10 Jan Dys 117-120 Back to the Boat

We arrived back on Anna Maria Island to find Nautoncall exactly how we left her. Thanks to Paul, Jill and Finley, they took very good care of our Baby.

The first day was spent cleaning and provisioning her. It was good to be back in the Florida Sun.

Our second full day started off with a bike ride to breakfast on the beach with Jill and Paul at the Anna Maria Island Beach Café. It was a popular spot and no wonder, reasonably priced full breakfast menu served on the beach.

We were then treated by “Captain Rakes” tour of the Cortez and Bradenton areas in their Sea Ray “Ballyrae”.

Cortez is an Old School Florida fishing village.

This is what we are going to look like when the money runs out.

Bradenton is a nice beach area with the traditional mix of Patio bars and tourist shopping. There was a lot of constructions going on as is the case in a lot of areas of Florida. It was a nice place to stop at the town dock and walk around for a bit.

Janet found a sign telling us how far away we are from some of our favourite people.

We ended the night with an awesome sushi dinner at the Island Ocean Star that is located next to Galati Yacht sales where I was equally impressed by the hardware at the dock.

Our last day on Anna Maria Island we took a driving tour around the area and visited St. Armands. It is an upscale tourist area that was the home of John Ringling of Ringling Brothers fame.

Here Janet tries to show off her classic beauty.

I think she nailed it.

That evening Jill cooked up her “Signature” Salmon dinner to toast our friendship. People always comment that one of the favourite parts of the Loop is the people you meet along the way. Jill and Paul will go down in the Nautoncall Great Loop Log as two of those people, (Although I forgot to get them to sign her guestbook), their hospitality and generosity will always be remembered. We can only hope to repay the favour sometime.