Wednesday, June 5
As we needed to take on fuel and Langs didn't open until 0800, we had no reason to arise early.  Nat, the harbour master guided us in to the fuel dock and we took on 100 gallons of gas.  We were underway by 0850.  At 0900 it was 97 degrees on the flybridge. Cloudy, hot and muggy.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We were on the ICW all day.  I was at the helm when we drove by Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.  The path was very curvy and took us very close to the base.  There was a small boat positioned at what appeared to be the entrance into the base.  Joe and I called him the gate guard.  As we got close, an error message came up on the chart plotter "radar overlay invalid".  I said to Joe "Look, Joe, they're jamming our radar signal....sneaky, huh?"  Sure enough, as we were equally past their entrance, the radar mysteriously began working again.  About this time both Joe and I smelled gasoline.  Since we had just taken on fuel, Joe checked over the sides to make sure nothing was leaking.  He determined that all was well and eventually we quit smelling gas.  About 10 minutes later, Tim comes back to the flybridge and we're all visiting.  "What have you been doing, Tim?"  "Well, I just replaced the thermostat on the starboard engine and also put the new fuel -flow sensor on."  The light comes on for both Joe and me.  "So, that's why we were smelling gasoline?"  "Hey Tim, the Naval base jammed our radar signal when we went by!!"  He grins and says "Oh yeah? I suppose me disconnecting the network cable when I installed the fuel-flow sensor had nothing to do with it?!"  Burst my conspiracy-theorist bubble.....

Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base

We had a couple heavy rain periods (surprise, surprise) and according to the forecast, rain may last all week.  At least we're out of the Gulf.  My friend Debbie texted me earlier about tropical storm Andrea.  Our friend Tom is supposed to be aboard a sail boat from Fort Lauderdale, around the Keys and back up to Tampa right now.  Hope all is well...  And, we are hoping Andrea leaves us alone.  Joe is right now looking online and it doesn't look good.  As Tim would say..."We're doomed!"
It took us all day to get from one end of Cumberland Island to the other, and it's only 17 miles long.  Like I said earlier, the ICW was S-curves all day.  Years ago, the island belonged to a woman who raised horses.  In her will, she left the island to the State of GA for a nature preserve with the stipulation that the horses would remain and be cared for.  Today, there are many wild horses living on the island.  We saw one on a beach and a few others closer to the woods. 
Just before reaching our destination for the day, we had to pass Jekyll Island.  The channel next to the island was very narrow and VERY shallow.  Of course it didn't help matters that it was low tide, but at one point the depth finder displayed 2.7'.  Yeah, I know!  We have an additional 2' 10" under that, so we were OK.  At a couple of places the mud along the shoreline was higher than the water.  Joe took a couple of pictures of the muddy bank.

Narrow, shallow channel

We survived the shallow water and made it to Morningstar marina, St. Simons Island, GA.  We are tied up on the outer dock and we've been rocking since we tied up.  Should make for interesting sleeping tonight....See you next time.

Taken at dinner.  More salmon...yum...

Rainbow last night at Langs Marina.

Tuesday, June 4
Awoke around 0630 to warm, muggy weather with a light fog.  Got underway a little after 0700.  Tim has developed a DAILY BRIEFING form which contains pertinent information such as:
Departure Time, ETA, Weather, Tide/Current, Water/Fuel/Pumpout status, Destination, Name/Phone number/Channel marker, Food plan, and Items of Interest.  He prepared the first one the night before so both Joe and I feel "well-informed" this day :). Today's destination is St Marys, GA, approximately 35 miles and the majority of the route is in the North Atlantic ocean.  Fun day at sea!! (I failed to mention that St Mary's is the 2nd oldest city in America. St Augustine being the 1st.)

Passed this container ship. Big guy.

It was a relatively uneventul day.  The seas were projected to be 1.7' and the forecast was accurate.  Tim always says that we bring rain wherever we go. Well, today that was accurate. At least, late in the day.  We had to zip up the eisenglass and when it's 85+ degrees out, it makes for a pretty hot flybridge.  Have to protect the electronics though.

All that red stuff....yep....rain......

