Boating on Lemon Bay to Stump Pass

Monday we took the boat out for one last boat ride of the season.  It was a perfect boating day: warm without being hot, and sunny with occasional relief from a passing cloud.

Lemon Bay is about a 20 minute idle speed ride from the dock.  It's a nice ride, where we can look at houses and yards and all the boats and docks along the way.

Many mangrove islands dot the channel and cover more than half of the edges of Lemon Bay.

Captain Ron

That tiny fin is from one of the dolphins we saw on the bay.

One man's idea of "idle speed" - required for the vicinity of the bridges.

One of the resident pelicans watching for a fish.

Oh oh - sailboat being towed

This one took advantage of the light breeze.

So did this one

Lots of kayakers in the channel behind Stump Pass

Paddleboarders braving the wake from passing boats

Parasailing above the gulf

One of many osprey nests on an uninhabited island

The spit at Stump Pass had a lot of boats even on a Monday after the season is over.

On a calm day, we ventured out into the Gulf for a ways.

We pulled up on the beach on the bay side and then walked across to the Gulf side

Waves gently rolling in - Water Temp is up to 70 degrees already.

Casey Key Motorcycle Ride

It was another beautiful day in SW Florida, so we headed out on the motorcycle.  One of the many beautiful barrier islands along the Gulf of Mexico in SW Florida is Casey Key, about 20 miles north of our home in Englewood.

The road winds along the island with the Gulf on the west and the bay on the east side of the road.  In some places, there are homes on each side of the road, but some of the really amazing mansions sit on  one side but the property bridges the road.  The "gulf to bay" properties are the most expensive of all the very expensive real estate found along the keys.

While the homes themselves are very impressive, the gardens are truly spectacular.

Bougainvilla is a common landscaping feature, and it comes in an array of beautiful colors.

I love how the ivy is trimmed to fill the fence, with the color of the bougainvilla all around.

The poinsettias along the top of this wall give a touch of Christmas landscaping.

The pier park at the south end of Casey Key looks across at Venice Island to the south.  This is one of several openings from the intercoastal waterway on the bay side to the Gulf.

The vastness of the gulf and higher waves are visible most of the way from the road up the key.

Most docks are situated on the bay side of the island.

Manasota Key, Florida

Manasota Key, sits about half in Charlotte County and half in Sarasota County in SW Florida.  Our house in Englewood is about halfway between the southern road onto the Key and the northern road.  Today was a beautiful sunny day so we went out to the Key.  Unlike "the season" when you can barely find a standing place, let alone a parking place, the Key was nearly deserted today.

The waves were high enough to attract a few surfers, but most of the  people on the beach were collecting shells, swimming or just basking in the sun.

Here is a close up of the shells:

Great for shell seeking, not so great for barefoot beach walking.

The canopy road up the island is beautiful with lots of interesting houses and plants to view.

Many houses are "Gulf to Bay" with the house on the gulf side of the island and the dock on the bay side.  Definitely "lottery option" homes to drool over.

Now this is a fixer!

Walls of bougainvilla and palms

This looked like a Christmas Cactus plant growing up a host tree.

The plant was covered with gigantic yellow blooms.

Manasota Key - something for everyone - one of our favorite places.

Charter Fishing - Panama City, Florida

Up at dawn, knowing we had a beautiful warm sunny day ahead, heading to Panama City, Florida, about 130 miles away.  We decided to take our chances of finding a fishing charter without pre-arranging it.  Worst case scenario:  we stock up on oysters.

Most of Panama City is shut down because "the season" is over.  However, at Captain Anderson's pier, there was a line of charter fishing boats with phone numbers, so we started calling.  We met Bo, and his son, Will, who were also looking for a fishing trip, so with 6 people, we thought we could find a boat even on short notice.

We found Captain Mike just coming in from a morning charter, and made arrangements to go out at 1 p.m. local time.  It was a very good choice!  Captain Mike's Charters  

Ah, fishing again - it's been so long - for an avid fisherman like my step-dad, Dick, a day without fishing is too long.  He hasn't been fishing since they left Alaska to come to Georgia about three weeks ago.

Ron and I were just happy to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.  Bo and Will were more like Dick and Mom - happy to be fishing.

First stop - live bait barge

Captain Mike and helper, Corey, carefully counted out the "minnows" - which were each about 7-10" long 

Our catch begins to build.  Nice red snappers, mostly.  Ron caught a King Mackerel and Bo caught a big Grouper.  Mom caught the biggest snapper.  I caught one snapper and a couple of Grouper that were too small (not 18") and had to be thrown back.  I was much too busy during the fishing part to take pictures.  Good grief, this is a lot like WORK!  

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Captain Mike at the controls as we come back to port as the sun sets.