Saturday, we rose at the normal time and went about our business. We were determined to go to the Farmer's Market, as I have mentioned previously. It was raining, but we have a large umbrella, and we wont melt...much. It was warm and muggy, as it gets in these Marshy parts of the south.
It is quite a walk to the market building from our boat dock. The legend goes that it is 1/2 mile to the Marina office, therefore it was 3/4 of a mile to the Market building. We like that the Farmer's Markets are fixtures in most places and there are structures to support this activity. It reminded us of the huge market at Muskegon, Michigan, that we attended, only that market was 10 times the size of this one.
We were on our way to the coffee shop...again...for breakfast along with the coffee, this time. We had perused their breakfast menu the day before, and knew we wanted what they had:) I didn't take photos this time..silly me!!! Our coffee was ordered and we chose a bacon and egg and cheese croissantwich for the meal. The service was cheerful and happy and the food came quickly. Absolutely what the Doctor ordered. I was still feeling physically exhausted, so even the act of walking was an effort, but I was somewhat revived by the congenial atmosphere and the food and drink. Just delightful.
There was a group of six sitting behind us, and I guess they heard our accents. We also, apparently, look like boaters!:) really?? How do they tell??hahaha! I guess our multiple bags handing from shoulders were a giveaway, along with the ratty looking clothing?
A young man at the counter when we were ordering (another customer) asked us if we were boaters (yep!) and told us a little about himself before inviting us to come and look at his design store around the corner...clever! When I asked him what he designs, he said.."Things like Chandelier"...which of course we need, right! Good for him, being pro-active about his business. Such a nice young man!
Back to the crowd behind us: When they were exiting the shop, one of the men asked where we were from, and told us he had just sold his Jeneau 37 sail boat, down here at the dock. He envied us our lifestyle and we had quite a conversation. He apparently worked for Ever-Ready Batteries and had visited NZ many times...preferring Christchurch (South Island) to other places, as so many we hear from do. He was very gracious, and we exchanged business cards. You NEVER know when you might need a local!
Having finished our drink and food, we were off on shanks' pony (foot) to explore our region further. We still hadn't unpacked the bikes, and Waz didn't know if his butt was ready to ride one yet. Good question!
This is the view from the bow of the boat. We love the marshes and how they change colors with the clouds and sunshine. Lots of activity going on there most of the time. We need longer lenses on the cameras to take advantage of some of the sights we see...birds fishing, mostly. There is an extraordinary little wading bird that needs to be photographed on the wing...we have yet to identify it, and a trip to the library might be necessary to find some Georgia Bird Books.
Upon leaving the Famer's Market, we found this just outside. Whether the legend is true or not, we are amazed that the pot remains.
Walking down street previously unexplored, we found the OLD Town Hall. We think this one is far superior to the NEW Town Hall which I have previously featured on the blog. This one has far more dignity. The new being a bit blousy, we feel.
This is a rather scary thought....we are up and away from the river, but that would be some storm surge to make it's way this high...but then we aren't surprise by much when it comes to weather, anywhere.
The shady streets in the Historic District are lovely, and of course they are welcome respite from the fierce sun. We took a moment or two to enjoy this scene before crossing the street. These are crepe myrtle trees...you can tell them by their smooth and mottled trunks and of course their blossoms. This one was a pink one. Most trees are hung with the ubiquitous Spanish Moss. I hadn't actually stopped and 'looked' at it closely before. I was amazed at the structure of it and....
...discovered it has flowers. You can see them at the bottom of the foreground drop. It isn't a good photo, sorry. Can you see the slightly yellow looking, non-descript flowers? Tiny little things! If you look up higher, you will see that yellow elsewhere too.
I have told you about the Coquina, before. Well, there is such a thing as 'Faux' Coquina, we have discovered. This is like a laminate, if you will.
The walls on some of the buildings have a 'coating' of 2-3 inch thick shell 'mud'. The original coquina walls are at least a foot thick. These ones are not. I do like the colors in this photo, and it hints at old world southern charm.
One thing that puzzles us constantly....the window displays are rather naff, but also, the shop owners do not keep their windows clean. We find so many facades are filthy. It is a definite turn-off.