 There were several times when we saw lots of porpoise schooling.  I mean, lots...like 15-20. It was pretty special. Around lunchtime the Captain decided to head towards shore, anchor and take a swim.  We anchored offshore about 1/8 of a mile and both Tim and Joe took a dip.  The water temperature is still mid to upper 70s.  The Captain prefers much warmer than this, but not much we can do about it, right? I didn't get any pictures during this little break :(
In order to get into St Marys, we had to navigate in on the St Marys river inlet.  This required us to head further away from shore several channel markers before heading back in, in order to avoid the channel jetty.  The tide was headed out and it was amazing to see the brown water from the river right next to the blue/green water of the Atlantic.  I only hope the picture reflects the 'break' in color.  It's as if there was an imaginary dam separating the two.  This inlet is 45+' deep in order to accomodate the submarines that are stationed at Kings Bay Naval Base.  We keep hoping that we'll see one underway.  Not today, but maybe tomorrow when we leave (fingers crossed).

River water in foreground, ocean water in back and impending storm in the distance.

Once we arrived at Lang's East Marina, we took a walk into town.  The marina didn't have laundry facilities, but the local 'General Store' had a washer and dryer right on the display floor, for use. 

The General Store (laundrymat)

We started some laundry, bought some ice cream cones and headed down to the Submarine Museum.  It's a 2 story building containing some interesting facts and artifacts from the past and present.  Upstairs, along with more memorabilia, they run a short video describing past and present operations.  We watched until I knew the clothes needed to go in the dryer.  Had 45 minutes of dryer time to kill, so decided to go have a bite at the Riverview Cafe.  They had an eclectic menu (Tim's favorite :)) and we all found something we liked.  Food was great.  Greek owner was loud.  We didn't linger, as the clothes were dry and we didn't want the store to close!  Given a little more time, it would be fun to break out the bikes and ride around this little town.  Seems like we're back on our sundown/bedtime schedule.  We hope to get half way to Savannah tomorrow, probably on the inside (ICW).


Tim at a working periscope. 42' tall. We could see JULI-IV!

My turn. Pretty neat.


Watching submarine video.

Oh, this picture is for Aletha's cousin.  I can't explain it, but I'm sure it will send the right message. :)

Sunday, June 2
We are back in Jacksonville. Just can't seem to stay away from JULI-IV!! This leg will last a little over 2 weeks, and where we end up is unknown. We only know we need to be away from hurricane alley.
While we were back in KC we were able to spend a couple of weekends at Lake Perry visiting with good friends we hadn't seen in awhile.  Great to see everyone!! Even took Elisha for his first boat ride, at 5 weeks old! He stayed in the salon with Grandma while Jeremiah and Papa drove the boat, from the flybridge. Jeremiah's biggest thrill was being able to honk the horn at Joe, who was sitting on the end of D-dock.

Elisha's first boat ride on Calypso II

Six weeks old and smiling.

Jeremy, Jeremiah and Pam the night before we left.

Some airport advice:
Tim wanted to book the 05:15 flight. I frowned. We ended up booking an 11:50 flight. Tim and I drove Joe's new van (which he purchased from Grandma June) and another car to his house, so we didn't have to bother Jeremy on Sunday.  Joe's son, Jeremiah, drove us to the airport and will pick us up when we return.  Thanks Jeremiah!  Off we go with a layover in Atlanta.  Due to bad weather down south, not only was our arrival in Atlanta delayed, our departure even longer.  We had to fly down to AL to avoid a storm, on the way into Atlanta.  What was to be a 2 hour layover turned into a 6 hour layover. It wasn't really a big deal for us, but poor Aletha, who agreed to pick us up and deliver us to the marina, had to wait, and wait, and wait.  So, what does one do while waiting to depart.  Self-entertain.  Tim's version of this was to criticize WHERE people were standing and HOW they chose to place their bags on the seat next to them, eliminating a place for another person to sit. Something about using a cattle prod or tazer...You get the picture.... Joe's version of self-entertainment was to people watch.  My version was watching the two of them.  In the picture below, Joe is imitating what his daughter, Alahora, used to do when she was 2 years old. It has now become something that we all do :(  Apparently when she was little and her parents were telling her something she didn't want to hear, she would point her elbow at them.  Funny.

"I'm not listening to either one of you."

We finally landed in Jacksonville at about 10:25 and arrived at the boat around 11:30.  THANK YOU ALETHA!!
Once we turned the AC on, it cooled off enough to go to bed.  Must have been 12:30 or so.

