Author: Mike & Jonell Murphree

Hey blog followers,
This is a Bonus Post full of exciting information.

I almost did not make this post, due to the excitement of the Dave Vrabel / Carol Perrotta Weekend, but The Swimming Hall of Fame was really interesting (really, yes, I mean it).

Mar 16 – Fri
While we were waiting for Dave & Carol to arrive on Friday March 16th, I took an hour to visit The Swimming Hall of Fame located in Fort Lauderdale. The museum was better than I thought it would be. The Hall of Fame site also included a very large, and very active, Swimming & Diving training pools.

The Hall of Fame included several boards showing the current High School & College All Americans.

There were displays showing the activity of swimming being traced back to 860 BC, and some displays showing the evolution of swim suit designs.

 

There were displays of the old-time swimmers, some of whom went on to acting fame; Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), Esther Williams (over 30 movies), and Buster Crabbe (Flash Gordon).

Johnny Weissmuller was one of the world’s fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He was the first to break the one minute barrier for 100-meter freestyle, and the first to swim 440-yard freestyle under five minutes. He won fifty-two U.S. national championships, set more than 50 world records, and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan, a role he played in 12 motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character’s distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.

Ester Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose’s Aquacade.
She spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold medal winner and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made over 30 films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as “aquamusicals,” which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.

Buster Crabbe was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and movie actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his career onto the silver screen. He starred in a number of popular films in the 1930s and 1940s. He also played the title role in the serials Tarzan the Fearless, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Crabbe is the only actor to play Tarzan, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers – the top three syndicated comic strip heroes of the 1930s.

The Hall of Fame also included a section of active swimming presidents, including Ford, Kennedy, T. Roosevelt, Adams, and most recently Ronald Regan. The presidents section also had photos showing the first white house pool.

I was surprised to learn that in addition to his acting career, Ronald Regan was a lifeguard between the ages of 15-21, and reportedly saved 77 lives.

 

There was also the expected areas of the Hall of Fame with the Olympic History, including Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, billboards of many past Olympic highlights, and a section of “Politics & the Olympics”.

The section on politics in the Olympics was interesting, discussing the 1980 boycott of the Olympics, led by the USA, due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. There were 65 countries who boycotted the Olympics, with only 80 countries left to compete.

The Hall also included a section on Olympic controversies, including Shirley Babashoff’s led actions to investigate doping and unfare competitions of the eastern bloc countries during the 1970’s.
Babashoff earned a total of eight individual Olympic medals in her career. She won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and she won the 1975 world championship in both the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle. Although Babashoff never won an individual gold medal, she is still regarded as one of the top swimmers in history, and is most vividly remembered for having swum the anchor leg on the gold-medal winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, in its victory over the doped up, steroid-plagued 1976 East German women, in what is widely acknowledged as having been the single greatest race in the entire history of women’s swimming.
Babashoff was widely considered one of the greatest swimmers in U.S. history — some even called her the female Mark Spitz — but her dream of individual Olympic gold was thwarted by an East German team that swept the women’s individual events in all but one race.

Mar 16 – Fri
Friday afternoon my pal of 40 years , Dave Vrabel & 1st mate Carol Perrotta, arrived in Fort Lauderdale about 5pm. Dave & I met in our sophomore year at Wayne State University College of Engineering in 1978. Dave & I also both started working at American Motors in Jan/Feb of 1982, and never missed a paycheck with THE COMPANY as it transitioned through several ownerships (American Motors-Renault-Chrysler-Daimler Chrysler, Cerberus, & Fiat Chrysler).
Dave is also the person who introduced me to boating & the love of the water in the late 70’s / early 80’s, and coached me when I purchased my first vessel, a brand new 1985 Bayliner 19ft bowrider. I have told Dave, that if I had never met him, there is a chance that I might not be on The Great Loop today.
Dave & Carol came for a long weekend to visit us, and to celebrate Dave’s 60th Birthday. Dave will be joining me in retirement early next year.

Their arrival came with the now usual bag of Christmas Carol Gifts.
Carol showed up with a bag containing ;
> a bottle of Tequila from her trip to Mexico 2 days ago
> a bottle of my favorite Valentine Vodka
> 2 Detroit Tiger T-shirts for me & Nellie
> 2 light jackets, personalized with Gettin’ Looped logos !!!

We started the Dave/Carol visit about 5pm with welcome drinks on the aft deck of Gettin’ Looped, and we were soon joined by our Looper neighbors Unruly, in the slip right behind us. Gary & Angie Karges on the boat Unruly are from Novelty Ohio. Gary & Angie were due to depart on Saturday for The Bahamas, so we wanted to spend some time with them on their last night in Fort Lauderdale. They came over about 6pm.
About an hour later at 7pm, Carol’s friends Doug O’Brecht & Sandra Savinelli arrived. Doug & Sandra worked for Carol at a restaurant in the Cayman Islands about 25 years ago, and met Dave about 6 years ago . They live in nearby Lighthouse Point Florida. Sandra showed up with an awesome platter of appetizers. We spent the early evening on the aft deck having drinks, appetizers, and a great 8 person conversation.

About 9pm Gary & Angie called it a night due to their trip to the Bahamas the next day.
The rest of the crew went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. Carol initiated the first of many Happy Birthday to Dave singing renditions, including the Bubba Gump Staff.

 

Doug & Sandra departed about midnight. Doug left his car for Dave & I to meet him for a Birthday Deep Sea Fishin’ Trip the next morning. The Gettin’ Looped Crew called it a night about 12:30am.

Mar 17 – Sat (St. Patrick’s Day)
On Saturday, Dave & I had an early 6am start, due to the Deep Sea Fishin’ Expedition set up by Carol for Dave’s (& my upcoming Aug 5th) Birthday presents. Carol has known Doug a long time. Doug knows a fishin’ captain named Darryl. Darryl & Doug took me & Dave out for what was supposed to be a 1/2 day fishing charter. We arrived at Darryl’s house about 8am, prepped the boat, and headed out on the ICW & Atlantic Ocean about 9am.  We had a very fun day and returned to Darryl’s house about 3pm (bonus time for 1/2 day charter). The vessel was a 39′ Sea Vee with triple Merc 350’s. The crew of 5 was ; Dave, me, Doug, Darryl, and young deep sea fishin’ deck hand Mikie.
The fishing was effortless if desired, we could either reel in the fish once on the line, or we could simply hit the auto-reel button on the high-tech gear and save arm muscles. We did a little of both.
We fished in mostly about 200ft of water, but did experiment for a while in depths of 800-900 feet. The water about 30 miles off the coast was a cool looking aqua blue color.
The results were mixed. We did catch 6 fish, but small ; 2 Rosies (version of snapper), 2 King Mackerel, 1 Cero Mackerel, & 1 Small Shark.
The camaraderie & experience was great, Dave had been Deep Sea Fishing before, but it was my first time.

We returned to Darry’s house about 3pm, Mikie cleaned the fish, we let Darryl & Doug keep the filets.

Dave & I returned to The SS Gettin’ Looped about 5pm. We took some quick showers and headed out for a St Patrick’s Day Dinner with Jonell & Carol, who spent most of the day at the Fort Lauderdale beach.

