Dunedin

Day. 90-92

Miles today: 0 Total miles: 2,481

Hours today:   0

Locks today: 0.    Total locks: 34

After recovering from our crossing, we have been exploring the area around Dunedin. Monday Tom and Cindy, our friends from home,  picked us up and took us out for lunch in Clearwater. 

Afterwards we relaxed in their beautiful winter condo. What an incredible view!

We returned to the Marina for the nightly dock tails. There is quite a group of Loopers here.

On Tuesday Mark went with several other guys to West Marine and a boat salvage place- they had a ball! I know Mark enjoyed a boys' day out. Meanwhile, Mary, Connie and I rode our bikes to Tarpon Springs. A wonderful bike trail took us 7 miles to this town, which is famous for sponges and Greek food. It was considered the sponge capital of the United States, and many divers came from Greece to harvest the natural sponges. This led to the establishment of many Greek restaurants. One can purchase sponges in a variety of shapes and sizes. We ate a Greek lunch at Helas and then browsed a few shops. It's been ages since I had a day with girls!

 I was more than surprised to run into relatives walking along the street! My cousins Tim and Susan, Tim's wife Janet, and their mom, my Aunt Ginny, are visiting from Pittsburgh! We will connect again for dinner.

We were caught in a brief shower on our return ride, but we quickly dried out. We were back at the Marina in time for our nightly get together. A large group of us walked a few blocks to Frenchy's Outpost for dinner. Such a rough life we're leading! We are all relishing this time together. Today a few boats headed south, and more will go tomorrow. Some of us will be leaving our boats to go home for Christmas before continuing our journeys. Chances are good that we will see each other on the water somewhere.