Saturday, February 9, 2019
Before leaving the Gulf Coast, we got lucky with some beautiful weather and were able to take the dinghy over to Cabbage Key for an afternoon. It's a small island, accessible only by boat, with a popular restaurant, a small inn, and a few quaint rental cottages. The current owners take a lot of pride in maintaining the island as a natural and pristinely beautiful place ("Old Florida"). There is about a mile of nature trails and the world renown "Dollar Bill Bar" where we had lunch. It has been rumored that Jimmy Buffett wrote his famous song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" here (unconfirmed), but he certainly did frequent the island in the 70's and 80's. And Mark said his cheeseburger was really good, so maybe it is true....
 |
| Cabbage Key/Island is in the middle of the map |
 |
| Very charming place! |
 |
| Preserved to remain like "Old Florida" |
 |
| A little swampy in spots |
 |
| With a tropical feel in places |
 |
| The "Dollar Bill Bar" on Cabbage Key (total of about $70,000 hanging!!!) |
I had to say a fond farewell to Cayo Costa, at least for this trip. It remains my favorite Gulf Coast spot, although we have certainly found some other amazing places as well.
 |
| Some unusual marine life at low tide |
 |
Peaceful beaches of Cayo Costa with incredible shelling.
It seems that fragile shells are protected by seaweed, so it's a great place to look! |
We stopped by Fort Myers Beach to get some fuel before heading inland and back across Florida. There are a total of 5 locks to traverse, raising and then lowering boats a total of about 12 feet along the way. Most of central Florida appears quite rural or agricultural, and much of it seems to as yet be undeveloped.
 |
| Shrimp boats tied up in Fort Myers |
 |
| Fuel dock at an old ice-making plant: we needed 487 gallons of diesel - yikes! |
The first night heading east was spent anchored in a cute little town called LaBelle. They actually have a free dock for passing boaters, but we couldn't confirm it was deep enough for us (so we opted to anchor out). A little ice cream shop in town was still open (which always makes Mark happy) and a quick trip to their small grocery store allowed us to stock up on a few essentials.
 |
| LaBelle, FL - small town just east of Lake Okeechobee. Great place to stop! |
 |
| LaBelle anchorage sunset/twilight |
 |
| A peaceful morning ride eastward from LaBelle |
We have crossed Lake Okeechobee a total of 3 times now, and I have to say that it is a huge, quiet, shallow, haunting and just plain ultra-creepy lake. Every effort was made to photograph the alligators, but they were quite camera shy unfortunately (so we got lots of pictures of ripples in the water).
 |
| A gray day on Lake Okeechobee - got a few sprinkles but not wind, thank goodness |
 |
| The clouds were starting to break up once we had nearly crossed the lake |
 |
| Quiet place to tie up just past the Port Mayaca Lock |
 |
| The scenery still looks like Central Florida! |
The final lock eastbound is the St. Lucie Lock, and it dropped us about 10 feet. One side of the lock exit gate was not working and could not be opened. So Mark had to maneuver the boat through an opening 22 feet wide (Oceanus's beam is 16 feet), but of course that wasn't a problem for him! : )
 |
| St. Lucie Lock - a 10 foot drop and one gate/door wasn't operational! |
We made it to Stuart, FL this afternoon and are anchored off the city but have dinghy access to all the necessities (like grass for Thug and ice cream shops for Mark). We may stay here a day or two, as some windy weather is predicted - but it seems like a pretty fun city from what we've seen so far. We're only about 35 miles from West Palm Beach and have 3 days to get there, so there is room in our schedule to be tourists for a bit. Stay tuned for the next blog to hear more about Stuart, West Palm Beach and the journey in between them!
BONUS SECTION:
As you've probably realized if you've been reading the blogs, I have gotten quite into collecting sea shells from the Gulf Coast. The beaches we have been lucky enough to visit have been loaded with beautiful shells of many different varieties (each beach seems to have a "specialty"). The shells are in such amazing shape, at least compared to the beaches I've been to on the East Coast. After filling up up several large containers of shells, I started focusing on finding the smallest shell of each type that I could find. This only added to my fun, and I now have quite the collection of miniatures (although I kept having the song "Baby Shark" running thru my head with the words "Baby Shell" instead when I'd find any - arghhhh).
Walking the beaches for hours on end, day after day, did not get the least bit tiring or boring, and I finally realized the reason. Beach combing, at least for me, is a way to engage in complete and total mindfulness, with a bonus of getting cool things to collect for free. I found it to be immensely relaxing and fun, and I'm already looking forward to checking out the shell situation in the Bahamas!
 |
| An example of my miniature shell collection |
 |
| More from the miniature assortment |
 |
Examples of the more rare and fragile finds:
Angel Wings, Pear Whelk, Scotch Bonnet, Shark's Eye, and Common Fig |
 |
| Various Whelks and Florida Fighting Conks |
 |
| More delicate finds |
 |
| Scallop shells - beautiful colors! |
 |
| Corals, Olive shells, and Turkey Wings |
 |
| More Whelks and Conks of various sizes |
 |
| Various kinds of clam-type shells |
Thug sends his regards - thanks so much for joining us again. Take care, y'all!!!