About 6pm we took an Uber ride to the Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk, and had our St Patrick’s Day Dinner at the same Irish place me & Nellie had lunch at earlier in the week, a place called Briny’s Irish Pub.
The crowd was very large, very lively, and very fun. We had several Guinness & all had the Corned Beef Sandwiches. Nellie found her Lucky Irish Gold Coin.

After dinner at Briny’s, we went for a stroll to the other side of the river and had drinks at another waterfront place called The Down Towner. The walk over the bridge was filled with beautiful views of the river and surrounding buildings.

We ended the night with another walk down the riverfront, with nice views of fancy hotels & water fountains, and a very late Uber ride home.

It was a very long, very fun day 2 of Dave & Carol’s visit.

Mar 18 – Sun
Guess what ?
On Sunday we slept in a little, with an 8:30-9:00am wake up, and a very foggy headed morning.
We warmed up the day with a little coffee, got the brain functioning, and then embarked on a little dinghy trip to a mid-day lunch.
The destination was an easy 1-2 miles away, with most of the ride being in small protected canals and a short portion of the ride being on the ICW.
The lunch destination was a place called The Southport Raw Bar.

Prior to going on the dinghy ride, we made plans to meet Jonell’s good friend Jodee Johnson & 1st mate Dean, who were in Fort Lauderdale on vacation for the week. Jonell & I have known Jodee for over 30 years.
Jodee & Jonell both play cards in a monthly Euchre club with my sisters Brenda & Paula, and blog followers ; Denise, Debbie, Libby, and Nancy. The girls Friday night Euchre Club has been active for more than 25 years !!!

We arrived at The Raw Bar about noon on the dinghy, Jodee & Dean arrived by car about 1pm. We enjoyed Grilled Oysters, the special Murphy Burger, and great conversation.

After lunch at the Raw Bar, Dean joined me, Dave, and Carol for the Dinghy ride home. Jonell & Jodee took the rental car back to the boat. Surprisingly, the dinghy beat the rental car back to the boat (cigarette break ?).

We spent the late afternoon socializing on Gettin’ Looped, showing Jodee & Dean our boat, and then walking the beautiful grounds of the Bahia Mar Marina and looking at the monster ships.

We ended the night with dinner at Coconuts. The place was PACKED !
We arrived at Coconuts at 7:10pm but were not seated until 8:40pm.
We were so tired that the blog master forgot to get any dinner photos.

Mar 19 – Mon
On Monday morning we had a leisurely ride from Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale to The Lighthouse Point Yacht Club near Boca Raton. The LPYC is a private club that allows “transients”, but harbormaster Zack prefers to call us his “visitors”.
The Lighthouse Point facility is another beautiful place like Bahia Mar (it should be $$$), but is much smaller in scale with only about 200 slips, and a bunch of very friendly locals.

We arrived about 11am on Monday the 19th and were tied up and having welcome beers by noon.
We then spent the afternoon at the pool, cleaned up about 4pm, and headed into town for Happy Hour snacks at another waterfront place called 2 Georges at The Cove Restaurant.

After dinner at 2 Georges, we crossed the bridge over the ICW, and walked to the Deerfield Beach area on the Atlantic Ocean. The Deerfield Beach Boardwalk & Beach are beautiful, with lots of green grassy areas, lots of shade trees, and the normal sandy beach.

We walked the boardwalk, settled at a place called JB’s on the Beach, and watched a solo entertainer until about 8pm.

After dinner at JBs, we went back to the boat, played Euchre until midnight (Now Officially Dave’s Birthday, March 20th), and celebrated Davies BD with a midnight toast of Champagne.

Mar 20 – Tue (Dave’s 60th Birthday)
After the late night, we woke about 8:30-9:00am, started the day with the usual coffee. Carol & Dave had some Bfast sandwiches, we pumped out the heads after a weekend of liquids, and spent most of the morning talking about the weekend events and looking a the photos we had taken.
We had lunch at the outdoor patio of the Lighthouse Point Grill, on site at the marina.

After lunch we strolled the Lighthouse Point Grounds, rested in one of the cabanas, then returned back to the boat about 2pm for the sad “Return Home Packing Hour”.
It was a very quick, very short, fun packed 60th birthday & St. Patrick’s Day weekend with great friends !
Dave & Carol departed about 3pm.

Next stop = Jupiter Florida , The Loggerhead Palm Beach Gardens Marina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Blog Followers,
Quick update from the last few days.
We are still in Fort Lauderdale at The Bahia Mar Yachting Center until Monday March 19.

My pal of 40 years Dave Vrabel and 1st mate Carol will arrive on Friday for a long weekend, so I wanted to post an update for the last few days of the happenings with just Nellie & me.

Mar 14-Wed
We got a lot of work task done during the morning. I made some upcoming marina reservations, buffed out and waxed the dull upper stern, and fixed a burnt starboard running light bulb. Jonell did some laundry.

About mid-day we started the fun. We began the afternoon with an uber trip to the downtown riverwalk area of Fort Lauderdale.
First stop was a guided tour of The Stranahan House, the first home ever built in Fort Lauderdale. The Stranahan House is the home of Fort Lauderdale pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan. Built in 1901 as a trading post and converted into a residence for the Stranahans in 1906, the house is the oldest surviving structure in Broward County.

Next stop was a more enjoyable walk of the riverfront, taking time to sit on the park benches, watching the boats pass by & go under the drawbridge.

Toward the end of the riverwalk, we found a wonderful Irish place called The Briny Riverfront Irish Bar. We may have to visit this place again this weekend when Dave & Carol arrive (St Patties Day Saturday) .

After lunch at Briny’s, we took a free water taxi about a half mile to get closer to the restaurant row section of downtown Fort Lauderdale. We walked the downtown a bit, scoped out potential places for the weekend, and took an uber back to the boat. The downtown is beautiful, and has a bonus of no college kids !

After chillin for a while at the boat (that means takin a short nap), we hung out a the beach for a while, then walked to dinner at a place called Coconuts, a chill/beachy hangout on the Intracoastal waterway. Jonell & I split; Mahi Tacos, a Lobster Club sandwich, and some deviled eggs. It was yummie food with excellent views of the marina, ICW, and sunset.

Mar15-Thu
Thursday was a pretty low-key day.

We went to the Rooftop Pool at Bahia Mar. The Rooftop Pool also has a full bar & sandwiches. There is also a large indoor excercise room on the rooftop, just to the right of the outdoor pool.

In the early afternoon & evening, we had dinner with Jonell’s cousin Cynthia Silorey. You may recall from the last post that Cindy lives in nearby Hollywood, and also visited with us last week in Hollywood. Cindy took us to a place called Anthony’s Runway 84. It is a restaurant set up as if you were a passenger on the inside of an airplane. On Thursdays they feature $6 Martinis, free meatballs, free bread plates, and free muscles. We enjoyed all of the above & Jonell had some VERY LARGE Jumbo Shrimp and I had a hugh piece of Veal. All the food was great. The service from Maître D-Venchenzo & Waiter-Scott was excellent.
The place had a nice outdoor patio, a wall of fame with photos of many famous people who had visited, a large dining room, and a medium sized bar with dinner booths. Anthony’s is also supposed to be a Thursday night hangout for over 50’s singles trying to find a 1st mate.