Of course you cannot keep us out of junk, marine or antique stores. They all tell their own stories:)
In this antique store, which needs further investigation (it is HUGE), we found some fascinating objet d'art. This being one of them.
Being tired, by this stage, we slowly made our way back the 1 1/2 miles to the boat.
Eventually...because it was HOT and MUGGY, we rested upstairs with all the windows open. It seems we all, on the dock, do the same things....it was snooze time.
As I sit here, there is a train going by, slowly.
I took photos of the train yesterday. It would be charming, except that they toot their horn all the way along...unguarded crossings demand this, apparently. Thank goodness they don't come by at night! aieee!!!
As you can see, there isn't much distance between us and it.
Later in the afternoon, we met up with Dawn and Colin, again. They had spent the day resting and making preparations for moving on the next day (Sunday). We joined them on their boat, this time, and had a beer and water on the back deck while the sun went down. No rush to go and make food...we have so little of it left in the fridge!
Rain clouds threaten but don't produce much.
It had cooled a bit, and the sunset was obscured behind the threatening clouds. It did rain in the night, which cleared the air somewhat. It was fresher the following morning.
Dawn and Colin came by the boat to say their goodbyes and to get on with their journey north. We helped them off with their lines, and waved goodbye. We hope to see them again somewhere. Bon Voyage, fellow Kiwis, it was great to spent time with our own kind.
The rest of the Sunday was spent doing nothing much. We went to Adams supermarket on the bikes...yes, we finally took them out of their bags. It sure makes a difference to our ability to get around...shanks' pony gets a bit tired in this heat.
Of course I forgot my camera...I know..DUh! how do these things happen???
We found the small 'local' (being the operative here) supermarket and bought just a couple of things...bacon was one of them:) That gave us the excuse to go further afield and we delighted in wandering the Historic district with it's run down and occasionally re-done Victorian homes. Some were in shocking repair, but others had been lovingly restored. We will go back with the camera and show you some of them. The roads are in shocking repair...aieee....hard to bike on them!
We had backpacks on, which meant our backs were wet with sweat by the time we made it back to the boat.
Italian sausage and cole slaw for dinner...yummy, but not much imagination to the meal. Beggars cant be choosers with so little in the fridge. We are eating it, the freezer and the pantry down so that we can start again. You know how easy it is to just keep putting stuff in the freezer, and the items at the bottom tend to stay there! We cant afford to do that, so we are having some interesting meals as a result.
Monday: A lot of odds and sods..things that had been wanting our attention but been on the back burner until we settled somewhere.
My lovely (and expensive, I might add) NZ travel shoulder bag used to have just Velcro on the inside to keep that front flap from....well, flapping. It eventually didn't close or adhere anymore, so Waz and I devised our own system for keeping it closed...securely! He installed the catches this avo, and it works like a charm...no more flapping around:)
There are quite a few boats for sale, on the docks, and we went for a walk around to look at them, and to see who we could find to chat with. Lisa and Benny, folks we had docked with at St Augustine, were on the next dock over and we had a chat with them, until the sun got too hot to stand out in, and we went on a further journey of discovery. Lots of boat renovations going on, as one would expect in such a place, and tales of interest...This is BOATS we are talking about, so there is ALWAYS a tale of interest, hahaha!
This boat is our neighbor...she had one couple crawl all over here on sunday, and then leave. She is a lovely Island Packet of about 44ft....2006 - clean and well kitted out. Waz had to look up the price, and we were a little shocked...She is for sale for $429k.
Anyway....today is Tuesday. We are preparing to leave the boat in our neighbors care (as in most marina, we are a bit cheek by jowl here) while we head south to Fort Meyers for Waz's Immigration interview. We are hoping to return with is 10 yr Green Card. Keeping fingers crossed for this one! We will return on Friday with out car which we will pick up on the way, in Port Charlotte. The neighbors there are taking care of her for us:)
Well, Waz is going to sleep waiting for me to get off the computer and off my chuff for our daily walk. The sun has come out so it is going to heat up VERY soon, again. The sky doesn't look very clear...some rain on the radar I think...so we will go and explore. We did get a load of laundry done yesterday, in the lovely new and FREE washing machines at the Yacht Club building, so we are clean AND well paid for:)
Toodaloo!
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