Monday, June 3
We slept in until 0700.  Nothing on the agenda that required us to arise any sooner.  We needed to get the barnacles scraped off the boat, install a new thermostat, take Aletha to lunch and beg her to take us to the grocery store.  While we were back in KC, my brother Dave told me about a couple of folding bikes that were for sale in North Fort Myers, his winter home.  Someone who lived in his community had sold his sail boat and still had the bikes.  Joe and Tim and I had previously talked about the pros and cons of having a couple of bikes. Long story short, Bob, Dave's FL neighbor went over and checked out the boats, stored them in Dave's garage and ultimately took them to the FL UPS store to ship them to Aletha.  When she picked us up at the airport, the 2 boxes were in the back of the car for us. Since they were purchased sight-unseen I was all excited about getting them out and taking one for a test drive.  The guys helped me get one put together and off I went.  Really nice bikes and we got them for a great price!!  They will come in handy for sure.  Thanks to Bob and Dave! 

We have 2 of these! Really nice bikes!

When I got back from my bike ride, Joe was in the water scraping barnacles off the boat.  Since I was hot and sweaty from my ride, I decided to put on my suit and join him.  We were both working on the back of the boat when he hollers "Whoa! A jellyfish!".  Well, all of the sudden I was cool enough and out of the water I went.  Tim joined Joe and they not only debarnacled the boat, but also removed/washed off the mustache that was on the bow hull.  Tim and I rode the bikes a few blocks to a Fresh Market and picked up a few items.  Most importantly was ice for the cooler.  I don't remember if I mentioned last time that the place we're staying is not really a public marina, so facilities are nil.

Off we go to the Fresh Market.

Aletha agreed to join us for lunch, as well as Jesse, a friend of Tim's/Aletha's.  We had a great lunch a couple blocks from South Beach. Joe and I had grilled salmon. Delicious!  After lunch, Aletha gratiously took us by Winn Dixie to get the groceries that we couldn't haul back on the bikes.  Thanks again.

Our buddy, Aletha. I asked her how to spell chauffeur and she said "D-R-I-V-E-R". Funny girl!!

Tomorrow we head north for parts unknown.  I think the plan now is to go 'outside' for 30+ miles.  We're not really sure where JULI-IV will end up this trip, but needs to be out of harms way.
Thanks for tagging along. :)

Tuesday, May 14
Awoke a little after 0700.  Before we head up north we needed to pump out our holding tanks.  The marina didn't open until 0700 so no since in getting in a hurry, right?  Went through our normal 'departing the marina' functions and headed over to the gas dock, where the pump out station was.  Told the marina employee what we needed, to which he replied, 'Pump out's broken. Won't be fixed for a couple of hours.'  So, we gave him our access keys (restrooms, showers, etc) and headed north.  We MUST pump out tomorrow!!! This is getting serious :(-----<
Remember the other day when I mentioned that we saw some flamingos?  Well, I was wrong.  They were Roseate Spoonbills.  I pulled a picture from online for you to see.
Our trip today is only 30 miles.  We're headed to Harbour Town Marina, which consists of private slips owned by the condominium owners located there.  We were able to 'rent' space from an owner at a rate about half of what any place around there charged. Tim found out about it through an online group (Active Captain) that he belongs to, which has proven to be useful on many occasions.  Once we arrived and got the boat tied up, Joe and I washed it, relaxed a little, ate dinner, and prepared for our departure back to KC the next day.

A look at low tide.

I'm on a boat!

 

Roseate Spoonbill

Wednesday, May 15

In dire need of a pump out, we headed back south about 3 miles to the nearest servicing facility.  Whew! That was close. Joe did the honors and Tim took on 40 gallons of fuel.  Afterward, we headed back to Harbour Town and got ready to depart.  I fixed breakfast, using most of the perishable items in the refrigerator.  The guys took the water pump on the port engine apart to check out the impeller, among other things.  That engine has been running a little hotter than normal the past several days, so it needed to be checked out.  The pump was OK. Turns out it needs a new thermostat. Tim's going to buy 2 while we're home.  I cleaned out the refrigerator and Joe made a final trash run.  Cleaned the heads, vacuumed the rugs and locked things up for a couple of weeks. Just before we left, Joe spotted the MetLife blimp flying overhead. Tim's friend, Aletha volunteered to pick us up and drive us to the airport.  THANK YOU ALETHA!! Our trip home was uneventful. Well, almost.  When we were getting ready to land in Nashville, for our layover, we were approximately 500' from the runway when, all of a sudden, the plane accelerates and begins to climb.  Tim and I exchanged glances (Joe was in the row in front of us) as Tim says, 'he's pulling it up'.  The flight attended came on the intercom and said 'it's OK'.  A few minutes later, the Captain said 'This is the Captain. As you can see, we've had to circle around. There was a plane on the runway that wasn't talking to the tower. I'll have you on the ground in about 3 minutes. Sorry for the delay.' Hmmmm? While we were waiting to deplane, Joe said 'Well, that's never happened to me before'. :)