That’s all for now.

 

Next post will include a visit from my pal Dave Vrabel & Admiral Carol Perotta.
We will still be in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend, and move to Boca Raton on Monday.

 

Mar 12 – Mon
On Monday we left the Suntex Marina at Hollywood and headed for our next stop, The Bahia Mar Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
We had an early morning wake up (7am) and departed by 8:30am due to the Windfinder Pro predictions of 35mph wind in the afternoon. There was also thunderstorms threatening all day. We wanted/needed to try to get to Fort Lauderdale on Monday, because Chris/Susan were departing from Ft Lauderdale on Tuesday.
The ride was short and uneventful, docking went smoothly.
We arrived about 10am Monday morning, we did the normal boat wash down, and by 2pm the winds did kick up ferociously with a heavy downpour of rain (I luv & trust these weather/wind Apps !).

After the rain storm cleared we scoped out the marina facilities.
As expected, the harbor hosts a shit-load of VERY LARGE SHIPS !
There are so many photos we could send, but this will summarize it.

 

About 4pm we went for a walk along the Atlantic Ocean on the Fort Lauderdale Boardwalk & Beach.
We had made 5pm reservations at a place called The Casablanca Café, but took a leisurely 2 mile stroll to get there, taking in the new sights of Fort Lauderdale : Beach, Traffic, Lots of College Kids, Lots of Cops.

 

We arrived safely at The Casablanca Café, a restaurant occupying the first house ever built in Fort Lauderdale Beach. We were lucky enough to nab seats in the upper deck to have dinner & watch all the craziness down below.

Casablanca Café = Also known as the Jova House was built in 1927 for its original owner, Mrs. J. J. Jova. The two-story masonry dwelling, commissioned by Juan Jacinto Jova, was designed by architect Francis L. Abreu, Jova’s grandson. It was the first home constructed on Fort Lauderdale Beach and is the oldest remaining structure.

The food was amazing. Jonell had a fancy chicken dinner & I had the Lamb Chops !

After dinner we took the slow 2 mile walk back to Bahia Mar, along the way we stopped for some drinks & music at a place called Sangria’s Café del Mar. We enjoyed some great Mexican music, some incredibly fast butt bouncing dance, and a few little Margaretas.

 

 

 

 
On Tuesday we sat out on the dock in the morning, reminisced about the week long trip, and said farewell to Chris & Susan.

We have not done this for a while, so here is an update on our GPS Tracker.
Starting to head north , Uck !
Except for the Fresh Water, I can’t wait to get back to that.
We are a little more than 1/2 way by # of ports, but more than 1/2 way by distance.
We are in port #63, we expect to visit about 120 ports before the trip ends.

March 5 – Mon
On Monday we moved from the beautiful Sunset Harbour Yacht Club in Miami Beach to another beautiful marina called The Suntex Marina at Hollywood Florida.
The ride was a very short 10 miles and we were now in the truly defined Atlantic ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) with plenty of water depth.
The ride was a very carefree voyage, we had 4 bridges to negotiate, but had to wait for only 1 of them, a 16ft drawbridge.
The trip into & thru Hollywood had a lot to offer for scenic viewing of homes, resorts, etc. The waterway reminded me of Venice Italy, with the water coming right up to the doorsteps of some of the homes.

We arrived at The Suntex Marina at Hollywood about 11:30am on Monday.
The place is again a very pretty environment, but with less big boats than Miami.
The marina & resort are on a big complex, I am not sure if Suntex owns it all or simply shares privileges with the condo association. The marina is separated from the Clubhouse & Pool by about a half mile of driving thru swank winding roads among the condos & palm trees. We ended up having to rent a car for the week to get to the pool and Hollywood Beach.

Monday night me & Jonell took a short walk down the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and had dinner at a sports bar called Nicks on the Atlantic ocean. Yes, it is called the “Broadwalk” not Boardwalk, and is a very wide 2.2 mile long paver brick path along the Atlantic coast of Hollywood.

After dinner on the Broadwalk, we retired early prepping for more visitors arriving on Tuesday.

March 6 – Tue
Tuesday morning we spent most of the day cleaning the boat prepping for guests.

Our Metro Detroit guests, Chris & Susan arrived about 4pm, they will stay with us for the next week. We have known Chris for about 22 years and Jonell has known Chris’ friend Susan for about 12 years.

 

Our Hollywood Florida guests Cindy & Dawn arrived about 5pm, they only stayed for a dinner visit. Cindy & Dawn are Jonell’s cousins. Cindy lives full time in our current port of Hollywood Florida and Dawn splits time between Michigan & Florida.

We had a few rounds of drinks on the aft deck of Gettin’ Looped, took some arrival photos, and prepped for dinner.

After a few rounds of drinks, we went to dinner at a place called The Yard House. It was located inland about 3-4 miles away, inside a large commercial area called The Village at Gulfstream Park. The Village had many restaurants, shops, fountains, and even a casino for Nellie (Yikes, there goes the monthly budget).

It was a long, fun , first day !

Mar 7 – Wed
On Wednesday, we started the day slowly by simply getting our bearings around Hollywood. In the morning I went to Enterprise to pick up a rental car for the week. We drove the rental car up to check out the pool, we did not go swimming, we just wanted to check the place out.
We also went checking out restaurants/bars to get our bearings on which places we liked the best for dinners later in the week.
We expected more guests in the afternoon, so the morning was just kind of “killin time”

About 1pm, one of my bosses from Fiat Chrysler named Joe Grace arrived with wife Francine. Joe & Francine were in Florida for the week, doing the whirlwind tour. They started in Ft Myers, went to Naples, Islamorada, visited us in Hollywood, and then were planning to head up to Boca Raton to see Joe’s aunt (whew, pretty hectic pace for a vacation).  Some of you readers may recall that this was our 2nd Looping visit by Francine. We had seen her last month in Marathon Florida where she met us & other Loopers for dinner at The Sunset Grill on Marathon Island. Francine was vacationing with her friend in Florida last month (boy is she lucky, I wish I could be in Florida for a month, oh-yea I am).
Joe & Francine were on a tight time schedule, and simply popped in for a few drinks and catching up with Jonell & I, talking about our Great Loop Adventure. Joe & Francine are also our boater pals from Lake St Clair, they keep their boat at Emerald City Marina, two marinas over from our Miller Marina home port.

After Joe & Francine left about 5pm, we headed over to the Atlantic coastline and had dinner at The Landshark Restaurant on the Margaritaville Resort Property. After dinner we walked the Broadwalk, had some ice cream, and listened to some musicians.
 

Mar 8 – Thu
Thursday morning I worked on the our 2017 federal income taxes. I have a person in Michigan that prepares the tax filings, I like to have someone else’s stamp on the tax return. So my task for the day was simply to collect & organize all of my documents, put them into an electronic format, and send them off to my tax preparer Terry Scheuster  (W2’s, Brokerage Statements, Taxes Paid, Interest Paid). I will have a conference call with her next week to prepare the tax return.

