We arranged to meet them at the Marina at around 11am, arriving just prior to that. It wasn't raining when we left home, but was cooler this morning with rain threatening.
I don't like driving as fast as most do, on the freeway, which is usually in excess of the 70mph speed limit. I guess there is a 9mph grace margin which many people push towards 80mph. I just don't feel that comfy at 130kph (NZ speed). We could have driven north to Sarasota on Hwy 41 and stopped at all the traffic lights and gone through all the towns, but that might have taken more than the hour, to get there. Instead we headed north on I75.
We enjoyed a cup of coffee and chat to catch up with them and their plans etc before heading out to a seafood restaurant for lunch.
Robyn and Dave have crossed their wake now, and fly the Gold Loopers banner on the bow of their lovely boat. They have cruised in so many of the places we are going to be visiting, and we were especially interested in the time they spent in the Georgian Bay area of Canada. It looks stunning! Robyn has taken some wonderful photos, which she shared once we returned to the boat. We were interested to see if we could get our vessel into some of the tight spots they had visited in their 52 footer.
The covered cockpit deck on their boat before it started to rain.
We also enjoyed going over the Sarasota Bridge, which we had gone under, in Sarasota Bay, on the way south to Port Charlotte.
The architecture is interesting, in the lead up to the bridge crossing. 
A blustery crossing!
Looking along the ICW, below.
...and out to Sarasota Bay . We parked the boat in a crescent bay on Longboat Key, in December, and said we would go back there by car, if we got the opportunity. We did, today.
Some of the boats in the marina make us look tiny, by comparison.
Gorgeous lines!!
Can you see the large vessel behind the masts?
Walking around the small village square at Long Boat Key, after we picked up a Latte...well, not like we needed the coffee, but we needed a pit stop! So, best to buy something when you use the facilities!!
We were really impressed by the variety of retail therapy in this area known as St Armands Square. This place in particular took our fancy. Some who know us well will agree that this is our kind of place:) We kinda like funky art!
Even the Cello on the chair is made from Aluminum! It even plays!!! 
The artist or the owner needs to get his grammar correct. No apostrophe needed here!
We had quite a chat with the fella who owns this store, and he gave us his card and said "When you are going up the east coast and you have ANY trouble, call me! I know people everywhere that can help you out!" WOW! He likes Kiwis:) having worked with our kind in NZ within the boating industry. He is a former boat builder!
This restaurant seating is along one side of the 'square'.
I persuaded Waz to stand beside Neptune, to show the size of the statue...well, maybe:)...(evil grin)..Why does he always look so bored???
Sorry this is blurry...I was being hurried along the crosswalk because I had stopped in the middle of the road to take the photo! hmmm....This is another side to the 'square'. A pretty place.
We left Longboat Key around 5pm, heading along Hwy41, going south. We decided that we would see some of the city by tracking along the water as far as we could go.
Please forgive the blurry photos...low light plus speed of car, a good photo does not make!
Going south over the Sarasota Bridge.
On the right
....and the left
Too bad this one is blurry...remember the large sculpture of the couple dancing, from the Key West posts? This was similarly large. 
The Bay Front. Lots of sculpture along the waterfront, which Waz photographed as best he could, but they are just too blurry to include here. Bummer! You will just have to go and see for yourself!:)
He gave up photographing after a while as the light was just too low.
We turned onto I75 eventually, as the going was too slow in the rain on 41, and 5pm traffic...this being a normal work day for most. How we forget that simple fact, sometimes, lol.
The traffic on the I75 was slower, thank goodness, due to ran and wind, but it was a bit stop and go at one stage, for no apparent reason. We made it home in the dark and wondered what we might eat for dinner. As Kentucky Fried Chicken has a Buffet restaurant just down the road, we decided to again avail ourselves of that. It is reasonable value, and we don't feel the need to over eat, just because it is a Buffet.
Finally home, We turned on our computers and checked mail.
Yesterday we found out that someone had hacked into my e-mail account. They had targeted my banking mail in particular and had sent (this is how I found out about the hacking) a letter to my FORMER New Zealand bank, asking them to verify the account number to send thousands of dollars.
The bank, fortunately, did not give the required information, but they did slip up in that they didn't check with me to ascertain that the message was bona fide. I have not had an account with them for some time.
I did the appropriate thing and contacted the bank. They now have strict instructions on my behalf.
Today, when I checked my e-mail, there was a letter returning information to MY E-mail account, but in reply to the same hacker, about money going through a Wire Transfer FROM NZ. Aieeeeeee!!!
We thought this might happen, so last night I sent a message to my US bank to say that I had been hacked, and to accept no message from me unless they check with me by phone.
They had, however, accepted this message sent by the hacker, and replied to it....and I had already changed passwords, so it came back to me. The Hacker will not have received their reply!
We have set the Fraud wheels moving on this.
I seriously urge you all to change your passwords to EVERYTHING, often. We can get very complacent.
The result of all this is that it is extremely time consuming to have to deal with the fallout. No matter. Put alarms on your computer to remind you to change your passwords, especially to sensitive information. We take so much for granted, and it is clear to me now, that when we write e-mail to our various trusted institutions, they do not necessarily know whether it is bona fide. I have the evidence in my Inbox!
Time to have this computer dealt with by Malware. Do not assume that your Anti-Virus software will take care of all invaders!
Ciao, Ciao.
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