We're home for a little while. Thanks for tagging along!! See you back here soon.

 

At the pump out facility.

MetLife blimp

The 'crew'

Saturday, May 11
Saturday was spent entirely on the ICW, attempting to avoid crazy, weekend boaters.  We saw quite a few more dolphins. Hadn't seen many since leaving the Keys. Also, saw and avoided a few Manatees swimming alongside the channel.  We travelled through an area known for its waterfowl, alligators and bugs.  Didn't see any alligators, but did see a few pink flamingos on an island with a ton of white heron. Took a picture, but was too far away to see them.
A dilemma we have is adequate picture taking. Our smart phones are so handy and fit nicely into our pockets, the cupholders on the bridge, etc., but they have limited X-zoom capability. A decent camera doesn't fit into these spaces as well and is usually unavailable (ie, stored below so not to get damaged, etc).  So, we deal with rather low quality photos. Sorry.
As it was Saturday, there were lots of boaters. As mentioned before, we are one of a very few who actually following proper boating procedures and etiquette (at least, in our opinion).  So, it was a day of additional stress watching out for the other guy. We did listen to a medical emergency on the VHF radio involving a gentleman with chest pains and the Coast Guard following the 'checklist', asking the required questions and taking the required actions. Last we heard, the gentleman was improving and being escorted inland by a Coast Guard vessel.
We stopped for the night at South Daytona Beach.  The marina was 3 blocks from the beach, so we walked over there (in the 90+ weather) and dipped our toes in the ocean.  I was amazed at how compact/firm the beach was.  North of where we were there were motor vehicles on the beach.  On the way back, we stopped long enough for Joe to participate in the ObamaCare Program.  You will see the before and after pictures.
There is a restaurant located at the marina, named Boondocks.  It is a down-to-earth place, no frills. In fact it's picnic tables, long bars, lots of people and a fantastic wait staff.  On our way back from the beach we stopped in for iced tea and adult beverages because, remember, it was 90+!  There were a few people eating a late lunch.  After looking at the menu we decided to come back for dinner.  Well, at 7pm that night the place was hopping and we had a 45 minute wait.  So, off to the bar we went for more iced tea and adult beverages.  It took us awhile to get 3 stools together and once we did we decided to eat right at the bar instead of waiting for a table in the other room.  It was obvious to us that this was a favorite place to eat/hang out on Saturday night.  Lots of locals there.  After our good meal we ventured back to the boat and watched a little TV before calling it a night.

Daytona Beach

 

Boondocks

Before ObamaCare

After ObamaCare

Sunday, May 12
St Augustine is the home of Col(R) John and Sam Moors. You met them in Key West. Since there was nothing on our agenda for Sunday morning, we slept in and had a lazy morning.  John came to pick us up mid-afternoon and we headed to his house for a really nice afternoon/evening.  John and Sam live in a very nice home that John and his son Joe have made many, many enhancements to. Joe is a carpenter and does some very nice cabinetry, etc.  As is typical in FL, they live on the 2nd floor.  The bottom floor was used for storage until about 14 years ago, when they enclosed it and made it a basement apartment for Sam's mother and father, Fran and Joe.  They have lived with them ever since and they share everything, including meals.  This evening Joe, Sam and Fran cooked shrimp fettuccini with broccoli, corn, cucumber salad, orange pineapple jello and ice cream for dessert. It was delicious. They are very good hosts and it is amazing to see the 4 of them work together.  A well-oiled machine.  Wonderful!  It was a good day.

Our wonderful dinner.