About noon we filled up the cooler, got into swim attire, and headed out for “Pool Day”. As mentioned earlier, the pool is about a half mile away from the marina, The Pool & Fitness Center are shared between the marina and all the surrounding condo owners. We have been there twice and it is typically empty. The day was a little windy, but the wind was lowered near the pool by all the surrounding trees. It was a great afternoon.
 

We left the pool about 4pm, cleaned up a bit, and headed out to an early happy hour drinks/dinner at a place called 5 O’Clock Somewhere. It is an outdoor Tiki-Bar kind of place on the Atlantic ICW. We hung out at the bar with bartender JC, and then watched a very good band as the girls danced well into the night.

Mar 9 – Friday
On Friday we started the day with a trip to The Historic Hollywood Downtown, located inland about 2-3 miles west of the Atlantic ICW.
It was the normal quaint downtown area with shops, restaurants, and pubs.
We walked the downtown streets a bit, and then had a mid-morning brunch at Mickey Byrne’s Irish Pub.

We returned to the boat about mid-day, and proceeded to unload the dinghy and go on a little ICW exploration trip.

We ended up at a place called LeTub, a strange place right on the water with a jungle theme, lots of nautical decorations, and a lots of toilets ?
10 Best Magazine says “One of the most unusual hamburger joints around. Known for being a favorite of Oprah, Set along the Intracoastal Waterway in a former garage, guests sit among a number of old bathroom fixtures that are scattered around and surrounded by flowers and plants. Take in the beautiful views of the river and the parade of boats that go by and know that when the food arrives it will be memorable“.
Still not sure what all the toilets are about !

 

After lunch we took a slow ride back to the boat, went up/down a few canals doing some water side real estate reviews.

After returning to the boat, we washed off the dinghy, reloaded the dinghy back onto Gettin’ Looped, and got cleaned up for dinner.
Dinner turned out to not really be desired due to the late lunch.
The Suntex Marina & Condo Association was having a little Happy Hour Friday night marina party with locals & transients invited. Chris & Susan decided to take the challenge of meeting some new folks, Mike & Nellie crashed watchin TV on the boat. It sounded like the girls had fun, met one guy who talked too much, had a few drinks with the locals, then came back to the boat.

The night ended with a few episodes of Cheers on Netflicks.
Another fun/active day in the books.

Mar 10 – Sat
The day started with breakfast at a place called Grampa’s Bakery & Restaurant. It was a wonderful start to the day. All the food was advertised as “home-made”. Every table was treated to a free plate of mixed flavor Danish, and the breakfast sandwiches we had were very good.
Grampa’s was also featured on the Guy Fieri’s – Diner’s, Drive-in’s, & Dives !

After breakfast at Grampa’s, we went to the hardware store for some supplies, we went to The Men’s Warehouse for me to get measured for a Tuxedo for Daniel’s wedding coming this September, and then we returned to the boat.

The weather on Saturday was overcast with threats of rain all day, so the girls spent the afternoon at The Seminole Hard Rock Casino.
As of the writing of this blog, I understand via texts that we have No Winners (what a shock!), but it sounds like the girls had $300 worth of fun ????
OMG – UPDATE – final report from the Casino ;
> Everyone lost
> Undisclosed amounts for Chris & Susan
> Mrs Murph lost her first $100, and decided to take out another $100 from the ATM.
> She said that she entered a $100 withdrawal, magically the silly ATM spit out $1000.
> Needless to say, there will be an $800 deposit back into PNC bank tomorrow.

After the casino extravaganza, we went to dinner at another place in the Gulfstream Mall Complex, called Frankey’s Sports Bar. It was a classy type of sports bar, predominated by horse racing. They have everything from steaks to seafood, but are known for their “Grass Fed / Grass Finished Angus Beef”.
I had the burger, gave it an 8 of 10 on the Murph scale of culinary treats (it was not sweet like a dessert).

While en-route to Frankey’s, I received a call from a guy named Frank, 3 boats down from us at the marina. We had casually met Frank & Chris Blackstone in the marina on the dock. They are from New York City, and spend 6 months in NYC & 6 months in Hollywood every year. They have boats in both ports. I had given them one of our boat cards, and Frank called Saturday night to invite us over for drinks on their boat, with their friends Joe & Debbie, also from NYC. Joe & Debbie also have boats in NYC & Hollywood Florida.
It was yet another wonderful meeting of new friends that we continue to make in every port. Frank was very insistent that we call him for the New York City tour when we get that far north. I have made a note in my calendar to do that.

It was another very fun night, with new friends !

Mar 11 – Sun
On Sunday I woke up about 7:30am, had my casual coffee, and prepped for the return of the rental car at 9am when Enterprise opened. About 8:45am, Jonell woke up and asked  “did you return the rental car already”. I responded “no, they don’t open until 9am”. She replied “It’s 10am Mike”.
In spite of the 1 hour delay due to daylight savings, the return of the rental car went off without issue or additional cost.

Also Sunday morning, the marina staff had a Waffles Breakfast Party.
Susan & Chris took advantage of the breakfast treat, Mike worked on the blog, and Nellie had coffee on the back deck.
Sounds like the waffles, supplied by Chef Jim, were Yummy.

On Sunday afternoon we took the Uber to downtown Hollywood for the one week early St Patricks Day Parade. It was about a 2 hour parade highlighted by lots of bagpipes, The Budweiser Clydesdales, and an awesome St Patricks Day Dog.

After the parade, we went for lunch at a place called Patty Macs, a shop which featured about 6 different types of Mac/Cheese, and a large menu of fresh squeezed juices, flatbreads, and sandwiches.

The afternoon ended with Mike returning to the boat to watch the Valspar Championship Golf Tournament, watch the Monster Energy Nascar Race, & finish the blog.
The girls went back to the Hollywood Broadwalk, for one last walk before departing Hollywood tomorrow.

It was a great week in Hollywood Florida.
Next Stop = The Bahia Mar Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale Florida.

Ok blog followers,
This update will be a long one, don’t start if you are in a hurry.

Feb 28 – Wed
On Wednesday, we left the very nice anchorage at The Miami Marine Stadium and traveled a short 7 miles to our next port The Sunset Harbour Yacht Club on Miami Beach.

The ride to Sunset Harbour was very nice, very slow, and included 4 bridges. We did a slow ride past the Miami river front. We had to call for opening of 1 of the 4 bridges.

We arrived at The Sunset Harbour Yacht Club early in the day, about 10am.
The marina is beautiful and once again has a LOT of very large beautiful boats.

Shortly after arrival, tie up , checking in, & the safe arrival celebration beers (now a tradition), we walked to a place called the Miami Beach Lincoln Road Mall. A pedestrian only , 2 mile section of Miami Beach, lined with shops, restaurants, and bars.
We walked the mall & stopped for a mid afternoon lunch at Groovy’s Pizza Bar (a cheap lunch).

