Stuart FL

WOW been here for 10 days already?  Ashley left us yesterday heading back north to the Arctic.  We had rented a car on Friday for 4 days so we could check out the area a bit with her and also we needed to get her to Fort Lauderdale for the flight.  We took a swing over to Fort Pierce on Saturday for the farmers market it is the best one around, actually the best we have been to.  Someone said they read that its the top 10 in the country.  Not sure about that but we enjoy it every time we have visited.  We then did some shopping in a MALL, WOW its been too long.  I will be very happy not to step foot in a Walmart for a month.  Ashley got her eyes checked and needed new glasses and her cell phone has been shutting down so being her birthday that's what she got.  She can see again and won't constantly be losing her contacts on the phone.

On Monday we took off for Fort Lauderdale and spent the night there, check out the area, had dinner then the best ice cream ever at a place called Jaxson's Ice Cream they should know what they are doing seeing they have been in business since 1956.  Sometimes it seems like a small world, we stopped and had lunch at this place located in a strip mall as we were walking along who did we run into but Rich and Carol on SaltNSand sitting at a restaurant outside eating their lunch.  They have their boat in Fort Meyers and ours in Stuart and we run into each other in Fort Lauderdale.  It was nice to see them once again and they looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, after all, they are city folk.  Myself, give me a small town!  I have also discovered in the last year that I don't like traveling by car much anymore, maybe it has something to do with traveling at 9 mph verses 65mph.  Cars and traffic make me very nervous.  Anyway, Ashley flew out on Tuesday and we headed back to the boat.

Another funny thing happened this week.  One night I was on the AGLCA site and I noticed a post from a new member, very new, hours old actually, so I post somewhere that I had charts for sale if anyone was interested, well let me tell you I got hammered with e-mails, the 1st one were these NEW members, Tom and Christine, I e-mailed them with some of what I thought I had but told them I needed to gather all the charts up and figure a price.  And being there is going to be alot of weight, I would not ship them, so they would have to be picked up somewhere along the way.  The next day Tom and Christine show up on the dock, turns out they live right around the corner here in Stuart.  We spent a couple of hours with them talking about the loop of which they will start in September, they are now the new owners of about 30+ pounds of charts, cruising guides assorted boating book etc. they have their boat in the Alton/Grafton area and will begin from there.

So now Ashley is gone back home and I am sure the Dog, (Barkley) is happy to be home again as well, though Ashley said he loves the kennel we send him to and we appreciate the flexibility and patience that Sarah has shown us with our somewhat unpredictable schedule.  The boat is much more lonely without Ashley but it has gotten much bigger! 

So now Jim gets to tackle a few projects while we are here, the first being the Vacuflush we have been down to 1 head for more than a week and the parts he ordered have arrived, what a lucky man!  Then we have had a problem with the shower so he needs to check into that as well.  So tomorrow is laundry day for me a good time to be off the boat. 

Here are some photos of our time here.................to be continued

Downtown Stuart

The boardwalk that takes you from the marina into town

The mooring field

The dinghy dock 

marina outside lounge area where you can BBQ on an enormous grill or pick up a game of cards or domino's with boaters.  Cocktails meet and greet twice a week.

on the wrap around porch

Pitcher plant I bought in Fort Pierce

Ashley and I in Fort Lauderdale

a bit cool and breezy

Just another Stuart Sunset