46 - We're on a boat!!!!

So, as one could imagine, it takes a lot of  nerve to invite homeless sailors on a luxury yacht trip knowing you might never get rid of them.  Luckily, our dear friends Sandy and Dale are some pretty amazing people.  They are the owners of Sandy Island a stunning 72-foot Ocean Alexander motor yacht!  We, along with about 10 other boating friends, partook in the 3-hour ride from Palm Coast, FL up to St, Augustine for an amazing weekend.  What an amazing boat and completely appropriate for amzing owners. The town was also so cute as it was lit up for the upcoming Christmas season. Our friends kept us laughing and dancing all weekend long.  Even the weather was mostly perfect (easy to say for someone who didn't have to drive a huge yacht in extremely low visibility fog - but it wore off about half way home).  We had such a great time and were so grateful to be on a boat and with wonderful friends that we don't get to see often enough! 

Way too soon, the weekend was over and we were back on shore.  We'd already scheduled our next pet sit with 2 adorable cats over Christmas in St. Pete.  However, since it wasn't for a couple of weeks, we decided to explore a little more.  First up, we were able to again invite ourselves over to stay with Polya and Roberto for a couple of days.  As always,  these two wined and dined and entertained us as we walked around enjoying the Christmas decorations in town and at downtown Disney.

We left Polya and Roberto and - after picking up some local beer - continued onto westward.  Pedro's birthday was coming up so we decided to celebrate by visiting the town of Cedar Key for a couple of days.  What an adorable and friendly old Florida town.  We found a great condo right on the water with amazing views.   We walked and rode our bikes all around town.  We also found some town cats to love on and loved kayaking in the gulf.  We were so excited to find out that we were in time for the annual golf cart Christmas parade - it was way cuter than my pictures turned out so if anyone gets a chance to go there at Christmas time, I highly recommend it.  Pedro even hired a fishing charter on day and came back with enough fish to feed us for a couple of days.  We loved this little town and agree with people who told us that it reminds them of what Key West must have been like many many years ago.

Finally, it was time to head down to St. Pete to meet our kitties!   Layla and Akira were a little leery of us at first but all quickly got into a routine and enjoyed each other's company. Their house was near downtown St. Pete so we rode our bikes to the pier to catch the sunrise.  We also took the bikes and explored nearby Ft. Desoto park.  

Next, we decided to find some kayaking spots.  Pedro discovered Weedon Island Preserve which happened to be less than 15 minutes from our house.  This might have been one of our absolute favorite kayak trips.  We paddled a marked trail - a local outfitter thankfully marked it extremely well-  about 8 miles through various mangrove tunnels.  These tunnels were amazingly beautiful.  Just a couple of miles from the big city and we were in complete wilderness.   

The next day, we kayaked the Little Manatee River. This too was beautiful with crystal clear water and neighbors with a great sense of humor. 

Our time in St. Pete came to an end so we headed back to Julie and Dude's house in Rockledge where we'd promised to do a few repair jobs as thank you for letting us use their house whenever we want.  But, we'll fill you in on that next time.  Until next post!