 

After lunch, we hosed off the boat, took a short siesta, then headed out for a pre-dinner walk (whew, this furious pace is killing us). We took an Uber to the Miami Beach Boardwalk and walked about 2 miles from the north beach area to the mid beach area.
The ocean side boardwalk is a combination of Wood Board & Paver Bricks, and is lined with resort hotels along the beach.

After the walk along the beach boardwalk, our plan was to walk back to the Lincoln Road Mall to have dinner. The walk from the boardwalk to the Lincoln Mall took us thru the downtown area of Miami Beach. It was very touristy here.

Then out of the sun setting sky it was like Santa Claus appeared – What to my wondering eyes did appear – The Sagamore ! 
For those of you who knew me when I was younger, you may recall that me & Dave Noffert (my pal of 40 years, & now a very successful dentist in Metamora Michigan) were the best Desk Clerks in all of Royal Oak at The Sagamore Motor Lodge.

After calming down from the excitement of the Sagamore, we continued to the Lincoln Road Mall. We strolled another 2 miles down Lincoln Road searching for that magical restaurant. But to our surprise, nothing really clicked for us. Lots of Cuban, lots of pizza, lots of Hispanic music.
So we turned to google and found a place called The Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, well off the path of Lincoln Mall. When we arrived, we were asked if we had reservations. I said no, and that we had just got into town and stumbled on the place. We waited at the bar over 45 minutes for a table and met a wonderful bartender named Roberto. Roberto later gave us a free round due to the delay in gettin a table. The place specialized in fried chicken and had a special plate with ; fried chicken, waffles, and watermelon. We were coached to treat the chicken with hot sauce, cover the waffles with bourbon maple syrup, and eat the watermelon in the 3rd bite as a chaser.
The variations in taste from bite to bite were incredible !

After dinner we went back to the boat, and watched what is now almost a nightly event of watching Shameless on Netflicks. It was a very packed fun day & night in Miami Beach.

Thursday – Mar 1
Thursday morning we started the day with breakfast at a place called The Sunset Juice Café. We had some form of Cuban ham-egg-cheese sandwiches, they were very good.
We then did a little restocking at the Publix grocery store.
After shopping we spent some time at a local park next to the marina on the bay. It was a very nice laid-back environment.

The afternoon was again another boring “85f degree Pool Day” (how’s that snow up there in Michigan). The pool here at The Sunset Harbour Yacht Club is very nice. We swam some laps, took some siesta’s at the pool, and had a beer-free afternoon !

After the pool we took showers and headed out on the town for the Spraggs last night.
We started with drinks at a place called The Purdy Lounge. It was really a nightclub acting as a watering hole during the day. My crew was initially apprehensive about the digs but warmed up to the place after reading the google ratings and having a few 2 for 1 happy hour drinks.

After The Purdy Lounge, we again went off the beaten path to a Taco place that is supposed to be the locals hangout. The venue was called The Bodega Taqueria y Tequila.
It was basically an Airstream trailer butted up to a building with a hole. The trailer was the working kitchen, and there was bench seating in the building so you could enjoy the tacos with some of your closest Miami Beach friends. I must admit, the food was pretty darned good. We later found out that there was also another large room/lounge/bar in the back of the building behind the freezer doors (strange but cool place).

Next stop was after dinner drinks at a local bar called The Abbey Brewing Company. It was just “one more beer & zen we go home”.

We came home to the boat, the Spraggs packed, and it was a relatively early bed time prepping for the Spraggs 6am departure from Gettin’ Looped.

Friday – Mar 2 
This was the very sad day that we would say farewell to the Spraggs after 1 month of Looping with Jonell & I.
It was a wonderful month with great friends, congrats on their retirement !

I asked Rick & Linda to send me a note on their favorite memories. I wanted just a few quick thoughts. I received a large amount of feedback. They have come as close to experiencing The Loop as you can without actually doing The Loop. The only real difference between what they experienced & our Loop is a LOT LESS daily drinking and more work task days. Other than that, they came pretty close to Living the Loop.

Linda’s Favorite Memories –
Key West – Duvall St & partying with Schellers & Murphs.
Key West – Watching Jerry at The Drag Show
Marathon – Meeting many of the Looper Pals.
Marathon – Dinner at the Lobster/Steak House w/ Rula Bula, Craic & Ramble On
Marathon – Looper Pool Days at Faro Blanco.
Marathon – Looper Dennis Hahn playing harmonica with the local musician @ the pool.
Islamorada – Meeting our Looper God-Parents Dave/Michele Sylver.
Islamorada – Dinner with Just Us & Rula Bula at The Oceanview Café.
Islamorada – Hanging out on Just Us at night, watching Dave Sylver sing & dance.
Islamorada – Lunch @ Lorelei’s & our very wet salty dinghy ride back (my hair, my hair).
Islamorada – Beach day at Marker 88 restaurant (one of the favorite days & best beach)
Tavernier – Winn-Dixie shopping trip with Jonell & Jeanne.
Tavernier – The Uber driver Norm & “The Norm Jokes”
Key Largo – The Anchorage Marina pool and talking with the snow-bird senior citizens.
Key Largo – The Black Siren restaurant
Miami – Overnight anchoring @ Miami Stadium, views of Miami & the hot dog dinner.
Miami – The beautiful Sunset Harbor Marina & pool.
> The boat rides between marinas, seeing the dolphins jump & come right up to the boat.
> The sunsets
> Getting me hooked on Shameless !

Rick’s Favorite Memories –
Key West – Bagatelle Lobster Mac & Cheese
Key West – My morning Cuban coffee runs.
Marathon – Meeting all the Looper Pals & the awesome Fara Blanco Pool & Restaurant.
Islamorada – Best view & best beach/lagoon on the adventure (Marker 88).
Islamorada – The adventurous dinghy ride to Lorelei’s.
Tavernier – Long walks to breakfast/dinner & an “OK” movie night.
Tavernier – Creepy walk to showers/bathrooms at night
Key Largo – Started out sketchy, but actually liked it, nice pool, beautiful bay, Black Siren.
Miami Stadium – Breathtaking view of downtown Miami, especially at night.
Miami – Sunset Harbour with massive yachts, wonder what these people do for a living ?
> By far the nicest most exotic vacation we have ever experienced.
> Great Food
> Extraordinary views
> Off shore boat rides
> Dolphin & Manatee up close
> Tropical waters & beaches fit for postcards
> Being able to spend all the time with such great friends, memories of a lifetime.

Farewell Rick & Linda.
See you back in Michigan in Sept (Dan’s Wedding).
Congrats & enjoy retirement !

 

Hey blog followers,

Short update today.
We continue to work our way up the Florida Keys to Miami, where we will say our sad farewell to Rick & Linda on Friday.

Feb 26 – Mon
On Monday we left the Mangrove Marina on the island of Tavernier to move to our next stop, the island of Key Largo.
Our marina at Key Largo was a place called The Anchorage Marina & Resort. It was very Americana & looked like it would have been a great resort in the 1960’s. We were supposed to stay 3 nights, but we only stayed 1 night. The place was not really that bad, we did warm up to it. It had a great view of Key Largo Bay, a pretty nice old pool with a great view of the bay, a great restaurant next door, and all the folks were very nice. But we envisioned nicer stops down the road and decided to stay only 1 night.

