Ca d' Zan taken thru binoculars
Monday, April 8th Still windy, chop in the bay. Didn’t see any signs at Ca d’ Zan - to say we couldn’t tie up the dingy - so we did. This was Ringling’s palatial home on the bay. Walked around the home but was disappointed as it was closed due to renovations in progress.- “Will open to the public April 27”. Just our luck, but we peeked in every window possible. 
Magnificent! We then wandered around the gardens toward the circus building & discovered the Banyan Cafe. How amazing...a restaurant & we hadn’t had lunch yet. I couldn’t believe we were going to eat out again. Charming, & peaceful atmosphere. We had ½ carafe red wine. I got a luscious three-cheese quiche with fresh fruit and Wayne, a tuna sandwich & black bean soup. 
BLUE MAX anchored outside Ringling
Nice break in the day & it had just started for us. A $6 admission fee covered the self-tours of the circus exhibits and the enormous art gallery. 
Very interesting history & old displays. Emmett Kelly’s clothes, props, restored wagons and lion cages just to name a few of the memorabilia. There was a wonderful scale model of a circus tent replete with multiple show rings. A different act in each ring, 
high wire and trapeze, lion tamer, dancing bears & an audience. There was also a replica of the animal tent. My camera couldn’t do it justice. We didn’t have much time left to see everything in the art museum but it was quite extraordinary. We couldn’t begin to estimate its’ worth - he left everything to the State of Florida! We were the last people out as they locked up. Returned to the dinghy & an employee, probably a security guard, said, “so this is your boat”. We confessed. He went on and on about how we were the only ones to ever visit the museum from the water; how unsafe the dock is & that they don’t have insurance for this area....”We should proceed at our own risk”, he said. I said, “every day I wake up I proceed at my own risk”. Anchor up at 6pm & towed the dingy to downtown Sarasota near Marina Jack’s Marina. 
Only took an hour so & easy as it was still light. (love day light savings time) There was another Albin 43 anchored. My memory banks kicked in & remembered that Dan & Laurie Stone left for 
their two-week vacation on Sunday - sure enough, it was them. They invited us over for cocktails & we 'girls' made a quick decision not to cook & have dinner at Marina Jacks. Another enjoyable evening even though the boys talked boats & toilets (aka-the head) all night. Tuesday, April 9th Lazy morning. (so what else is new....this is soooooo great!) When approaching the beach at O’Leary’s bar we saw some guy waving his arms as if to tell us we can’t beach the dinghy. What the h__ _? What kind of welcome is this? There were tons of dinghies on the beach. Good grief, it was Dan! Didn’t recognize him so laid back & informal with a baseball cap on. Sat & chatted for awhile until Dan decided he wanted to take a nap. We headed for town with Molly. Bank of America employees were very kind & permitted me to receive & send a fax, even call Key West. We were still in search for photo quality glossy paper & a grocery store. No luck. Wandered down Main St. which was full of shops including a liquor store where I purchased a much needed bottle of Carlo Rossi red wine. Here it was $11, at home I get it for $7.49. At exactly 5pm we discovered a really great pet store and at exactly 5pm, they closed. The story of this whole trip! I was still searching for a sun visor for Molly and Wayne owes her a new bed because he put her bed on the deck as we were leaving Treasure Island and, woosh! The wind took it away. Poor Molly, she has no where to go when we tell her to 
“get on your couch” while we’re eating. Returned to the park/beach area where Molly was overwhelmed by the water bucket for dogs. She almost fell in and still didn’t get a drink. We ‘rested’ with a beer & wine (like we had a hectic day!) while listening to a guitarist play Jimmy Buffet & Molly tried to beg food from a neighboring table. Nice day. Wednesday, April 10th Can’t believe the trip is almost over, yet, it seems it has been a long time. I keep checking the calendar to see if I miss calculated the weeks. Decided to go ‘outside’ even though it was a bit windy & choppy. Carefully navigated through the Sarasota Pass, a little tricky, but well marked. Took us 7 ¼ hours (10:00 - 5:15) The wind abated a bit as the day progressed. Dan hailed us on the VHF 
