November 29, Day 169 – At Crooked Island in St. Andrews Sound

Today we woke to beautiful sunny skies and calm winds. It was gorgeous. After a leisurely breakfast we went for a long dinghy ride to the east end of Crooked Island. Gerry fished on both the Gulf side and the St. Andrews Sound side (nope, didn’t catch anything, but did lose some bait) while Linda walked the beach picking up shells. The temperature was perfect and the scenery was like what you see in travel guides. Around noon we went back to the boat for a quick lunch. Then we took beach chairs, a box of Sangria, a book, fishing gear and a shrimp casting net out to the beach where we were anchored. Gerry practiced his casting (see pictures below), Linda again walked the beach, watched the waves as they hit the shore and finished reading her book.

Just before 4:00 we went back to the boat to pick up food for tonight’s weenie roast on the beach. The gang on all 3 boats (Monk’s Vineyard, Second Star and Emotion III) had happy hour sitting in chairs on the beach watching the sunset. It truly doesn’t get any better than this. After sunset, we built a campfire and roasted hot dogs and set off the fireworks that Michael (Second Star) had bought earlier. It was truly a memorable evening. We’d rate it in the top five of the best of the trip (so far anyway).

Getting ready for the day

Gerry practicing his net casting .... this one was not so good

This one was better

The 3 boats in the anchorage

Miles of white sand

Interesting driftwood and trees all along the beach

Footprints in the sand .. just couldn't resist taking a picture of my wanderings

Very crowded beach .... us and the bird. By the way, there is only fine white sand on the beach. All the bumps and the stuff that looks like rocks are all shells.

Getting ready for the evening activities

Linda enjoying the view

The sun was dropping in the sky casting long shadows on the island

Michel snapped a picture of us as we started off in the dinghy on our way to the campfire and weenie roast

Here's the other dinghies at the beach as everyone made their way to the campfire

Setting up for the campfire

Carole loves to take pictures .... Smile everyone

We all have a front row seat for the show that is about to start

Let the show begin .... compliments of Mother Nature

Michel takes a moment for a quiet walk along the beach

A rising moon. While it wasn't a full moon it was big enough to really light up the night.

A brilliant sunset with all of us in silhoutte

Pink clouds were everywhere as the sun set

Another shot of the sunset

Sitting around the campfire

Roasted hotdogs .... truly a gourmet meal ... and the ambiance got 5 stars ! ! ! It had been a day (and night) to remember