SeaDream Ports at Ditto Landing Marina for the Summer

Living aboard SeaDream now ends until the Fall. Leaving in March from Green Cove Springs, FL, moving south from Jacksonville, across Lake Okeechobee and up to St. Petersburg. Leaving there with Fred and Linda Mangelsdorf, we continued across the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile, AL, and up the Tennessee TomBigbee Waterway, through Mississippi into Pickwick Lake to the Tennessee River, Wilson Lake, and finally Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama. Each segment has been an interesting and exciting adventure. The scenery changed from ocean coastal to tidal marshes to lush green tree-lined, clear freshwater rivers. As always, Mike and I enjoyed learning the history of the many places we passed. Mississippi and Alabama are simply filled with notable Civil War history.

The vitality of the rivers, with so many barges delivering loads to shore side industries, is amazing. Even with so much commerce, the rivers are full of wildlife and the water, though silt-filled is some southern-most stretches, appears healthy. Many evenings, as the sun set, we would gaze over the water to see fish jumping and turtles bobbing, listening to birds and frogs singing their evening songs. Every small community along the way extended gracious “southern hospitality” to passing boaters.

Our last two cruising days were easy, with only two locks the first day and none the second. Wilson Lock was the highest lift yet at 100 feet!

Joe Wheeler State Park Marina was our port on Tuesday evening, with a lovely lodge and pool by the marina and inexpensive rates.

Our last day, we cruised the gentle wide Tennessee River, passing tree lined shores and limestone cliffs here and there looking like the remains of majestic castle walls. Decatur, Alabama, was busy with many factories and industries along its banks. Tows busily nudged barges into place at a wide variety of riverside facilities, including a big Meow Mix factory and the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. At 3:30PM, our destination, Huntsville’s Ditto Landing Marina, appeared around the final bend. After more than 1500 miles, SeaDream has finally reached her summer home.

History of Ditto Landing:

Sometime around 1802-1804 James Ditto rounded the Great Bend of the Tennessee River to the point of Chickasaw Island (now called Hobbs Island). Landing among friendly Chickasaw Indians in the area known as the Chickasaw Old Fields, Ditto established a trading post in 1805 and a ferry in 1807, creating Ditto Landing. His ferry transported Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett across the Tennessee River on their way to the Creek and Indian War. Around 1824, the area became known as Whitesburg, named for James White, a salt trader. Being near the early Western boundary of the United States, Ditto Landing was one of our first inland ports of entry and remained a hub of trade and economic activity for the Huntsville area into the 1840s.

Ditto Marina is operated by Huntsville-Madison County and has clean new facilities and nicely designed docks. The road trip to Nashville is just a little over two hours so we plan to visit SeaDream often. She’s safe from hurricanes and will be sitting in clean freshwater.  

Entrance to Ditto Landing Marina off Tennessee River.

SeaDream on left at Ditto Landing Marina.

All Locked Up

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MONDAY: After our delightful stay in Columbus Marina we set out for more serious traveling. The Tom Bigbee has twelve locks and we have seven to go. There are few stopping places in this section of waterway so we got an early sunrise start to try and make four of the locks. Much to our dismay, we got behind a tow of barges and at every lock we had to wait for him to get through. Our speeds and the distances between locks aligned in such a way that we could never get far enough ahead of him to have first dibs at the locks. Mike and I really got into the lock routine and had the fenders dropped on both sides and lines ready for what would come as we entered each lock. Mike eased the boat to the bollard and I wound the line around and up we went 30 feet or so. Each lock took about thirty minutes but the “barge wait” took over an hour as the tow maneuvered his barges in and out of the lock. Our day started at 6:30AM and ended at 6:30PM docked at Midway Marina. We took their courtesy car to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

TUESDAY: we had three locks, the last one being the “cave”, Witten Lock, with an 84’ rise. What a ride that was! Now there are no more locks until the Tennessee River. We decided to end our day early and turned into a pristine, clear water cove just after the lock in Sandy Bay and drop the hook. Linda & Fred rafted up and Linda and Mike took a swim. A nice evening meal together of grilled fish was a perfect ending to our busy lock adventures. Rain came in the night and washed the boats a little.

Entering Whitten Lock on Tom Bigbee.

Young America in Whitten Lock.

