Thurs, Dec 31, 2009 - Ft Myers Beach, FL

We were up early and in the dinghy at 7:30 am making our way to Snook Bight Marina and the Publix grocery store next to the marina. It was a lovely morning but with a Blue Moon tide the water level was very, very low. Along the way, we encountered a good-sized sailboat aground in the channel next to the mooring field. The sun was in our eyes but at the last minute, we noticed a line stretched from the channel marker post to the sailboat’s bow. Fortunately, we ducked under the line and smiled at the two guys out on the deck. After a brief conversation with these sailors about “no water,” we continued along the channel. We saw many boats that looked to be aground; however, most of them were anchored and not trying to get anywhere anyway.

On our way back to the mooring field, we could see the sailboat that had been aground had moved a few feet out of the channel and secured a line to a mooring ball. Back aboard the boat, Maureen spent the rest of the morning making key lime pie, putting groceries away and doing a little cleaning. Gale ran some errands and picked up wine and shrimp. While he and Lucy were at the shrimp boat docks, Gale stepped on a section of the dock making two sections bang together. Unfortunately, Lucy’s foot was between the sections and her toenail was torn out. She bled buckets! It looked like a murder had taken place in the dinghy! Before returning to Blue Heron, he stopped at a local restaurant to find out if they would be open for breakfast tomorrow morning. It was funny how people gave them such a wide berth – a man and his bleeding pit bull! Poor Lucy!



Between the chores, the errands, the injured toe and trying to get showers in before our guests’ arrival, we didn’t make it to the “Slurp and Burp.” Steve and Dawn’s flight into Tampa touched down shortly after 1 pm and they were in Ft Myers Beach about 5 pm. Gale picked them up in the dinghy and brought them out to Blue Heron. The first thing we did was pop open and share the bottle of champagne the Fords had given us at our Bon Voyage party last April. Steve had said that we were to save the champagne either until they could come to visit us or it could be consumed in the event of an “emergency”, whichever came first. We were glad that their visit came before any emergency! We boiled up the fresh shrimp Gale and Lucy had picked up earlier in the day and enjoyed it along with a sauce, crackers and cheese. But we forgot to have the pie!

After dinner the four of us took the dinghy to shore and strolled up to Times Square. We walked the beach and checked out the Lani Kai Hotel. We were told that this was quite a party place but it was only about 10 pm and, evidently, too early for the kids to be out yet. In the crowded elevator going up to the rooftop bar, a middle aged woman with a cigarette in her hand commented on what nice teeth Gale had! She made quite a “to do” and received everyone’s agreement of her assessment. She asked why he had such great teeth and he told her, “It’s because I don’t smoke!” He got a round of applause and a lot of laughs from everyone stuck in the elevator with the smoking woman!





It wasn’t long before we were back at Times Square where we listened to a great band. The music was so good, we were all surprised to find it quite easy to stay up for the “ball drop.” A spectacular fireworks display at midnight capped off a wonderful New Years Eve celebration.