about an hour from the Boca Grande Pass. They had just anchored at Cayo Costa. We invited them for dinner. I started cleaning the boat & prepare a pasta dinner. We were out of almost everything fresh. Laurie brought salad & rolls to make 
garlic bread. Lovely evening that ended about 11pm. Thursday, April 11th We seem to wake up about 8:30 ?? Another beautiful day in paradise. Took my coffee outside, looked down and there were hundreds of baitfish all around the boat! I quickly got my net & managed to land a few. They look like pilchards. Could I be this lucky?? I’m in the fishing capital of the world and I’ve got a steady supply of baitfish at my doorstep. They expired quickly in the bucket. (oh, to have a live well right now) Called Laurie and she was excited about going fishing. I picked her up and off to the beach to get more baitfish. Unfortunately, I was unable to lift the motor up so poor Laurie held the dingy out so the motor wouldn’t bang on the bottom while I went in search for bait. I was all over but no good bait to be found. I reluctantly settled for another type of baitfish I don’t prefer but it was better than nothing. In the meantime, two guys from Michigan came to our ‘rescue’ & managed to raise the dingy motor. Thanks, but too late, we were ready to move on. We decided to drift - I caught a small Jack. OK! At least it wasn’t the dreaded Catfish. We tried everything and moved all over the area - nothing! We decided, however, it was really great to get off the boat, have some space of our own & not have to talk about or listen to the wisdom of which toilet to use on a boat. With our tails between our legs, we returned to SLOW DANCE only to find both guys already there. Dan whipped up a Margarita for me, beer for Wayne and yummy hot dogs. It was already 4:30 - I guess that was dinner. Thick clouds around us but it only drizzled for a short time. Wanted it to be enough to wash down the boat & Laurie wanted to see if her new awnings would be sufficient. Wayne & I played scrabble until 11pm. It was probably the 
high wire and trapeze, lion tamer, dancing bears & an audience. There was also a replica of the animal tent. My camera couldn’t do it justice. We didn’t have much time left to see everything in the art museum but it was quite extraordinary. We couldn’t begin to estimate its’ worth - he left everything to the State of Florida! We were the last people out as they locked up. Returned to the dinghy & an employee, probably a security guard, said, “so this is your boat”. We confessed. He went on and on about how we were the only ones to ever visit the museum from the water; how unsafe the dock is & that they don’t have insurance for this area....”We should proceed at our own risk”, he said. I said, “every day I wake up I proceed at my own risk”. Anchor up at 6pm & towed the dingy to downtown Sarasota near Marina Jack’s Marina. 
Only took an hour so & easy as it was still light. (love day light savings time) There was another Albin 43 anchored. My memory banks kicked in & remembered that Dan & Laurie Stone left for 
their two-week vacation on Sunday - sure enough, it was them. They invited us over for cocktails & we 'girls' made a quick decision not to cook & have dinner at Marina Jacks. Another enjoyable evening even though the boys talked boats & toilets (aka-the head) all night. Tuesday, April 9th Lazy morning. (so what else is new....this is soooooo great!) When approaching the beach at O’Leary’s bar we saw some guy waving his arms as if to tell us we can’t beach the dinghy. What the h__ _? What kind of welcome is this? There were tons of dinghies on the beach. Good grief, it was Dan! Didn’t recognize him so laid back & informal with a baseball cap on. Sat & chatted for awhile until Dan decided he wanted to take a nap. We headed for town with Molly. Bank of America employees were very kind & permitted me to receive & send a fax, even call Key West. We were still in search for photo quality glossy paper & a grocery store. No luck. Wandered down Main St. which was full of shops including a liquor store where I purchased a much needed bottle of Carlo Rossi red wine. Here it was $11, at home I get it for $7.49. At exactly 5pm we discovered a really great pet store and at exactly 5pm, they closed. The story of this whole trip! I was still searching for a sun visor for Molly and Wayne owes her a new bed because he put her bed on the deck as we were leaving Treasure Island and, woosh! The wind took it away. Poor Molly, she has no where to go when we tell her to 