From left to right, John, Tim, Joe, Sam, Fran, Joe and me

Monday, May 13
John insisted that he deliver one of his vehicles to us so we would have transportation for the day.  Originally he wanted to give it to us Sunday night, but the marina we're staying out is right down town and parking is limited.  Also his truck is a Dodge 3500 quad-cab dually.  We slept in, fixed pancakes and did a little laundry. Shortly after, along came Sam and John to drop off their truck for us.  We took a little ride and did a little shopping, stocking up on staples for the boat.  We were to meet Jesse and Kay Kinghorn and Aletha Massengale for lunch.  Tim has worked with Jesse and Aletha for many years.  We walked to a little restaurant, close to the marina, and had a very nice lunch.  We saw a little of downtown and then headed back to the boat.  John and Sam invited us over again for tacos, drinks and more good company.  Vickie Seaholm (remember the bride from Key West?) came over too, along with another retired Col, Paul and his wife, Linda.  Dinner was good. The company was good and once again they gave us a ride back to our boat. We leave early Tuesday morning for South Jacksonville. Wednesday we fly home for a few weeks. I forgot to mention John and Sam's animals. They have 3 dogs, 2 cats and an African Grey (parrot). To say these animals are like members of the family is not near adequate. One dog, Duke, will jump up on a stool, right at the table, like he belongs there. He also likes to sing.  


A local pirate tour boat.

Aletha, Kay, Tim and Jesse

Duke, right at home.

Alvin, the 17lb kitty.

Thursday, May 9
Departed Fort Pierce a little after 7:30.  The winds would be in our face all day, requiring long sleeves first thing in the morning.  The weather has really been nice. Much nicer than what those in KS are experiencing. Even the nights that we've anchored out have been cool enough to sleep well.  As long as there is a breeze, that is.  Our journey for the day is roughly 42  miles.  We saw a group of at least 6 dolphins/porpoise near the boat.  I tried to get video of it, but it really isn't the same as in person.  Around lunch time we anchored about 100' on the protected side of  a small island.  Joe uncovered the grill and cooked hot dogs for us.  It was a nice 45 minute stop for us.  We made it to Melbourne, FL and stayed at the Telemar Bay Marina.  We walked about 1/2 mile into town.  Tim walked ahead to the hardware store for some heavy duty wire for the horn. He also dropped my mom's Mother's Day card in the mailbox for me.  Joe and I waited at a place called Doubles, for him to return.  It was a nice little family place, with tables/booths, a few pool tables, a little bar, lots of video games and tv screens and a decent sandwich/burger/salad menu. We ate dinner and then headed back to the boat.  This little marina had about 4 transient slips and not much else to offer.  They closed promptly at 1700hrs.  Watched a little TV, and settled in for the night.


 

Friday, May 10

Jessica drove up to see her newest nephew and has been sending Grandma pictures and videos. Thank you Jessica!!!

Tim wanted me to make a big breakfast before we pulled away from shore power.  That delayed our departure long enough for the marina person to show up for the day, somewhere after 0800.  The big decision for today was whether or not to go 38 miles or 68 miles.  Since we got a late start and since we needed to stop for gasoline at Titusville (38 miles), we decided to stop for the day.  Yesterday the winds were in our face all day, making for brisk weather.  Today, just the opposite.  Since the wind was at our back, traveling about the same speed as us, there was no breeze, and it was hot, hot, hot!  I even soaked a t-towel in the ice chest and wore it around my neck most of the day.  Thank goodness for shade and bimini covers!!  We were going to stop in shallow water and maybe get in and cool off, but couldn't really find a good place to do so.  Joe was up front, unhooking the anchor, just in case and decided to stay up there awhile as it was really nice.  While he was up there he hollered at us that he could hear dolphins.  Sure enough there was a large one just off the port bow.  It swam right underneath the boat and then resurfaced about 10 seconds later, farther off the port side, with a young calf.  We decided that the noise Joe heard was the larger one trying to corral the younger one away from the dangerous boat.

Joe, our figure head/hood ornament.

After we arrived, refueled, and settled into the slip we took the local 4 o'clock 'bus' to town.  Well, Joe and I did.  Tim departed about an hour earlier because he needed to refill a prescription at CVS.  He also needed to go to the hardware store because when we were getting gas, the aft bilge pump came on and ran a little too long.  Once we tied up in the slip, Joe found a fresh water leak (another one....).  Fortunately, the local ACE hardware had the heavy duty hose that we had previously been unable to find.  Anyway, this hardware store was 3.8 miles from the marina.  Joe and I waved from the bus as we passed Tim.  He arrived, sweaty and tired and declared that he had gotten his exercise for the week!  After the hardware store and CVS we decided to dine at the Colonel's (KFC).  Joe and I tried the new boneless chicken and we both agree we will not be having it again.

