As always, we have had a great time at Vero Beach. I've mentioned before that it's also known as "Velcro Beach" since people come here for a few days and end up getting stuck here. It's a great place for us boaters with free public transportation that not only gets you wherever you want to go and also give you an "up close and personal" look at the people around you. We have met some very nice people and some real strange people. But that's what you see everywhere.
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| Beautiful sunsets |
There are also great places for us to get our power walks in. We can see a mile long bridge from our boat and we've walked it several times. We walk about 2.7 miles round trip. We have a mile long trail at the riverside park that we walk also. We've left the marina, walked to the park, turned and walked to the beach, walked in the sand to the end of the beach and walked back to the boat for about an 4.6 mile walk.
We've visited the farmer's market on Saturday and seen beautiful fruits, veggies, flowers, trinkets, and edible goodies. We've window shopped at some very expensive places along the way.
We've met some old friends and made some new ones. A large group of us boaters went out to eat at a new local restaurant and had a great time. We always enjoy getting together and hearing about others peoples adventures.
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| Roux, my grand-dog, getting in the Thanksgiving spirit! |
The "CLODS" aka "cruisers living on dirt" had a big Thanksgiving meal again this year. They supply the ham and turkey and us cruisers supply sides and dessert. We had a great turnout this year and a ton of food. I appointed myself as the "designated dessert cutter" and I cut pecan, apple, pumpkin, key lime, sweet potato and other pies. I cut up several cakes and other desserts. I know there were at least 12 pecan pies and that many pumpkin pies. We were overflowing with desserts! On the other end of the building were the savory tables and they were overflowing too. Hams, turkeys, all kinds of cranberry dishes, green beans, mac n cheese, sweet potatoes, salads, pastas, and every traditional Thanksgiving dish there is. Then we had the non-traditional things like baked spaghetti squash, lasagna, and others. We had lots of food, people, boat adventures to tell, and lots of fun. There was some great music after the meal, but we were so stuffed that we walked back to get rid of all those carbs. Thanks Vic for all the great Thanksgiving Day pictures. He's a great photographer!
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| An area of intense activity. As you can see, Shay's right in the thick of things. Doing what he does best, talking. This time Bill looks like he's getting into the conversation. Gigi getting our table ready. |
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| Vic titled this as, "Skinny, this is not how you got that way." He calls me "Skinny" now. And NO eating pie was not how I did it! But I'm only cutting the pie now, and not licking the knife! |
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| Gigi made sure there wasn't any of her delicious cranberry dessert left to spill on the trip home! |
We were in the marina office one day and a couple were talking to the dockmaster about getting a mooring ball. They were full so they were double rafting and he was looking for a boat to tie them up with. We could see their boat was a trawler and heard them say they were staying about a month. We knew we could get a "buddy boat" at anytime and were looking for a long term boat rather than a boat that would stay a day or two and then leave a put us up for another new arrival. Shay volunteered to let them tie up with us and we'd even help them get tied up. They agreed and we now have neighbors.
They seem like a nice couple, even if they are from Canada. Ha Ha. They also have a camper and plan to spend time traveling in it. So they told us they'll be the perfect buddy boat. We won't even know they're around since they will be gone a lot of time. We've enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them. I found out she was a chef and they had their own "farm to table restaurant" in Canada. I told her then I wasn't inviting her to eat with us! But we did have them and Vic and Gigi over while George and Pam were here.
Bill and Lore on Sea Wolf had us over to their boat for a fantastic lasagna meal. Pat and Addison from Three Penny Opera had us and Richard and Connie from SeaSalt over for baked chicken and veggies at their land home. Richard and Connie had us, Vic and Gigi from Salty Turtle, George and Pam our friends from back home, Pat and Addison and Paul and Helle from R'Liberty over for spaghetti, salad and I brought key lime pie. Vic and Gigi had us over for his delicious chicken stew and corn bread. We had Vic and Gigi, George and Pam, John and Carolyn from Ocean Haven over for smoked sausage on the grill, grilled sweet potatoes, Carolyn's beet and quinoa salad and pecan pie. John and Carolyn had us and George and Pam over for a delicious soup of kale, carrots, butternut squash and then chicken and shrimp curry over rice. Yum to everyone! A few nights later, we had panko-pecan crusted chicken breast, grilled asparagus and zucchini, brown rice and quinoa, and salad. Great meal and thanks again. Hey, guys! All this eating can't be good for my calorie intake! I'll have to walk 10 miles a day. Well, its worth it!
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Lore and Bill from Sea Wolf
George and Pam came down from Mt. Airy to stay with us a while. We had a great time getting caught up on gossip and hearing what's going on back home. They are such easy guests. Shay and George can talk for hours. Pam and I are happy talking, reading, or just enjoying our beautiful scenery. We took several long walks with them. had several really good meals with them and just enjoyed having them around. As with all good things, they must come to an end and of course they had to go back home. It is getting close to Christmas. Hurry back anytime. Remember, We're going to the Bahamas after Christmas. Come on back with us and see the beauty there! No, seriously!!
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As in the past, we are making plans to head back to NC for Christmas. We'll spend two weeks there and then back to Vero for last minute running around getting our last-last minute supplies. We hope to have a good weather window soon after we get back down here.
David and Emma, from Five Flip Flops aka FFF are back in the US and back here in Vero. They have not seen me since we left Green Turtle Cay. Since then I have a new hairdo and clothes that fit me so they drove right by me in the parking lot. They got out of the car and started walking away, so I called out the traditional British greeting of "oy". They both turned around and were shocked. In a good way. After many hugs and smiles we started getting caught up with them. If our plans work out (haha, remember our plans are made in sand) their boat will have been painted and be beautiful just in time for our after Christmas departure.
In early December, we had a super moon and Emma and I were talking about how great it would be to be able to do a night crossing with that big moon. Let's hope we have the right weather, the right moon phase, and the right timing to do an easy crossing. Cross your fingers!
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| Super moon rising on one side of us... |
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| ...as the sun sets on the other side |
The pictures below are Vic's. As I said before, he's a great photographer. He's the "official, unofficial photographer of the several schools in the Exumas. Thanks you so much Vic for these pictures and the ones at Thanksgiving.
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| The artist named this "Unwanted Guests" They will make a mess on your boat! |
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| Stormy moorings |
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| Foggy morning |
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| Calm water |
We have rented a car for our trip back home already. Remember, its cheaper to rent one for month, than two weeks. Yeah, hope they don't figure out how dumb that really is. We've already got the small trunk full of Christmas presents and stuff to take back with us.
I've decided to post this now and then finish up with Christmas when we get back. We're so excited to see everyone again. Check back after Christmas and see how ours went. Merry Christmas to everyone and if I don't see you before, Happy New Year!