 
To get to the Anchorage Marina & Resort, we again took the inside Bay ICW route (vs the Atlantic) . We went through more shallow water (4-5ft) and also traveled through some pretty cool mangrove fields. The path thru the mangrove fields was actually deeper (8ft) than crossing the bays on the ICW.

While at the Anchorage Marina & Resort, we enjoyed Lunch & Dinner at The Blackwater Siren. A waterfront tiki-bar restaurant with a nice view of Key Largo Bay located right next door to the marina.

Feb 27 – Tues
On Tuesday, we moved on back/back days for the first time in a long time. We moved after only 1 day for a couple reasons. First, the Anchorage Marina & Resort was not worth a 3 day stay as originally planned, plus we wanted to give Rick & Linda an overnight anchoring experience. Based on the recommendation from our Looped god-father Dave Sylver, we went directly to Miami from Key Largo (we had planned on Key Biscayne) and anchored at a place called The Miami Marine Stadium.
The anchorage was awesome. It was in a large, 3 side protected bay just off the ICW directly across from downtown Miami.
The Miami Marine Stadium has significant history. It is a 6500 seat waterfront structure built in 1963 as a venue for both music concerts & powerboat racing, and also is currently the home and training grounds for the Miami Rowing Club. The grounds around The Stadium & surrounding water were also recently used for the Miami Boat Show, and they were still tearing down all the tents & docks from the recent Boat Show Feb 15-19th.
The last major race in the Stadium was the 20th Annual Budweiser Hydroplane Regatta in June 1990. In the wake of Hurricane Andrew, the structure was declared an unsafe building under Miami-Dade County building code on September 18, 1992.
Since its condemnation in 1992, the stadium has become a haven for graffiti artists, but remains an attraction for its photographic panoramic view of the central business districts and barrier islands of Miami. The surrounding area & water are still used for events like the Boat Shows.

Graffiti artists have taken over + boat racing in the hey-day of the Stadium.

 

While anchored, we had a beautiful view of the Miami skyline, saw dolphins, visited and talked looping with the local harbor police, watched storms move past the surrounding Miami area, watched sculling teams train, watched the boat show equipment teardowns, and had an awesome grilled hot dog & chicken alfredo dinner.

We then spent most of the night on the aft deck of the boat staring at the skyline and socializing with Rick & Linda. It was a great night with our great friends the Spraggs !

We had no internet and thus no TV while anchored. We did get some air channels but mostly non-english speaking channels or very old tv series (In the Heat of the Night).

So the night ended with another viewing of Tommy Boy (shout-out to Ronzello & Gibbons).

Next stop = The Sunset Harbour Yacht Club on Miami Beach, and farewell to the Spraggs after what seemed like a very quick 1 month stay on Gettin’ Looped.

 

On Thursday Feb 22nd, we left Islamorada & The Plantation Yacht Harbor.
It was a bitter-sweet departure saying goodbye to our Looper God-Parents Dave & Michele Sylver.
Michele left early in the day to go shopping.
We did not remember to put on our “Just Us” T-shirts, and take a goodbye photo until after Michele had departed. Just Us is the name of the Sylver’s old boat (which is now our current boat) & also the name of their current 50ft Viking. Michele gave us the shirts 3 years ago when we traveled with them for 1 day on the Tennessee river.
None the less, we did get a farewell photo with Dave.

We again took the inside Bay route due to high winds in the Atlantic.
The trip from Islamorada to Tavernier was again accompanied with sections of very shallow 4-5ft water IN THE ICW.

Feb 22 – Thu
The trip from Islamorada to Tavernier was very short, only 7 miles.
We delayed departure until noon, to wait on an extra foot of water at high tide.
It was good , we kicked up sand entering Mangrove.
The initial/arrival impressions at Mangrove were so-so because it was not the most beautiful place we have seen. We also had a little predicament determining how to get off of the boat, due to very short finger docks. The docks did not reach the exit stairs on the sides of our boat, so we had to get the boat very close to the main pier and get on/off from the aft swim platform stairs.

After a few days we have warmed up to Mangrove Marina , it’s  laid back, the people are all friendly, and there is enough going on within walking distance to keep us entertained. The marina has several tired boats in need of love, but they also have some very nice boats.
The views of the bay are also pretty nice.

We ended the arrival day with dinner at Dillon’s Pub & Grill, an Irish place which was about a 15 minute walk from the Marina. All the food was very good, I had great Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes, Rick had very good Bangers & Mash, don’t remember what the girls had.

Feb 23 – Fri
Friday was “Beach Day & Movie Night”, we took a taxi to Harry Harris Beach, about 3 miles away from the marina. The beach is part of a state park which just recently re-opened after repairs from IRMA. The Atlantic Ocean waves in the beach area are controlled by a large breakwall covering the entire cove shaped beach with ducts for water to flow in/out of the protected cove.

Friday night we walked to the local movie theatre and watched the new movie Black Panther.
Murphree gives 3 stars out of 5, not highly recommended, but the theatre did have beer.

 

Feb 24 – Sat
On Saturday, Nellie & I went to a once per year event in the Keys called “The Islamorada Nautical Flea Market”. It is supposedly the largest flea market in the Keys, and the traffic & crowd supported that statement. We went early in the morning (9am) to avoid the traffic on the way in, took the bikes in the taxi, and rode the bikes back 5 of 6 miles before calling the taxi for the last mile (give Nellie credit for the 5 mile trip).

The Nautical Flea Market had everything; apparel, parts, art, furniture, stuffed sea life, motors, docking equipment, nautical signs, etc.
The photos below show the wide variety of stuff at the nautical market.

We did not buy much because we arrived on bikes, but I did snag a nice $5 swim suit. Jonell bought some jars of sea-salt hand wash.

While Jonell & I went to the Flea Market, Rick & Linda enjoyed some bonding time away from the Murph’s at the Mangrove Pool. Don’t worry blog readers, there is no friction between the Murphs & the Spraggs, Rick & Linda just wanted a more low key day vs the crowd. The Spraggs had the pool all to themselves for about 4 hours from 10am-2pm. They were entertained by a medium sized lizard. Sounds like they had a very enjoyable day.

Saturday night we went back to Dillon’s Restaurant/Bar, and had some very good Baby Back Ribs & Bread Pudding !

The night ended with some TV watching of the Olympics & some Netflicks.

Feb 25 – Sun
Sunday was a combined day of Beach, Bar, & Lunch.
We went to a place called Mile Marker 88.  It is a bay side restaurant/bar which also has a nice little cove beach with lounge chairs. We spent the afternoon there having lunch, some libation, and a lot of relaxing & solving world problems under the shade trees.

We also had the opportunity to see another Sea Plane (saw one from afar in Michigan).
We watched as the plane landed, idled up to the restaurant, and dropped 4 elderly people off for lunch.
I spoke to the pilot who waited for the folks having lunch, he was a nice young guy.
He said, it was just a quick “lunch in the keys” day trip for some folks from Marco Island !
Watch the video, it’s cool.
Seaplane Video = https://youtu.be/p1SALitI87Q

During the afternoon we had a late lunch at the MM88 restaurant, right net to the beach.
We were treated to some awesome seats – a rocker/glider right on the bay, right next to the musician and the boat dock.
It was a great afternoon.