WEDNESDAY: Today brought some boat challenges. When I pulled the anchor it was loaded with a grass ball about the size of a small goat! Luckily it was soft and I pulled at the clump until it was gone. A little persistently hung from our anchor like a goatee! After about five minutes of cruising, I checked the engine room and we were getting a slight water spray from the starboard propeller shaft seal. Mike assessed the situation and we anchored in a near by cove to clean it. In a few minutes, it seemed okay so we took off into the narrow Tom Bigbee cut that is about 30 miles long with no place to stop. About half way along the bilge water alarm sounded. The shaft seal was leaking more but Mike said we could still continue as the bilge pump could more than handle it. The day ended early at 4:30PM at a beautiful anchorage in the Pickwick Lake right at the corners of the three states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. Mike cleaned and readjusted the leaking shaft seal but it continued dripping even at rest, a sure sign of damage. It’s a nearly new seal so who knows what could make it fail. We haven’t been aground or abused it in any way.

In the evening, Linda M. grilled hamburgers and we enjoyed another great meal together.

THURSDAY: Still in Zippy Cove, Mike spoke with the shaft seal manufacturer and we have a new one on the way at half price. It’ll arrive Monday. We’ve also made arrangements to haul out at Lee Spry boat yard nearby to replace it. They have a 100 ton lift, the largest between Mobil and Chicago, and have a great reputation for good service.

In the evening Fred & Linda M. and Mike & I took our two dinghys out to explore and to Let Louis ashore to sniff around and cruised over to Aqua Harbor Marina where we might move until Monday morning. Linda and Fred took their dinghy “Chucky” for a spin but ended up with their brand new propane powered outboard engine locked up and oozing oil. We towed them back to the boats. What a bummer!

Later we grilled chicken and shared a meal again. I will miss our dinners together when we part.

FRIDAY: We left Zippy Cove and tied up at the transient dock at Aqua Harbor Marina after lunch and the rain quit. Docking was easy, with little wind and a nice face dock. We visited the local restaurant with our “lock partners”, Ed & Janice from their cruiser “Eagle’s Nest”, for a really fun, animated dinner. They have a house here on Pickwick Lake and are a wealth of information about the area. 

Mike swimming in Zippy Cove.

Banks in Zippy Cove.

SATURDAY: Sight seeing is sparse here as the closest town is Iuka, Mississippi. However, the great Civil War Battle of Shilo was fought only 18 miles away and is now a a national military park. Linda M. and I took out the marina’s courtesy car for a tour of the battlefield. There was no entrance fee and it had a very nice visitor’s center and bookstore. On our way home we bought a pizza for dinner then watched Goldfinger.

SUNDAY: Drove to Corinth, Mississippi and saw the train tracks that crossed North and South and East and West in the middle of town and were a strategic object of the battle of Shilo during the Civil War. 

Crossing RR Tracks in Corinth.

MONDAY: Spent the day at Spry Boat Yard in Pickwick Lake sitting in a 100 ton boat lift while the leaking starboard shaft seal was replaced. Came into Spry’s at 11:00AM and we were out by 3:00PM. Mike was very pleased with the quality of work and the owners of the yard. Anchored near-by in Zippy Cove where Linda and Fred joined us. We rafted again and in the evening Linda had us over for another delicious meal.  

SeaDream in hoist getting shaft seal repaired.

Alabama Into Mississippi

Since our last entry, we have traveled from mile marker 216.1 in Demopolis to mile marker 335.0 in Columbus, Mississippi and passed through three more locks. The barges are getting fewer since the cut-off of Black Warrior River toward Birmingham, Alabama, where much of the cargo is headed.

We anchored Wednesday evening in Windham Landing, a small side creek on the Tom-Bigbee. Thursday we crossed the Mississippi state line about noon.  Two locks later, Mike made a very good docking in gusting wind and threatening skies at the Columbus Marina, then the weather passed with no rain.

Louis had a fun run in a large grassy area at the marina, then we freshened up for a short trip in the marina’s courtesy van to a local Mexican restaurant where we joined some friends of Linda & Fred for dinner. They are boaters, too, so we swapped stories and had a very nice meal. 

Phone booth on the rivers edge.

Chalk cliffs on Tom Bigbee River.

Our boats in Columbus Marina, Columbus, Mississippi.

