Stats for April 22, 2019

Origin: Fort Pierce Anchorage

Destination: Fort Pierce City Marina

Distance: 3.7 miles

Speed: 5 mph

Time on the Move: 40 minutes ish

After sleeping like a rock all night, it was weird to wake to up an anchorage surrounded by tall condos and the smell of Florida (not bad, it just always seems to have a particular smell to me). It was also a bit chillier or maybe just less humid than the Bahamas. It definitely felt different.

We were ready for a marina and some land and some food and some playgrounds so we headed for the marina right across the ICW from our anchorage. Our friends on Livin the Dream just happened to be there which was an amazing twist of fate and would help all of us enjoy our reintroduction to society even more.

The run to the marina was easy, but the entrance to the marina was kind of weird. We had to follow an awkward path through a deeper dredged channel in and watch for the current. Apparently there is a lot of current here and they only recommend you come in at slack tide. Great. Mike did a good job of getting us to the fuel dock and we were thrilled to find diesel for $3/gallon. In the Bahamas we were paying in the $4.50-$5 range, though friends of ours paid over $6 at one point!! Backing into our slip we had a little run in with a center pile and twisted our grill mount on the port side pretty good. Thank goodness we didn’t lose the grill. We hope re-acclimating to civilization isn’t always going to be that tough.

The kids had breakfast while Mike washed the boat and then we were ready to get off of sweet INNTW. She is an amazing boat that has kept us safe and carried us to awesome adventures on great, faraway lands, but we had been on her for 90 hours at that point (the longest time onboard of our whole loop!) and we were ready to stretch our legs. (90 hours on a 500ish square foot boat. Together…the whole time. That’s still crazy to me!)

We roamed around town and checked out the park area near the marina. We were disappointed to find out there was no playground within walking distance, but the kids skipped through the park and threw plenty of pennies into the fountain.

A place called Taco Dive was all we kept hearing about from our friends who had been in the area previously, so we headed straight there. Lunch was amazing–so many choices, cold draft IPA, so many people, and such great service. Definitely a pleasant change from the Bahamas. And we got away with only spending $60 on lunch. In the Bahamas every meal out seemed to cost at least $100.

After the Zeeffs were done with boat school, we visited their boat for a bit and headed to a cider place. We got the flight of ciders which is a lot more cider than you might think!! It was a beautiful night to relax outside. We went over the stories of our crossings, remembered great times we had in the Bahamas, and shared our journey with some teachers who were sitting nearby. I love how the teachers we meet are always so supportive of this alternative way to live and learn. The kids played in the big courtyard, climbing trees, exploring the plants, and even finding a few leftover Easter eggs from the egg hunt over the weekend.

Interestingly enough, our crossing day was actually Easter but somehow our kids thought Easter was in a few days, so we totally went with it and deemed Tuesday Easter. They were totally clueless and it gave us a chance to stock up on some goodies and avoid answering lots of questions from inquisitive minds. The kids on Livin the Dream somehow also thought Tuesday was Easter. I love it when a plan comes together!!

The next morning, the kids were up at 4 am, anxious to see what the Easter Bunny brought. It was waaaaay to early, but you can only delay excitement like that for so long before it becomes pointless. About 6, Mike and I finally gave in to the excitement. Here are the kids with their goodies and their sweet little bunny faces. This Easter loot was in no way what they are used to, but thankfully, we didn’t hear much complaining (only a little–from the middle bunny). It seems they have started to forget the “want, want, want” mindset and instead are happy with what would have been “just a little” before.

After the Easter excitement of the morning and loads and loads of candy, we headed to the Manatee Center right next to the marina. It was a great hands on museum focusing on animals in the area. It was kind of ironic because many of the animals we read about there we had seen plenty of times in the Bahamas, and we actually knew more about than what they shared at the museum. It just goes to show how this trip provides so many great experiences for all of us. We have seen firsthand many things that most people only see on TV.

A little later in the day we saw a mama manatee nursing her baby in the fairway of the marina. It was neat to see them wild in nature. I wish they were easier to get pictures of!!

Next we headed out to a nice Easter lunch at the Sailfish Brewing Company. It was great to drink good beer and eat delicious pizza!! Plus, the Zeeffs brought dollar store toys to keep the kids occupied and that turned out to be the perfect entertainment. How did a brewery not make our list of things we were excited for in the states?! YUM!!

After a little more play on the Zeeff’s boat, we said “see ya later” to their crew again. I’m sure we’ll see them soon, but the next day the INNTW crew was headed on an adventure, so it was goodbye for now.

We received some bad news a week or so prior that our dog, Madie, who was in Michigan with Mike’s parents, had developed cancer and wasn’t doing well. Mike really felt the need to fly home to see her again before she would have to be put to sleep. The kids each got to choose if they wanted to fly home to see her also. The boys both decided they really wanted to go visit Madie. Hayley didn’t really feel a need to go back home and say goodbye to Madie, so her and I decided to head to Sarasota, Florida to pick up a bunch of stuff we left at my mom’s place in December before we went to the Bahamas. Divide and conquer!!

This adventure took some coordinating, let me tell you!! I took an early morning cab ride to the rental car place (where of course they didn’t have my minivan ready and didn’t actually have minivans…or even have record of my reservation!!) and finally picked up an Expedition. Then, Hayley and I drove the boys to the Orlando airport for a flight to Detroit. Just because nothing can be “easy” Mike got a text exactly 2 hours before his flight was scheduled to take off that it had actually been cancelled. That led to a quick scramble to look up comparable flights and book 3 seats asap. Luckily, they rebooked a similar flight, with an extra stop, on a different airline. Kelly and Hay drove to Sarasota to visit Grandma Hays while the boys flew to Detroit, then rented a car and drove an extra 4 hours up north to visit Grandma and Grandpa Herbon and our sweet Mad dog. Whew. Talk about trains, planes, and automobiles!! Mike and the boys didn’t get to Hubbard Lake until 10 pm or so, after leaving Fort Pierce at 9 am. It was quite a day!!

Hayley and I really enjoyed a relaxing few days with Grandma Hays, visiting some of her friends, taking care of errands, playing shuffleboard, going to pool exercises, and packing up all the stuff we left at her house. I certainly didn’t remember leaving quite so much at her house, but thank goodness for MOM, right?! I’m also thankful we ended up with an Expedition and not a minivan!! There was barely any spare room after we loaded 5 bikes, groceries, our winter coats/hats/gloves, Christmas decorations, boxes of books, 6 loads of fresh laundry, and other who knows what. When I say we couldn’t have fit another thing, I totally mean it.

The boys did a lot of traveling, a lot of visiting, some playing, and some sightseeing. Their first day consisted of all travel. The next day they had great weather, so they played outside, caught some toads, took Madie in for a check up with the vet, and made it out for pizza night. The next day was blustery, so they went to a shipwreck museum and spent lots of time cuddling with Madie. The next morning they had to get things together to drive back to Detroit to catch an early afternoon flight. It was a whirlwind visit, but they loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa and they were glad they got some Madie cuddles in, too.

We had a late night picking up the boys in Orlando after unloading that mess of a vehicle, getting groceries, and then driving to the airport. We unloaded the Expedition (again) and Mike took it back while I got the kids in bed. We decided to leave early the next morning and get moving up the ICW. New adventures await!!

Thank you for reading and following along on our adventures!!