Sunday night we were all whipped, and Monday was a travel day, so we resorted again to Dominos Pizza for dinner and watched the Olympic Closing Ceremonies.

Overall, it was a very nice 4 day stay at Mangrove Marina, on the island of Tavernier.

Next Stop = The Florida Keys Island of Key Largo.

As we move up the Florida Keys, life is becoming more & more laid back.
We left Marathon and the beautiful Faro Blanco Marina 1 day early on Sunday, to avoid high winds projected for Monday. The 6 day stay at Marathon was wonderful.

We arrived at the Florida Keys island of Islamorada about 2pm on Sunday.
Our new port is called Plantation Yacht Harbor, a very nice quiet marina with;  a large olympic pool, tennis courts, amphitheatre & beach. The entire marina is also attached to a large sports complex with several ball diamonds.

The marina is also in a beautiful setting on the Bay Side of Islamorada in Cotton Key Basin.

Here’s another one of those “Can’t Believe It” events we have encountered on The Loop several times.
As I was backing into the slip at Plantation Yacht Harbor, I noticed 3 guys helping to get us tied up.
Two of the guys were from the marina staff.
The 3rd guy helping was from the boat in the slip right next to us.
The 3rd guy helping was Dave Sylver, the guy we bought our 43 Viking boat from 3 years ago !
It was quiet the amazing coincidence again.
We did not know that Dave & Michele Sylver were at Plantation Harbor, they did not know we were coming, nobody asked the marina harbormaster to put us in slips next to each other, it was another pleasantly magical event on The Loop.
Dave & Michele are our Great Loop God-Parents who have given us so much tutelage / coaching & a very fine vessel.
Many of you readers know that Dave/Michele sold us their 43 Viking, sold their home in Harrison Township Michigan, and purchased a 50ft Viking that they are now living on.
Both Dave & I took the photo opportunity with the 2 boats side by side.

Shortly after we arrived & socialized with Dave & Michele, Rick hosed the boat off, we ordered Dominos Pizza, watched the Winter Olympics, and had an early bed night.

 

Monday – Feb 19
Monday morning we gave the boat a good 3 hour wash down of the salt water coating.
After washing the boat, we went for more socializing with Dave & Michele.
Dave also gave Rick/Linda a tour of the 50 foot Viking named “Just Us”.

After touring Just Us, we also went further down the marina boardwalk to catch up with Looper Pals Rula Bula (Mike & JoAnne Feeney), who had arrived one day earlier than us. They were also with us at Faro Blanco on Marathon.

For dinner Monday night, we went with Rula Bula to a Mexican place called Puerto Vallarta. To get to the restaurant, we had to walk about 15 minutes thru the large Plantation Harbor Complex, and passed by a very large Spiny Lobster, which we now know is Big Betsy. Modeled in eerily life-like detail, Betsy is huge spiny lobster that was originally created in the 1980s to celebrate the species which is native to the Florida Keys. It is now said to guard the Artists Village immediately behind the lobster.

A short walk later we arrived at the Mexican restaurant, Puerto Vallarta.
As we arrived, I received a surprise call from one of my pals of 40 years Dave Hinman, so the gang checked in , and I caught up with Dave for a few minutes.

 

During dinner, the table next to us had a birthday celebration complete with tequila shots, and the Bday boy had a candle in his shot. The entire restaurant/bar, including our boater gang, sang happy birthday very Loudly !

After dinner, during the walk back to the marina, we saw a high school baseball game at the sports complex. It was a nice ending to a fun day. The Key West team in red beat the local Islamorada team in blue. The game made me think of my nephews Jake & Brad.

On Tuesday Feb 20th,  we had a great boater education experience.
All the boys (Mike, Rick, & Dave Sylver) went down to try to help Rula Bula diagnose a problem with their rear head (toilet).
The issue = The rear head system would not flush because there was no vacuum in the vacu-flush tank system. Luckily, the front head worked and provided parts swap capability.
After about an hour confirming that the issue was not the wiring, relay, or motor – we confirmed that the issue was the vacuum sensor module on the vacuum tank.

 

Above is the tank pressure sensor module.
The sensor has all the wires going to it, and is fed by a spring loaded pressure device attached to the tank.
Dave Sylver had an extra pressure sensor (top piece with the wires), so we started to swap the sensors. On the bottom of the sensor is a white button. We were in process of changing the sensor and inadvertently pushed the little white button on the bottom of the old sensor & the vacuum pump came on.
Then Dave Sylver had the idea that brass colored disc holding the spring load could have loosened over time due to vibration, he had seen or heard of this before. I turned the brass disc 180 degrees to create more engagement into the button. The vacuum pump came on, the system now had vacume, the toilet flushed multiple times, and continues to work.
Mike Feeney from Rula Bula was very grateful & treated us to a Rula Bula Yeti Juice (Vodka, Orange, & 7up) at 10am.
Mike also took the entire gang out for dinner that night.

After the very fun diagnostic project, we all got ready and went off to the pristine and very small/hidden beach at Plantation Harbor.

After Beach Day, we had the gang over for Pre-Dinner Drinks on Gettin’ Looped.
Rick & Linda made Cinnamon Toast Crunch shots for all.

As Mike Feeney had promised earlier, Mike & Joanne took the entire group to dinner !
The setting was a place called The Oceanview Inn & Sports Pub.
The ambiance was great, the food was great, the music was great, and a good time was had by all. We ate indoors, and then had a fun night on the outdoor patio, which was packed with folks listening to a very good rock band.

Wednesday was a little work & more fun.
The morning was filled with work, with the girls going grocery shopping to restock the boat, and Mike & Rick cleaning the isinglass on the flybridge and washing the lower starboard hull of Gettin’ Looped from the dinghy.
While washing the hull, we were treated to some manatee seeking the delicious fresh water we were using to wash the boat. They actually come right up to you with their mouths open. But it is illegal to feed them the fresh water candy they seek.

The afternoon was filled with a very ambitious dinghy ride to a place called The Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar.
The ride was ambitious due to the 25mph winds in the bay.
We thought that we could hug the shore and have a decent ride to Lorelei’s , about 6 miles away. Dave Sylver lead the 3 boat flotilla.
The ride to Lorelei’s was pretty bumpy, but we all arrived relatively dry.

Lorelei’s is quite the famous place on Islamorada, and is linked to the Legend of Lorelei, complete with a giant mermaid Lorelei at the entrance on Hwy US-1.