“get on your couch” while we’re eating. Returned to the park/beach area where Molly was overwhelmed by the water bucket for dogs. She almost fell in and still didn’t get a drink. We ‘rested’ with a beer & wine (like we had a hectic day!) while listening to a guitarist play Jimmy Buffet & Molly tried to beg food from a neighboring table. Nice day. Wednesday, April 10th Can’t believe the trip is almost over, yet, it seems it has been a long time. I keep checking the calendar to see if I miss calculated the weeks. Decided to go ‘outside’ even though it was a bit windy & choppy. Carefully navigated through the Sarasota Pass, a little tricky, but well marked. Took us 7 ¼ hours (10:00 - 5:15) The wind abated a bit as the day progressed. Dan hailed us on the VHF 
about an hour from the Boca Grande Pass. They had just anchored at Cayo Costa. We invited them for dinner. I started cleaning the boat & prepare a pasta dinner. We were out of almost everything fresh. Laurie brought salad & rolls to make 
garlic bread. Lovely evening that ended about 11pm. Thursday, April 11th We seem to wake up about 8:30 ?? Another beautiful day in paradise. Took my coffee outside, looked down and there were hundreds of baitfish all around the boat! I quickly got my net & managed to land a few. They look like pilchards. Could I be this lucky?? I’m in the fishing capital of the world and I’ve got a steady supply of baitfish at my doorstep. They expired quickly in the bucket. (oh, to have a live well right now) Called Laurie and she was excited about going fishing. I picked her up and off to the beach to get more baitfish. Unfortunately, I was unable to lift the motor up so poor Laurie held the dingy out so the motor wouldn’t bang on the bottom while I went in search for bait. I was all over but no good bait to be found. I reluctantly settled for another type of baitfish I don’t prefer but it was better than nothing. In the meantime, two guys from Michigan came to our ‘rescue’ & managed to raise the dingy motor. Thanks, but too late, we were ready to move on. We decided to drift - I caught a small Jack. OK! At least it wasn’t the dreaded Catfish. We tried everything and moved all over the area - nothing! We decided, however, it was really great to get off the boat, have some space of our own & not have to talk about or listen to the wisdom of which toilet to use on a boat. With our tails between our legs, we returned to SLOW DANCE only to find both guys already there. Dan whipped up a Margarita for me, beer for Wayne and yummy hot dogs. It was already 4:30 - I guess that was dinner. Thick clouds around us but it only drizzled for a short time. Wanted it to be enough to wash down the boat & Laurie wanted to see if her new awnings would be sufficient. Wayne & I played scrabble until 11pm. It was probably the 
Eagle in flight
quick, cursory tour of Cayo Costa Park & took the dink into a narrow channel to watch some manatees play. It was tough to get pictures. We were back on the boat by 5:00. It was a tense day to say the least. A squall came through. (kinda like our day together) Only good thing is that it washed the boat. Saturday, April 13th I was awake most of the night in & out of the bathroom. My mind wouldn’t shut off. Unusual for me. Opened some hatches and windows, took a Bentyl. Finally fell asleep but have no idea what time it was. I woke up about 9am but still very tired. Finally got comfortable without back and butt pain & finally fell asleep. Was wakened by the toilet flushing, not once, but twice. Then Wayne started puttzing around on the aft deck which, by the way, is directly over the bed. It was almost 10:00, & even though I didn’t appreciate the way in which I was aroused, it was time to get up. Poured myself some coffee & he was putting the dinghy on the boat. Guess we were leaving. Would have been nice to be consulted about the plans. (can you tell how cranky I am?) Said our good byes to Dan & Laurie who decided to stay & fish...said I gave them the fishing bug. Good for them!!
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