FRIDAY: Spent the day grocery shopping, cleaning and catching up on email since we’ve had no WiFi or cell service for several days. In the evening, we found a back woods Mississippi restaurant for some local flavor (maybe too local) and topped it off with frozen yogurt at “Smacks.” Afterward Mike drove us through the historic section of Columbus with its many impressive antebellum houses. 

Antebellum home in the old part of Columbus.

Oklahoma’s fronts are headed our way so may stay one or two more days. Only thunderstorms are expected but it’s not fun boating in those. We’ll wait for better weather.

SATURDAY: Out for a day of sight seeing. We took the courtesy van 12 miles north to historic Waverly Mansion. Linda M. joined us.

Built in 1852, Waverly sits in woods near the river but its hundreds of acres were once open cotton fields worked by a thousand slaves. The last family son died in 1913 and the house sat empty for 50 years until, in 1963, the Snow family bought it with 50 acres and lovingly restored the structure to its original glory. Amazingly, most of the original window glass, hardware and fixtures were untouched and, being built of cypress and heart of pine, it remains structurally sound,. Even the window sashes still work freely! Only the daughter and father live there now and give tours. We thoroughly enjoyed walking through the rooms and drifting back in time. The five stories of exquisite bannisters are simply amazing. How did this amazing building survive the ravages of time? It houses many, many Civil War memories. 

Linda and I in front of the Waverly Mansion in Columbus, Mississippi.

The evening was movie night at Fred & Linda’s. We brought “Lincoln” and they provided the popcorn.

Today we’ll wait out another stormy forecast doing boat chores and leave tomorrow morning. We are having dinner at Sonics!    

Getting Into River Cruising

FRIDAY: An early start was needed to make a good anchorage in Old Lock #1 near Jackson, Alabama, by nightfall. The tree lined river hides everything… houses, cars and people....  we see only the occasional fishing boat and tows. Only a road atlas shows that we’ve passed a few very small towns. We met up with six southbound strings of barges and we overtook one string northbound. The river is wide and on-coming tow captains tell us whether to meet them on one whistle (port to port) or two whistles (starboard to starboard) as they maneuver their barges around the bends. The AIS (Automated Identification System) signal we receive on the helm screen alerts us to their positions several miles before our encounters. Thank goodness for that!! The tug captains are invariably very nice, maybe even pleased to encounter cruising trawlers. Rivers can be lonely for them.

We arrived at Old Lock #1 at 6:30pm and once again Fred rafted Young America to SeaDream. Linda invited us over for a wonderful spaghetti dinner and we discussed the day’s adventures and our pending lock transit on Saturday. Mike and I are learning a lot from Fred and Linda’s experience.

Our night was very peaceful with no current and a full moon seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Are Those Love Bugs?

SATURDAY: We started early today. This section of river has few anchorages and the lock and barge traffic demand extra time. Traveling from mile marker 100 to marker 145 at Bashi Creek and anchoring mid-afternoon made for a short day. The only other anchorages were along the river’s edge and unprotected. The tree-lined creek looks entirely too narrow for us but, surprisingly, we fit…. barely…. and the 9’ depth is fine. No one was there so Mike glided SeaDream in and we anchored in the middle then eased back from the anchor. Fred followed us in, turned around, dropped his anchor then backed toward us to tie stern-to-stern. Young America became our stern anchor! The boats looked like two Love Bugs mating in the tree-lined creek. The early stop allowed for a welcome nap. In the evening, Fred and Linda walked across the swim platforms for dinner and more story telling.

The anchorage is extremely secluded, with no phone connection or WiFi. Vegetation is so dense that, unless you looked directly in, from another boat, you’d never know we were there. A few little fishing boats came in to see our “mating” boats and soon turned around as the water turned shallow and the low trees blocked the way. Birds sang in the trees, a cool breeze blew, few bugs and no mosquitos appeared. The creek was only about 15 feet wider than SeaDream’s length so spinning her around to leave was “interesting” but went smoothly. This is the life!!

"Young America" and "SeaDream" anchored stern to stern on Bashi Creek, Alabama.

