I told you about the dogs next door, last night....well, make up your own mind on these two!
It wasn't a good night for sleep, however...overdoing he bike riding is telling on my bad left hip, but perhaps I just need a day off???maybe. I do love the exercise and we are so enjoying having the freedom and ability to go where we might not go if we were just walking...tho' we are known to walk great distances!
Of course 6am is not an ideal time to get up...by our standards (being an hour later), but it was perfect timing for the gorgeous morning sun and slight fog.
I just love sitting so close to the Marshes and listening to the birds, morning and night...such a ruckus! We cant actually see the birds, but we sure hear their chorus!:)
Sun is up and happy!
and there seemed to be a number of small boats on the water, first thing...
This one is leaving. Most of the boats that are leaving, seem to go by around 8am. We will have to depart on Tuesday morning, between 9 and 11am, due to the tide. We also want to get the post when it arrives, as we don't know where our next postal stop will be.
We had talked to one of our fellow boaters who recommended a little restaurant no far away (towards town) called the Hot Spot Café. They are a bakery also, and had the most amazing looking croissants on their racks. They said that the best breakfast was available from 8am, so that is where we biked to for breakfast, this morning.
Waz and both had the croissant sandwiches...his with bacon and scrambled, and mine with chorizo and scrambled...both of them excellent. We also managed to get a reasonable Latte...though they are never hot enough for Waz. He likes his scalding, and I like mine drinkable:)
After breakfast we decided to do some tiki-touring and went down the streets that make up the Historic Lincolnville. This area is famous as a Black (African American) stronghold, and Marti n Luther King Jr Blvd was named after the famous civil rights leader actually walked down that road (Formerly Orange), during the heyday of the civil rights movement, here in Florida. Of course I had left my camera on the boat....HOW did I do that??? I NEVER leave my camera!!!
The historic buildings on this street and all the other streets that make up the area, are mostly falling down, but it was great to see at least one person on the job, rebuilding. Her name is Mickey Cash!
Mickey and I got talking...she is rebuilding and restoring an historic home...she knows all about the family with 7 kids that used to inhabit it...from the bottom up, and is keeping the parts that will hold up, but the rest will just have to be facsimilied!..if that is the term?
Not only is she a restorer, but also a Country Singer, and very kindly gave us her CD! Thanks Mickey:)...It was great to talk to another passionate person! She purchased the old building and lot for a pittance, and now that the area is seeing a resurgence in renovations, the prices for property there have trebled.
Riding the back blocks on our bikes is fascinating. It is great to have the mobility, but it also means we get to see more than if we were walking...I think I said that already!
I have identified why I like this place so much...well, WE like this place so much. It is so European, and the history is what I call Living History. People actually live, work, learn and play in these buildings and this town...it isn't for tourists, though they come in droves, but it is a real living, vibrant town. It had a good 'feel' to it.
There are many at the Marina who came for a day or two, maybe a month or two, and stayed one or two or sometimes three years. There are 20 live aboard boats at this Marina.
I spoke to one man, who today handed over the keys of his boat to the new owner. He and I sat and talked in the Computer room at the Marina, and tried to sort out where he should go next. It might sound funny, but it is actually a much harder decision than just putting a pin in the map.
He thought it might be a good idea to buy another yacht and go live in Hawaii, on a mooring ball. I didn't think that life would be much fun for him, doing that.
Many of the people who live on their boats are single men, and they are non conformists, as you might guess. If people are not 'joiners' of clubs and other organizations, during their lifetime, they can get awfully lonely. This person has had an exceptional career that was cut short 4 yrs ago, during the global recession, like so many others. He also lost a lot of money in a Real Estate investment that went down the tubes one month before his job was cut. Not a good time in life, for him or many others like him. Living on a boat has proven to be the least expensive way for him to live, and he sees that as still his only option in life. How sad!
Waz came and rescued me from the computer room just before lunch time...I had gone up there to write this blog, which might have been quite different had I not had the exchange with this man! lol.
After we ate our lunch of one meatball each (dinner leftovers) and cole slaw with a cup of tea, we decided to walk up the road to the Sailor's Exchange, hoping they would still be open.
We didn't find what we went for, but we managed to find a new way to walk back to the boat, around a pretty lake, and came out opposite the street where we started out. Fortunate!:)
As we were crossing the road, the person I had talked to in the computer room was coming out of the Marina entrance in a nice Porche. He had portrayed himself to me as being VERY hard-up and on his last financial legs. He waved (that's how I recognized him!) at us both, and I had a big laugh over how I had been taken in...lesson learned! I don't know that I will ever believe anyone's sob story again! No harm done, but my soft heart has been hardened just a little bit!:) At least it gave us both a good chuckle!!
The wind is blowing down the river this afternoon, so we are getting the music from Hurricane Patty's Bar and Grill, for free...not that I think we would pay for it...this guy's voice is getting VERY boring. That is one thing we have to deal with when in a Marina. No wonder we like to anchor out in the wilderness. The other is that our neighbors sat outside their yacht on chairs, last night, but it just happened to be outside our bedroom portholes. That forced us to close the windows and turn the aircon on, to go to sleep. Hearing what is going on in the next boat, isn't always pleasant.
Well, I will stop complaining and go and enjoy the rest of the lovely day...I will have to take some more photos of the 'garden' for you...the tomatoes are huge now and the herbs are threatening to grow outside of the box! Ciao for now....
No comments:
Post a Comment