Day 96, Year 8: Arrival in Florida
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013
Weather: Beautiful Day, High Temp in the 70’s
Location: Rialto Harbor Marina, Alva, Florida
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s East Coast by 10:30 am, did some ‘nautical’ shopping, and then drove to Bonita Springs on the Gulf Coast. We visited and had an early dinner with Mark’s family and then drove to Fort Myers and then on to Alva to spend the night on Mark’s brother’s boat here at Rialto Harbor Marina. The weather was beautiful today and the it is about 10 degrees warmer here than in Myrtle Beach. So life is good.
Our ‘nautical’ shopping in Fort Lauderdale took us to Sailorman, a big warehouse-like store full of a mix of new and used boating supplies. Then we walked from Sailorman across the street to the biggest West Marine in this country.And it is huge. We took lots of photos to share with the gang back in Falmouth at our little West Marine store. After our shopping spree, we tried to head west to the Gulf Coast, but the new network of space age interstate exchanges with bridges that seem to span other bridges made for some confusion and we took the wrong exit, not once but twice. Finally we got ourselves on the right track and enjoyed the drive through the Everglades. By the time we arrived at Mark’s sister’s home it was almost 3 pm and we then had a great time catching up on what has been happening in all of our lives since we were together last in June of 2011. Then Mark’s brother drove us to his home on the water just off the Caloosahatchee River east of Fort Myers. Rialto Harbor Marina is one of the world’s hidden jewels. It is a tiny marina with docks for 13 boats.The grounds are beautifully kept and we always enjoy our time here. Tomorrow I’ll take photos of Steve’s trawler and the grounds here in an attempt to share a bit of this special place.
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| 130207 Day 96 South Carolina, USA–Florida Arrival |