The tale of “Lorelei” which means “murmuring rock” dates back to the beginning of the 1800’s. The myth begins with a beautiful woman named Lorelei who waited on a rock in the narrow point of the Rhine River for her lover to return from the sea. When he never returned Lorelei felt scorned and jumped from the rocks to her death. The tale of Lorelei says that her spirit remains in the area to seek revenge against her unfaithful lover. As sailors return from the sea to the mouth of the Rhine River they become mesmerized by her beauty which distracts the sailors causing them to crash into the rocks or run aground in the shallow waters surrounding the rocks.
The original owners chose the name Lorelei because it reminded them of the early days in the Keys when “Wreckers” built fires on the beaches to lure vessels into dangerous waters where they would sink and be open for pillage/scavenge of their cargo.

The lunch at Lorelei’s was great.
The ride home was very rough & very WET !
Upon getting back to the boat, we ran some fresh water thru the Yamaha outboard, washed the dinghy, and reloaded her on the bow of Gettin’ Looped.

After a few welcome home drinks, we all turned in relatively early.
Mike worked on the blog & Jonell/Rick/Linda watch the DVD – La La Land.
A few chocolates candies & cookies later, it was bed time.

 

Next Stop = Tomorrow we will move from The Plantation Yacht Harbor on Islamorada to Mangrove Marina on the island of Tavernier, only a short 7 miles away.

 

 

 

Monday – Feb 12
After about 6 weeks at Key West, we finally uprooted, and made the 70 mile trip to the Florida Keys island of Marathon.
Due to high eastern winds (20-25mph) and projected 4-6ft waves , we took the inside Bay Route from Key West to Marathon.
Most of the ride was uneventful and in deep water (25ft) and we were able to cover a lot of water doing about 18mph. During the last 20 miles the water got a little thin (4-6ft) and we went slowly/cautiously. Much of the ride involved dodging hundreds of crabpot markers.

We arrived at the beautiful Faro Blanco Marina & Resort about 2pm.

We spent the afternoon washing the boat and Gettin’ welcomed by the many Loopers who were already at Faro Blanco; Rula Bula, Ramble On, Craic, Pharm Life, First Forty ,and more.
The laid-back feeling of Faro Blanco was a nice change from the last 6 weeks at Key West.

We ended the night with dinner at the on-site Lighthouse Grill restaurant, which has a daily special up until 6:30pm. If seated before 6:30pm you can get $40 NY strip steak or Rack/Lamb for $19.95 + Half-Off drinks !

Tuesday – Feb 13
Tuesday began with breakfast @ a waterfront restaurant called Porky’s

During breakfast, Linda asked if anyone knew how many lobster or crab the fishermen catch in a typical lobster or crab pot. At least Rick knew the difference between a lobster & crab pot (we did not), but we were all naive about this type of fishing.  So on the way home, I saw a fisherman in a boat yard with a lot of traps. I stuck in a quarters worth of questions, and got a dollars worth of answers.
1. The lobster traps & cab traps are different size, the crab traps being much smaller.
2. The fishermen fish for lobster vs crab based on the water temp; cold for crab, warmer for lobster, some times of the year both are fished simultaneously.
3. The fish companies typically have 5000 active traps at a time, and inspect about 500 traps a day, leaving the trap in the water for a week to 10 days between inspections.
4. There is usually only 0-1-2 lobster/crabs in each trap, but could be more.

After breakfast we had “Lawn Games Day”, with bean bag toss/cornhole being the game of choice. The setting was pristine, under some shade from the palm tress, gazing out to the Faro Blanco Bay area.

For dinner Tuesday, we went to the Marathon Grill & Ale House. It was basically just a bar in a strip mall with a very sleepy waitress. The food was ok. No Photos.

Wednesday – Feb 14th (Valentines Day)
Wednesday was a tough day.
We had to go to Breakfast, had Pool Day at the Faro Blanco Pool, and went to dinner (whew).

We enjoyed a full afternoon of drinks and camaraderie with Rick/Linda & many of our Looper pals at the pool.

After “Pool Day” , we went to dinner at The Sunset Grill, a beautiful setting on the South Tip/Bay Side of Marathon Island.
We were joined by Fellow Loopers;  Rula Bula (Mike/Joanne), Craic (Tim/Patti), Ramble On (Scott/Linda), our on-board guests Rick/Linda , & special guest Francine Grace.
Francine is the 1st mate of one of my Fiat/Chrysler bosses, Joe Grace.
Joe follows the blog, and called to let me know that Francine would be in the Keys at the same time we were there. A few phone calls later, we had coordinated her visit to meet us at the Sunset Grill.

 

Thursday – Feb 15
Thursday was a little bit of “Work Day” in the morning.
I had been wanting to refinish the stairs of Gettin’ Looped since we left Lake St Clair.
Before we left Michigan, I had a LOT of boat prep related projects.
I completed the rear swim platform wood, but did not have time for the steps leading from the swim platform to the rear deck.
The project only took about 4 hours over 2 days, I was very happy with the results.

We then did a little more pool time with some Bicardi & coke, and then had an enjoyable dinner with our friends Pharm Life (Dennis/Dana).
Dennis/Dana took us to a place called Burdines. It was about a 15 minute walk from the marina, and included visuals of a boatyard with scrapped vessels resulting from hurricane IRMA.

After dinner at Burdines, we went back to the pool at Faro Blanco.
There was a 1-man, pool side entertainer providing night time entertainment.
After a bit of music, Looper Pal Dennis had a little discussion with the musician.
Dennis then returned from his boat and began accompanying the musician with his harmonica.
It was a hidden talent that Jonell & I had no idea of, in spite of multiple dinners with Dennis/Dana between Mackinaw City & the Florida Keys. BTW, Dennis also plays the Sax, pretty talented for a retired pharmacist.

 

Dennis Harmonica Video = https://youtu.be/ZQxxUXa75v8

Friday – Feb 16
Friday was “Beach Day” @ Sombrero Beach.
Billed as one of the top 50 beaches in the USA, it was very nice, but still recovering from the effects of IRMA.

Dinner Friday night was just me/Jonell/Rick/Linda, at a place called Barnacle Barney’s.
A beautiful setting during the day , positioned on the Bay Side of the Island, facing two small Islands.
Unfortunately at night you can’t see much other than the dark bay.

Special Call-Out
Friday was our niece Geena’s 18th Bday
Happy Birthday Geena Beena !

Saturday – 17th
Saturday was a very fun day.
We had a Dinghy Bar Crawl with about 10 boats involved.
We went to only 2 places (Burdines & Castaway), but it took about 6 hours and much fun was had by all.

After the Dinghy Crawl, we went to dinner with Craic (Tim/Patti) &  Ramble On (Scott/Linda).
We went to dinner at an awesome place called The Florida Keys Steak & Lobster House.
I had 4 pieces of VERY GOOD Veal Parmesan (getting tired of sea food ??)
Surprise = too tired from the dinghy crawl, forgot to get photos

Sunday – Feb 18th
We had planned to depart Marathon & Faro Blanco on Monday, but due to high wind/waves (25mph/5ft) projected for Monday, we did a quick audible and left for the Island of Islamorada on Sunday.
Dana Hahn from Pharm Life got some good docking action shots as we fueled up before departure from Marathon to Islamorada.

It was a very fun, very relaxing week on Marathon Island.
Faro Blanco is an awesome Marina & Resort.

Next Stop = The Florida Key Island of Islamorada (Feb 18-21)