12 December 2025 - Friday
The art group I was introduced to by folks attending art at the library on Tuesdays met at Irie Eats today.
Old trucks and cars adorn the parking lot. If interested, I believe the cars may still be for sale as they were last year.
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| Smoker on left of picture by the side of the bike path |
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| "Feelin' Irie Yet?" |
"Irie Eats" has an interesting décor / vibe. As the sign says, its presentation is in the style of the Florida Keys Islands. After fighting through the jungle-like foliage at the entrance, one finds a place to sit at a picnic table under palm trees to dine. Food is ordered at the counter, and if cooked to order, brought out to the picnic table for eating. A display case offers delectable treats of the dessert variety.
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| Chicken joining our table for brunch |
As Christmas approaches, less folks are available for arts and crafts as they have family visiting, etc. Today only three of us attended the art at Irie Eats. My two friends both ordered Banana French Toast with hot chocolate as a brunch-type meal. I decided to be totally decadent and got a Chocolate / Coconut Lava Cake. Amazing!
I brought my colored pencils as they are easy to work with and made a holiday card for no one in particular.
I got back to the boat (btw the bicycle tire is holding air now) around 1:00, and just in time to see our friends Robin and Del arrive on their boat "Avalon". Clark ran over to greet them at their dock. I decided just to walk to the bow of our boat to say hello as they passed by us on the way to their slip. My neighbor, Deanne, did the same and we yelled hellos as they came by.
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| "Avalon" coming into Marlin Bay Outer Basin with Robin on the bow and Del at helm. |
Later, since it was a nice day, Clark and I decided to walk the docks to check out the various boats in the marina and remind ourselves who was on each boat. Remembering names and matching names to boats is challenging. As we were a little confused on some, we stopped and quizzed the dockhand, Steve, about who was on what to clarify those areas where we had confusion. As more and more boaters come in, it becomes more and more challenging.
After our walking tour of the docks, we walked upstairs in the marina building to take a look at the jigsaw puzzle. I saw no progress since my last glimpse, so I sat down and started looking for pieces to put together. I only planned to be there for a short time, but soon after we got there our friends on "Heart of Gold" came in to play pool. While I continued working on the puzzle, Clark got an education in how to play 8-ball pool.
By the time we left the pool / puzzle room, it was time for Trivia at the pool bar, so we decided to join in. Today was music trivia, and I was convinced that Clark would do well. However, for the first game which was multiple choice, Clark was too busy talking to Pete sitting next to him to pay attention to the questions. The second game was ridiculous where the answer had to be typed in at record speed and an answer of "Rolling Stones" was incorrect because it should be "The Rolling Stones". Give me a break! We decided not to stay for a third round.
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| Trivia at the Latitudes Pool Bar |
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| Boaters at the bar for trivia Heidi tending bar |
13 December 2025
Today the Marathon boat parade through Boot Key Harbor was scheduled for the evening. Having to bike a distance in the dark, Clark and I had discussed where we should go to see it. Some folks mentioned Burdines as an option. Docksides is popular and close to the judging platform with the added advantage of having our friend "Johnny Live" performing during the parade.
Unfortunately, Clark checked the weather and said it would be a washout when the parade was supposed to be happening. We decided we would wait until later in the day to see how the forecast looked before making any real plans.
Meanwhile, I decided I needed a trip to Walgreens / Publix to pick up some items. As the weather was perfect in the morning, we biked down to grab the few bits I needed. On the way back to the boat, I had to yell for Clark to stop. I told him it felt like my bike was shifting gears on its own.
With one look, Clark noticed that my chain had dropped off the shifting mechanism. Fortunately, he knew what needed to be done to fix it real time. He had me back in business in no time and reminded me that I have to be pedaling when I shift gears.
Later in the day, Clark had his own bike problems. Two of the spokes on the front tire of his bike broke. They were in close proximity to each other and the tire was warped as a result. Fortunately, we have a package of spare spokes on the boat, so he deflated his tire, replaced the broken spokes, and re-inflated the tire. He decided he needs to get a new wheel for his bike.
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| Clark working on his bike |
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| Broken spokes |
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| Short in length for our tiny tires |
As the day progressed, the weather looked worse and worse and by the time the boat parade was supposed to start, it was full on rainstorm with lightning and thunder. We had wisely written off attending as a really bad idea earlier in the day. Instead we ate dinner by candlelight and watched Christmas movies. We later learned from "Johnny Live" that the parade did occur in the thunderstorm. Nine boats participated. John said even with the plastic panels down at Docksides, the rain came inside. He had trouble keeping his equipment dry.
Today the elves decided to add Mentos to coke to watch the "explosion" and got a surprise result.
14 December 2025
Today, being Sunday, we started the day with a trip to St. Columba church for the Contemporary service. Clark has his guitar in a bag with shoulder straps for the bike ride to the church.
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| Pastor Deb is energetic and inspiring |
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| John on Keyboard |
The contemporary service ends around noon. Today we left the church close to 1:30 as we spent a lot of time socializing after services over lunch.
It has been interesting to see the Christmas bazaar from beginning to end. The items for sale have shrunk considerably from "nowhere to put another thing on a table, on the floor, or down the hallway" to "just a couple of partially covered tables".
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| Getting back to normal we had places to sit and eat today |
After that are the Christmas Eve and Christmas services. Then, in January, the big fundraising event happens. The folks in charge work on this event all year long contacting performers and sponsors to make it all happen.
We got most of the way back to the marina with me following Clark. Suddenly he turned around to head back towards me. He had forgotten his guitar and had to go back for it. I continued back to the boat figuring he can move faster than I can. Even though he had to backtrack, get the guitar, and then come to the boat, I only managed to beat him back on board by about 5 minutes.
Back on the boat, I sat down to work on the blog while Clark jumped on his computer to take care of business. As I worked on the blog, I realized that I had not stopped by the Club House to see what mischief Reed and Marley were up to. I convinced Clark that we needed to take a walk. We found the duo playing Jenga with Marley's arm trapped in the tower.
We chatted with the Concierge Grace for a while discussing ideas for Marley and Reef mischief. On the way back to the boat, as we came upon the docks, Clark suggested we walk to the west side of the inner basin. It was getting close to sunset, so that made sense.
When we got out there, we found some boaters chatting over docktales and ended up joining them.
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| Steve & Ronnie Evie & George Ev & (Clark taking picture) Carol & Ed |
We stayed to see the sunset
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| Interesting cloud formations |
Finally, I decided that supper would not cook itself, so it was time to leave. Meanwhile, Clark was only wearing a t-shirt and was "freezing", so he was ready to leave as well. It was a mystery as far as what I would be making for dinner since everything I could think of was frozen solid. However, when I got back to the boat, I found enough quick-cook foods to put together a tasty stir-fry.
We ate our dinner by candlelight while watching a movie on television.
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