When I read my last post, I couldn't believe how much had happened in the last nine weeks. It seems nothing ever goes according to plan! Wait -- isn't that one of the first rules of boating?
First of all -- Gotta Smile is not sold. We have two interested parties and it is on the market. Krogen is having a show in Stuart March 18 and 19. We decided that if we REALLY want to get it sold we need to be in Stuart for the Spring market. That meant we had to cancel our trip to Eleuthera. The decision to cancel was very difficult especially since friends and family had already purchased tickets to join us. I was also sad. Sad to disappoint guests and sad because I really wanted to spend a couple of months there. It looks like one of those perfect underdeveloped islands with pristine beaches and water. Who said retirement is uncomplicated?
The last three weeks in January were devoted to making decisions about the house. Meetings with the pool designer and design center. Researching appliances, paint colors, tile, carpet..... Will and Sue, former Krogen owners, just completed building their home and were very helpful sharing what they learned during their process. It was great to see them and know that we will be able to get together once we are settled.
February was out of control....in fact, chaotic! We had guests staying onboard 25 of the 29 nights of the month plus January 30th and March 1st!!! Then there were five boat showings scattered throughout the month. It went much smoother than I could have imagined and we enjoyed all of it. Good friends and family are always welcome.
Sid and Marion flew in from London on January 30th. We have visited them and they us several times. Brian first met Sid in Dusseldorf when they were both covering the aerospace market for the adhesives division of 3M -- just a few years ago (37).
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| The Ringling Home in Sarasota. |
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| A quick lunch between the museum and home tour. |
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| Two rookie clowns trying to blend in with the pros. |
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| Sitting on the curb in St Armand's Circle after exploring the art show. |
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| Looking for the perfect shell on Boca Grande Beach. |
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| Dinner at one of our favorite Sarasota restaurants, Owen's Fish Camp. |
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| A stop in Ybor City on the way to the Tampa Airport found lots of people preparing for the Gasparilla Pirate Parade: pirates, wenches and royal soldiers. Marion and I didn't expose enough cleavage to qualify as wenches! |
My brother, Mark, and his wife, Sue, were the next guests to arrive. They are renting a house in The Villages for two months. Before heading to their rental they visited friends around the state for a couple of weeks.
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| Sue lost her glasses the first day they were with us. She looked like a Vegas dealer as we played pinochle. |
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| Brian and Mark waiting for lunch. |
Joan and Larry were guests for the first trip on our 39 foot Krogen, Finally. We had been planning on them joining us for months. Then, when we cancelled the Eleuthera trip, they wound up being our last guests on Gotta Smile's last voyage. It just seemed perfect to end with these good friends of almost 40 years. We had three days in Longboat Key before we crossed the Okeechobee for three additional days in Stuart.
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| Leaving Longboat Key for the last time---- |
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| Larry is ready to secure us as we enter one of the five locks. |
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| Instead of using valves and chutes to lower the water in the lock, the gates are opened. Hopefully, the lock master only opens the gate a small amount so the water goes down slowly. |
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| The guys comparing information on their phones. |
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| Dinner at Crawdaddy's. |
The four days that we didn't have guests in February gave us a chance to catch up with friends that live in the Sarasota area. We're looking forward to seeing a lot more of them when we get settled and, of course, having lots of guests come and stay with us. We will improve our scheduling system!
