One more day in Venice

Jan 22---We spent the day checking out some local beaches, which were affected by the dreaded red tide, as well as a chilling north wind. We spent some time in he historic shopping district (eating, not shopping), and walking around. All through the town there were turtle and dolphin statues that were sponsored by different businesses and embellished by local artists.  Personally, I liked the turtles the best!

 We found Saint's boat , which was docked nearby, and tried to imagine living on it for five years like he did. It's obviously not that uncommon to live on a boat down here, as we've seen in several marinas while visiting down here.

While we were wandering around the marina, Mike  found a playmate, Blackbeard Duck!

 We then took a beautiful ride near the Gulf shore on Casey's Key, which was a very unique place. It is about five miles long and as narrow as it could possibly be. Beautiful homes were built in every available nook and cranny, and the road was amazingly narrow and twisting, with very few straightaways. Near the north end, there was a dead end street, where Steven King (the author) lives for part of the year. Close to that, was a little bar and restaurant called the Casey's Key Fish House, where we met all the guys again, for more stories and laughing in the tiki bar section. The plastic 'walls' were down because of the chill (65 degrees), so we really didn't get the full appreciation of the place and its beauty. As the sun set, there were crew teams coming in from practicing in the bay. The mango margarita was the house specialty.

L to R - Buzzy, Mike, Pam, Paul, Jay and Saint.