SUNDAY and MONDAY: Dodging barges and navigating locks has become a daily event. Most of the time we’re enjoying the beautiful scenery along the river and plotting our course. Tombigbee riverbanks are a mix of sand beaches and then a cliff of stone. We pass paper mills here and there and other big industrial places but mostly it is just woods and wilderness. The Demopolis Lock ahs a huge dam and spillway, creating an area called the “Washing Machine”. We entered the lock on the starboard side and laid our line around a floating bollard for the 34 foot rise to the river’s next level. Just a short trip around the bend was Demopolis marina. Mike docked us to take on 553 gallons of fuel and then we moved over to the beautiful new Kingfisher Bay floating docks. The feature pump outs at the slips , very nice laundry facilities and a fabulous pool. We finished the day aboard Young America for Linda’s wonderful shrimp dinner.

Memorial Day became a workday as we cleaned the boat, bought groceries and did laundry. Ugh! We did have a great tour of a large tug boat, though, that was getting fuel at the dock. What a treat! Mike spied twin 16 cylinder diesels with 3800 horsepower! Each! In the evening I grilled steaks and had everyone to our boat. Since we worked so hard on the holiday everyone wanted to stay one more day and rest.

Sandy shore on the banks of the Tombigbee.

Lines from SeaDream near mid-ship wound onto sliding bollard on lock wall.

Louis in Captain's chair on the tug.

Captain Shane Vessell on the tug Larry Tilley fueling at Demopolis dock.

TUESDAY: On our rest day, Linda M. and I went to town and saw the sights of which there are few but we did visit the old 1830’s “Bluff Hall” house mansion. It still had 75% of the original furniture and is a real jewel of a time capsule. Demopolis also has a wonderful public library.

In the evening, we all swam the pool until sunset, ending a wonderful “free” day. Demopolis is not a metropolis but sure is a nice place to rest! Tomorrow we start early, cruising further north. 

SeaDream and Young America in Demopolis.

Linda M. at Bluff Hall in Demopolis.

Linda B. in Demopolis down town.

Overlooking the Tombigbee River behind Bluff Hall.

  

Florida into Alabama

TUESDAY: Our last night in Florida, we anchored in Big Lagoon, off a sliver of an island named Perdido, at Redfish Point just east of Pensacola. Two sailboats and Young America shared the anchorage with a nice beach beaconing. We soon had the dinghy down and were ashore. Louie literally howled with joy approaching the beach, jumping into the water as Mike stepped out to pull us up onto the sand.  A short hike over the dunes brought us to the Gulf beach but the steep breaking waves sent us back to the calmer ICW side where Louis ran and ran, tossing sticks, splashing and swimming. Many little hermit crabs strutted their shells in the shallow water, daring to be picked up so they could pinch you. At sunset we dinghied back to the boat and had a rice & pork aboard. With full tummies and bathed clean, we all slept soundly in our nautical cocoon.

With our dinghys on the beach at Redfish Point.

On the Gulf side.

Louis wanting Fred to share his almonds he was snacking on.

WEDNESDAY: We hauled anchor at 8:00AM hoping to reach Mobile, Alabama, before the predicted storm arrived. By 11:30, ominous clouds had produced only a small shower but we knew winds were likely kicking up shallow Mobile Bay ahead. About noon, we entered the bay and were immediately in very choppy seas with darkening skies. We all agreed to turn around and seek a quiet place to wait out the weather.  “Lulu’s”, on the canal with free docking while eating, was a short run back.  An very popular open-air restaurant, Lulu’s is owned by Jimmy Buffet’s sister. There was ample room for both boats at the face dock and over a delicious lunch we decided to stay the night, giving the bay time to calm. Nothing like having fun and chilling at Lulu’s!! Louis thinks it is named after him. And, LuLu’s is quite a place… extraordinary staff, great food, really nice docks, amazingly clean, very family oriented, virtually a theme park in itself…. twelve stars on a ten star scale.

LuLu's in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

THURSDAY:  Leaving Lulu’s at 6:00AM, we entered a very calm Mobile Bay. The morning was sunny and beautiful, taking 4½ hours to cross to Dog River Marina for Fred and Linda to get fuel and a pump out.  Mike practiced maneuvering while we waited.

Next we transited the busy commercial port of Mobil, Alabama, with its many barges, container ships and several naval vessels, all seemingly inside the city. Leaving the bustle of Mobile behind us, the landscape morphed into isolated wooded river banks. No more palm trees! Mike moved to the fly bridge to better dodge the numerous logs and floating debris in the high water of spring rains while Louis and I stayed in the pilot house charting our way and swatting green biting flies. Our day ended at a lovely anchorage in the Tensas cut at mile marker 39. Despite the strong 2½ knot current, “Young America” and SeaDream rafted together for potluck with Fred and Linda. After the 13 plus hour day, we slept soundly while our trusty Rocna anchor held about 120,000 pounds of boats and never budged an inch, despite the current, but still retrieved easily. Very cool.

