WE DID IT!!!! We weren't really sure until the customs guy stamped our passports but we made into Portugal at Lisbon and then caught a bus to Lagos where we were home on our boat after being gone almost exactly a year. It also happened to be our 26th wedding anniversary and we decided that couldn't have gotten each other anything else we'd rather have. We have to get her opened up, cleaned up and filled back up, but at least we're all together! We'll report on new adventures as soon as we get everything back together.
So, to get completely caught up, we were able to get our Covid-19 vaccine but had 28 days in between shots. We used the time for as much fun, family and friends as we could fit in. First up was a trip to the West Palm Beach Boat Show to meet with our boating buddies - the one's we were with in St. Augustine a couple of months ago. Our friends Ron and Mary also invited us to dinner and to stay the night so we decided to go a couple of days early and also get in some scuba diving. We tried to dive the Blue Heron bridge which we've heard is a great beach dive. However, because we had dinner plans, we weren't able to stay long enough for the slack tide to really be able to see a lot. It was still fun but we'll have to go back again when we have more time. The next morning however, we got on a boat charter and had 2 amazing drift dives right off the coast. I honestly think these were some of the best diving we've done in a long time. Can't wait to go back!
We still had some time to stay in Florida waiting for our second shot and Pedro had some business to attend to in the panhandle area so we again headed west. We stopped on the way to kayak the Santa Fe River. We'd heard about this river for a while and were excited to see it. It did not disappoint! There are supposed to be 36 springs which flow into the river and on our 15-mile stretch, we saw about 10. It was such beautiful scenery and Pedro even caught an elusive Suwannee Bass!
We left Panama City heading back east. We'd arranged to spend the weekend in Perry with our friends Fawn and Billy but we still had most of a day before they would arrive so we decided to take the coastal road and stop along the way. Our first stop was Port St. Joe. What a sweet little town! We were completely surprised to see a couple Staten Island Ferries as we drove into town! Turns out this ferry that we took many times the month we spent in Staten Island are actually built in this little Florida town. What a small world!
Next, we headed to Apalachicola the self-proclaimed "Oyster Capital of World." This was definitely my favorite little city of this trip. The town itself is so quaint and we loved walking all around. We found a great restaurant and imbibed in the city's main attraction. The oysters along with the rest of our meal were perfect!
Our last stop on our panhandle tour was the town of Steinhatchee. There wasn't exactly a downtown area to walk around but we asked around and were sent to a hiking area near the falls of the Steinhatchee River (redundant as "hatchee" is the Native American word for river but that's what they call the river). The falls are touted to be widest falls in Florida and for many years were a crossing point on the river. They were beautiful to explore. While Pedro didn't have any luck fishing in the river, we met up with a commercial fisherman who was unloading his boat and managed to buy a Mangrove Snapper from him.
Finally, it was time to head to Perry where Fawn and Billy were putting us up for the weekend. We've been friends with these guys for close to twenty years and while we don't see them often enough, we always make up for lost time and this weekend was no exception. We spent the weekend laughing, eating and exploring their beautiful property. They even arranged a party with some neighbors we'd met about fifteen years prior when we were last there. We loved every minute and can't wait to go back. I even found an old picture Fawn and Billy took joking about naming their boat!
We left our sweet friends and drove straight to Cocoa Beach where we were scheduled to pet sit in paradise for more sweet friends. Larry and Michelle were leaving town for a week and we got to stay in their amazing house and watch 10-week old Marcus. As you can imagine, he is all puppy!!! He loved his beach walks and was actually pretty good at house training but he was definitely a hand full. We were also able to kayak there, ride bikes to town and even caught the air show (they were practicing while we kayaked and then they flew over the house)!
Finally, our 28 days were up and we got our second vaccine shot. We left the next day and drove to Louisville so we could see everyone there one more time and leave our car with family just in case we couldn't get into Portugal. While there, we had several parties, got Pedro's parents new icemaker installed and grill repaired, caught the full moon rise and hiked an area we'd never seen before. We had the best time and already miss all them.
So, now we're finally caught up! We're in the water waiting on one part to arrive so we can repair our refrigerator and then we're off. We still don't know where to yet, but we'll fill you in when we know!
Until next post!
