February 11, Day 231 - In Marathon

We slept in this morning as the wind had changed directions and we had a calm marina – no bouncing. After breakfast we decided to explore the area by bicycle. We rode first to the 7-mile bridge. It is part of A1A and eventually ends in Key West. We next rode in the opposite direction and ended up shopping in a few stores. We found a place called Daffy Doug’s Discount Dollar. It was a dollar store, but a cut above the usual dollar store. As we were entering there was a lady that said …. This is the best store on the island. We found several items including, of course, fishing lures. Next we rode down to the local Publix Supermarket and K-mart. The K-mart here has a huge fishing section so Gerry spent quite a bit of time there and found several “must have” items. We had a quick lunch lunch in the area and then rode back to the boat.

Back at the boat Gerry tried to start cleaning up the flybridge while Linda worked on the forward cabin. We needed to get things stowed so that we have plenty of room to put our provisions for the Bahamas.

Around 4:30 one of the other Looper couples, Andrew and Sallyann stopped by to let us know that a new restaurant, the Sunset Grill, was having a grand opening. They were taking over the old Duffy’s Restaurant and tonight was their “preview” night. All drinks and food were FREE. It doesn’t get any better that that. We walked down with them and found out everything was, in fact, free. They had shrimp, clams, scallops, mahi mahi, pizza, little sandwiches and a whole lot more including delicious chocolate cherry cheesecake. In addition, we were treated to a wonderful sunset. We’ll probably have to go back for lunch as we feel kind of guilty for getting so much free food and wine.

Around 7:30 we walked back to the boat, watched a little TV and then off to bed. It is very quiet tonight … no wind … so sleeping should be great. We had a very busy and productive day.

Snapped this picture on our bike ride this morning

The 7-mile bridge

Fishermen at the point

Back at the marina, snapped a few pictures of the surroundings.

Monk's Vineyard and Gerry, working on his bike

Here's Linda's bike (without the electric battery) ready to go. You will remember that the bike fell in the water at Ft. Myers and totally ruined the battery. However, it still works fine as just a regular bike.

Sunset at the new Sunset Grill Restaurant

Here we are with Sallyann and Andrew enjoying the evening.

... and a final picture of the lower deck and fading sunset