Large barge on Mobile River.

"Dolly Pardon" Bridge or I65 Bridge.

Linda and Mike adjusting lines as we rafted together at anchor.

Destin or Disney?

  After a day of flat-water cruising through straight cuts and large bays, we had visions of white beaches and lazy living in Destin, Monday’s 60-mile point. The first clue to the unexpected at Destin Harbor was that, after treading through a narrow bridge passage with troublesome currents, we’d immediately turn sharply to port then kept only a boat’s length away from concrete bridge pilings in a very busy channel. In addition, the Gulf inlet was on the starboard side and. . . people on jet skis, kayaks and fishing boats all around! Slowly we made it through the very narrow path into Destin Harbor and anchoring field, with mock pirate ships firing cannons and tourist-filled tour boats passing close by. Amazed and dismayed, we were still game for checking out the scene. Never have I seen so much development in one small area as here. I remember when the kids were little, we vacationed in Destin and were very careful not to disturb the sea oats but what the “heck”…  now they’ve been replaced by condos. And we’ve never seen so many boats packed into such a tight place. There are hundreds of sport fish and run-abouts.

Fred & Linda came over soon in their new propane powered dinghy to ferry us ashore. There’s a boardwalk all along the bays edge lined with three story bars and shops. Small trains for kids toot up and down the boardwalk, threading through the crowds while Garth Brooks blares in the background. We could not believe this was the beach and not Disney World! Do the kids ever see the sand here? Getting into the spirit of the place, Fred spotted a hot dog stand that had pretty good dogs and we topped it off with an ice cream before heading back to a quiet night on the boat. We’ll have one more day of cruising before arriving in Mobile, Alabama.  

Nice looking shrimp boat we passed.

A view of part of "Disney Destin."

    

Leaving Is Such Sweet Sorrows

Three more days, we’ve stayed in Apalachicola! The people are so very friendly and welcoming and genuinely care about their community, with volunteers picking up trash and tending the park gardens. Because it’s so small, an individual citizen can make a difference. Most of the people we met were concerned for the town’s positive image and loved living there…. and it showed. I enjoyed the small town hospitality and found it hard to leave; the dock became “velcro”.

A Civil War re-enactment came to town Friday with the “US Navy” blockading the port. One morning a small wooden steam-powered launch passed close by SeaDream, headed for the Battery Park. Later, shots were exchanged right beside us between the launch and a “Rebel” schooner from the nearby Maritime Museum. All very exciting!

Linda M. and I toured two antebellum houses, driving a golf cart loaned by a new friend, Harry, owner of a huge nautical artifacts shop a hundred feet away. What fun! Harry’s daughter, Ginny, lives aboard SeaDog, a Defever 53 docked behind his house. We had great fun sharing boat stories and learning about Apalachicola from her.

Mike spent a morning visiting Bob Linsley, a local gallery owner and artist and high-tech business owner, who just happened to graduate high school the same year as Mike in Memphis and knew several friends in common. What a small world!

On Sunday morning, we finally took in our lines, sounded our horn and turned into the Apalachicola River for the 60-mile trip to Panama City by way of the ICW. Mostly we passed through cypress swamps.

About 4:30 pm, Linda and Fred turned right toward the marina and we turned left to anchor in Smack Bayou. The cove is a perfect anchorage with a very small entrance, well protected from all wind and waves and room for 4 or 5 SeaDream-size boats. We anchored as a dolphin family with a small baby swam near by. The evening was quiet and calm as the sun set over the bay.  If we had more time, there’s a lovely white sand beach nearby…. If only all anchorages were this nice.

Louis and Paco, Bob's dog.

Civil War launch.

Civil War chaplain and wife in camp.

Cypress swamp.

We Made It!

WEDNESDAY - As boating plans are written in sand, once again we changed plans.

