Overcast weather. Kelley had something to get at West Marine. He ended up taking the bus there and I walked into the city and went to the Farmer’s Market. Sarasota reminds me of San Diego. Marina Jack is right downtown.

There is a park nearby and the shops and restaurants are interesting to look at and visit. Dinner last night was delicious.

I walked around the park. There is a lot of interesting art work in the park.

Later the rain came pouring down. Kelley and I decided to stay one day until Monday so I went up and added a day. Tomorrow we will go to the Ringling Museum. Dinner tonight at Dos Senoritas.

We navigated out of Stump Pass without incidence. Calling to check with Boat U.S. about the pass was a smart thing to do. Being on the Gulf was easy. The boat has stabilizers…and the water was like a small choppy lake, filled with crab pots. But, Kelley decided that he was going to go in the Venice Pass because it is a better entrance to Sarasota than Sarasota’s. We feared the officer would find us. Upon entering the harbor and a water sheriff waved at us to welcome us. Whew!

The trip through Venice was uneventful! Yeah.

Isn’t Sarasota pretty? Once were tied up and nice couple came down and told Kelley how pretty the boat was. Turns out they had had an Ocean Alexander that was a bit smaller and missed it.

Kelley called the tax office and asked if he could bring in boat information and get a Sojourner’s Pass for Florida. Off he went on his bike. He figured if we couldn’t then he would ask for documentation that he had tried. But: SUCCESS! He showed the lady what information we had; she barely looked at it; she charged Kelley $58.00 and handed him a piece of paper and a green sticker that expires on Kelley’s birthday this year.

We are thrilled to be here and look forward to a great dinner at Barnacle Bill’s.

Watch out, Venice, here we come.

We went to Englewood Beach and walked around the point and back to the dinghy. After a storm the shelling here is suppose to be spectacular, but, not much there today. The walk was about 2.5 miles and really pleasant.

The ride to the park is quick.

We went to the White Elephant for lunch. Last night there was Karoke. Reminded us of Avalon and the music that plays at the local café that is not always good. Tomorrow we leave for Sarasota. We are going out to the Gulf because we don’t want to go through Venice because there is a Fish and Game officer that has been nicknamed the “Water Nazi.” If you don’t have the correct tags he writes you up…that is after a long lecture about the rights to boat in Florida. He retires in June and the city and boaters are thrilled.

Wind was up in the morning, but off we went. Once we were out on the ICW it didn’t seem as windy. We are in Englewood Beach off of Lemon Bay. We are at anchor and it is a great setting. Tomorrow we are going shelling! We got into the dinghy and toured the inlet where we are. There are shoals everywhere! Even the locals were getting stuck because they weren’t paying attention.