmer’s market. Not what we envisioned. I had a glass of Prosecco with a blood Orange popsicle. It hit the spot! I had a kale, mushroom and butternut squash quesadilla. Joe, Mike and Leann had their pork. Weird location, great food.
Hope we can finish this loop with less than 99 problems!
On this day we had an hvac guy come to fix my office/pilot house A/C. A compressor. Ugh! I appreciate the cool air for sure!! We also went to a mattress store and bought a new mattress. I sure miss our Tempurpedic mattresses at home and our condo. I called Tempurpedic a week or so ago to ask if they made marine mattresses. I was told no. It was a sad day! So, we order a firm memory foam mattress. Fingers crossed.
Our last day in Ft Lauderdale and we waited for a lady to come measure our bed for our new custom mattress. Leann and I went to an international grocery store to get Melitta Coffee Traditional. Mike and Leann were turned onto this coffee by their Kubota Rep. it is delicious! We made plans to go to a Cuban restaurant for dinner. Joe and I had Churrasco with chimichurri sauce, plantains and black beans and rice. Yum! Tomorrow we leave for North Palm Beach.