Tuesday morning brought earlier-than-expected fair weather, so, rather than wait another day, we all agreed to begin crossing the Gulf. At 10:30 AM Sea Dream, following Young America, departed Clearwater, FL, into the Gulf of Mexico. Our initial destination was Panama City but, as we reached open water, the constant three foot waves just off the starboard bow were lifting us enough to slow us from 7.5 to 6 knots as we fell into their troughs. The 8 knot NE wind was pleasant, though, and the day was cool. After several hours of this tiresome ride, Fred called over the VHF, suggesting a changed heading to Apalachicola because the loss of speed meant we’d not arrive in Panama City the next evening until well after dark. Apalachicola was 8 to 10 hours closer, allowing for a late morning arrival on Wednesday. As evening came, the waves began falling, smoothing our ride and allowing more speed.  With the autopilot maintaining our course, we had a nice dinner in the salon while watching the sun set. Darkness came late with a small crescent moon hanging in the sky, watching over our two lonely boats heading NW. SeaDream’s radar kept a vigilant watch for other vessels in the total blackness. We saw only two boats heading south and a few unlite fishing boats during the night. Mike and I alternated standing watch and sleeping with Louie. Soon after sunrise we saw land and markers guiding us into the inlet channel between Dog Island and Saint George Island toward Apalachicola. The sky was cloudless with a cool breeze blowing. At 11:00 AM we side tied to the Apalachicola Municipal Wharf in the middle of town, with locals pressed to catch our lines. The passage had been about 160 miles and 25 hours nonstop. For an arrival celebration, Fred & Linda, Mike, Louis and I headed for a wonderful local lunch spot and relaxed while feasting on delicious cheeseburgers! My last memory Wednesday afternoon was falling in the bed and taking a long nap.

Mike braced on seat while underway in choppy seas.

"Young America" and "Sea Dream" at City Wharf in Apalachicola, Florida.

Wish you could smell the Jasmine!

Mike and Linda in Apalachicola.

Our favorite marine gift store in Apalachicola.

To Cross or Not To Cross???

After departing Saint Petersburg today, we traveled the inside waterway to Clearwater, FL, our jumping out point to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Panama City, FL, on the panhandle. We’ll travel about 205 miles at 7 knots, requiring about 30 hours. The weather today was beautiful with puffy clouds and low 80 degrees but the wind blew 15mph with higher gusts and the waves were 4 plus feet. This NE wind will continue tomorrow and be on our nose, making an uncomfortable journey. Sooo. . . . as sailor’s plans are written in sand, we’ll wait another day and cross on Wednesday when the waves will be lower with a light wind behind us.  Much better for an overnight passage!

Sea Dream is now anchored in a nice protected cove near the Clearwater inlet, snug and secure, a perfect place to spend our extra day resting for the Gulf crossing. We might even take the dinghy down for a little exploring.

Sunset tonight in Clearwater, Florida.

Still in Saint Petersburg and Loving It

Mike returned from his work week in Nashville soon after Rachel, Jim, Hugh & Lisa departed. He’s been back for over 2 weeks, giving us time to explore the city together. The Saint Petersburg City Municipal Marina, where SeaDream is docked, lies on the Tampa Bay side of St. Pete peninsula, in the heart of the city. There are museums, parks, restaurants, grocery stores, colleges and old neighborhoods all within walking distances. Traffic is amazingly light and sidewalks are wide and inviting. Louie loves our many walks and can even dine with us at the numerous sidewalk restaurants. It’s a very dog-friendly town.

Last weekend we attended a play in the park , taking both Louie and a picnic dinner. Perfect weather added to the fun.

With so much to do, I’ve neglected writing but will soon be documenting our trip to Mobile, then up the Tenn-Tom to Florence, AL, beginning Monday so stay tuned to our SPOT and blog for progress reports. The first day we’ll move to the Gulf side of the St. Pete peninsula to Clearwater, followed by a 20 hour overnight to either Apalachicola or Panama City, weather permitting. Hurricane season starts June 1 so we must move North. Leaving Saint Petersburg will be hard but, there’s always next winter.

Mike's Birthday! (Fish is hanging from ceiling not on his head.)

Lunch at great farmer's market on Saturday.

Green parrots in marina park.

Mike and Louis enjoying play in Marina park.

Pictures Are Better Than Words

Jarvis waiting on boat for his mother's return.

Rachel enjoying beach on last day.

Cousins Louis and Jarvis.

Full moon viewed out the helm window at the dock in St. Petersburg.

Big bird looking for fish.