By far, the neatest thing of the day was seeing the manatees that came up to our boat.  Once we realized that at least one of our fresh water tanks was empty, Joe said to go ahead and fill it.  So, I got out the hose, hooked it up and started filling the tank.  After it filled, it was about a minute before I got over to shut the water off.  The tank started running over and down the side of the boat.  Next thing you know there are 2 really large manatees sucking the fresh water right off the side of the boat.  Before you know it there were 4, then there were 5, then 6, then 7.  I took the hose and decided to go ahead and wash the salt spray off the boat.  Well, they loved it.  I set the hose down, while I ran to turn it off. There were 4 of them fighting to drink from the hose.  Well, I HAD to get a video of this.  Joe previously told me that they LOVE fresh water.  He also said that we aren't supposed to give them fresh water because they may become dependent on it.  Oops.  

Five of the Manatee

Going to sign off for the night.  We have TV tonight and the finale of Blue Bloods is going to be on soon!  See you tomorrow!! Pleasant dreams....



Tuesday, May 7
Got a good start on a beautiful day.  Didn't even have to wipe down the eisenglass.  The day at sea was uneventful.  We saw many more multi-million dollar homes and boats/yachts.  Our traveling speed has slowed somewhat due to many no-wake zones.  It hasn't helped our miles covered, but it certainly has helped our miles per gallon. Gasoline is, by far, the greatest expense on our journey. We like to try and get at least 2+ mpg, and have been pretty successful so far.  We saw our new friends, from GA, during the day, when they whizzed by.  They obviously don't have the same fuel concerns as us.  The stop for the night was in North Palm Beach at the Old Port Cove Marina.  Very nice place with floating docks. Rumor has it that Tiger Woods keeps his yacht there.  We didn't see it and imagine it may be up the coast for the TPC Sawgrass tournament near St. Augustine/Jacksonville this week.  

Old Port Cove Marina

Every once in awhile we run into an undeveloped area (pretty rare, though) and see many ospry nests.  The ospry are usually there and sometimes the whole family is there.  When we saw the first one, we thought for a minute that they might be eagles. But, after closer inspection realized they were ospry.  We've seen them dive for fish in a similar manner to how the brown pelicans hunt.  It really is quite amazing how they dive straight into the water and come up with a fish.  The pelican has the fish in its mouth, the ospry in its claws.

One of many ospry nests. Hard to see, but this one occupied.

Wednesday, May 8
One of the 'goodies' we received in our welcome bag (Joe says Judi sells these bags) was a card for free coffee in the morning.  Tim went up to get me a cup of free coffee, while I was getting around, only to find out that they didn't open until 0800.  Well, we were long gone by then.  It was a nice gesture regardless.  Joe gets the coffee pot ready to go before he goes to bed each night, so we had Joe's good coffee!

Interesting house on a barge.

We had several more bascule bridges to wait for.  This new bridge is being built and Joe and I think it's going to be a short one also. 

Bridge construction.

 There are these little black bugs, with red heads that fly around almost everywhere we go.  Often times they are 'paired up'. Joe calls them 'love bugs'.  Other than being an annoyance (like landing on Joe's hot dog) they don't bite or anything.  On the other hand, there are other bugs, that we can't see that have taken a liking to Tim.  He tries to remember to spray himself with bug spray whenever we are leaving the boat.  Poor guy. 

Love bugs. They are EVERYWHERE!





Fort Pierce Welcome Sign on US Hwy 1
 

We arrived at Harbortown Marina, Fort Pierce in the early afternoon.  Once we were tied up and hooked up Tim and I went up to the pool.  After Tim wrestled with an umbrella for me, we relaxed in the sun/shade for awhile.  We had been needing a few things from the grocery store and the employees said there was a Publix right across the street, so after our dip in the pool, we headed that way. It was about 1/2 mile and there was also a West Marine nearby.  After our shopping, Tim called a taxi to take us back.  Had supper, played Hearts and called it a day.