Boating with Sunset Delight: Florida: Marathon

Day 218

The north wind is still howling bringing a distinct chill to the air. Even so I decided that shorts and a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt made the best attire for our planned bike trip today.

A few days ago when we saw that Valentine's Day was approaching, Clark asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate the event. We talked about going out to dinner, but I hate to dine out on days when everyone feels obligated to do so such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. The restaurants are unpleasantly crowded. Since Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year that meant that we could expect crowded restaurants every night this weekend. While trying to decide what we should do, I happened to ask Jane from Jammin Jane their plans for Valentine's Day, and as a result we got an invitation to dine with them on their boat.

Since today was St. Valentine's Day and our planned boater's dinner was a BYO Steak and side dishes menu, we needed to make a trip to the food store. First, however, Clark listened to the Marathon Boater's Network at 9:00 on the VHF Radio channel 68. While he was doing that, I got wrapped up in my latest novel. Next thing I knew it was lunch time.

Right after lunch, we pulled the bikes out and pedaled our way down to Walgreen's and Publix and then crossed over and hit the farmer's market. Our backpacks were full and heavy as we made our way back to the boat. While at the farmer's market, Clark decided that we should buy a pineapple for tonight's dinner.

We bought it and then realized there was no way it was going to fit in either backpack. I ended up putting it in a separate bag and somewhat balancing it on the back of my bike (tied on of course). I only had to stop once to make an adjustment when it fell off of its perch and was banging my foot on the pedal as I biked along the pathway. Otherwise, it worked out fine but I biked back to the boat a bit slower than usual especially over the bumps in the pavement.

Since we had so much stuff filling our bags, we biked back to the boat, dumped our load, and went back out towards the stores one more time. Clark had heard on the boater's network discussion that we could get a "Welcome to Marathon" package for boaters at the Marathon Municipal Marina, so we went to see what they were giving away. I got a nice thermal-lined and zippered reusable shopping bag to add to my already abundant collection. I just cannot seem to get enough reusable bags! I truly love them for shopping and hate the plastic nonsense they give out in stores.

Biking today, even though the terrain is basically flat, was not easy. That wind!! I had to fight it every step of the way to get to the stores. Going back to the boat was a lot easier with the wind pushing.

By the time we completed our errands and put away the food purchases, it was approaching 4:00. Since our friend who had been hit by the truck was out of hospital and staying at the hotel associated with our marina, we wanted to visit her. While we were there, Ken and Jo from Friar Tuck came by to visit her as well.

Visiting Susan Gunning from Nuclear Fishin' in her hotel room

Susan was doing amazingly well. We were all pleasantly surprised by how normal she acted. I still cannot help but think that I would be an emotional wreck feeling sorry for myself. She is one strong person for sure.

I had set a goal of leaving around 5:00 to have time to prepare our food for tonight's joint dinner. We ended up leaving at 5:30. When I got back to the boat, I had to hustle to get my potatoes, veggies, and pineapple prepared for 6:00. I asked Clark not to go to docktails tonight so I could solicit his assistance when it came time to walk over with the food. As I finished my side dishes, I sent him over to the other boat with our steaks to be cooked there.

Dinner was a great success. The venue changed to Not Sew Easy to accommodate seating eight people for dinner. For the joint meal, I contributed potatoes and broccoli, Jane from Jammin Jane made baked sweet potatoes that were heavenly as well as asparagus, and Bob and Liz from Not Sew Easy made rice and deviled eggs that were addicting. Bob grilled his, Liz's, and our steaks on his boat, and Ben grilled steaks on his boat for Jane and him as well as his friends that are visiting. Everything was delicious and I ended up feeling quite stuffed. I definitely ate more than I should have.