Adventures in Black Point Marina, FL |
February 12, 2008We awoke early and prepared for the trip to West Marine. The weather today is supposed to be windy with a strong with possibility of thunder storms and the sky was overcast when we left for our trip to West Marine. Our driver was most talkative about the area and it was good to get some local information. He dropped us off with a plan to take his lunch break while we shopped. Joe purchased the necessary cable and connections needed for the alternator job and we found it was raining lightly when we left the store. A Blockbuster was nearby and we purchased some cheep previously viewed videos. We had not thought to bring some of our personal video library with us on this trip. Don’t know why we overlooked that. The driver stopped at a local grocery store on the return trip and we were able to stock up on essentials, milk pastry and half&half. We knew the layout of the "Publix" store enough for Joe and I to split the list and be back outside with all possible speed. We returned to Surprise and stored our supplies and Joe immediately set to work on his project in the engine room. I got on the computer and reconciled our check book and wrote checks for some bills we had received from home a few days ago. The rain continued off and on all afternoon. After we finished our tasks we decided to patronize the little dock side restaurant for sandwich and a cool drink. We sat for a while enjoying the rest of the day. We eventually ordered our food and as it was so late in the day we decided this was dinner. We had been wondering how the restaurant's business would suffer during the renovations and were surprised to see the number of patrons coming to this casual waterfront setting. While some were disappointed with the limited menu, they all stayed to enjoy the afternoon and seemed to know each other. Everyone kept telling us how good the food was here and we were told again that the kitchen would be up and running by Wednesday night. Maybe we’ll stay an extra day and find out. We returned to Surprise and watched one of the movies we had purchased. The wind had picked up considerable and a light rain was falling. The storm predicted was coming in. It rained most of the night and the wind was fierce. I looked out at the palm trees realizing this is a real tropical storm. I expected the flags on the poles outside to be in shreds by morning. February 13,2008The rain has finally stopped but the winds are predicted to be up to 20 mph with gusts to 25. We have decided to wait a day before heading south. The sun is shinning and Joe has some programming work he wants to do so after breakfast I got our bills in the mail, advised the dock master we would stay one more day and paid the bill for dockage today. I sat up on the bridge reading for a while before deciding to take a long walk around the lagoon. At least three marina staff had told us of a resident crocodile. One even gave him the name Sebastian. In two days we had not seen him so maybe he would be out sunning himself. The wind was so brisk I limited my walk as I was concerned about blowing debris. I returned to Surprise and kept myself busy with minor chores and prepared us a light snack. Late in the day the wind was still blowing hard and we were glad we had decided to sit tight for the day. Joe had finally had enough of looking at the computer screen and just before five we went over to the dock side restaurant to get some hot food. It was not meant to be. The kitchen project had been delayed, we assume by the severe weather the night before. No hot food until tomorrow. We ordered an appetizer and sat for quite a while just hanging out talking about our travel plans for tomorrow. As we sat someone came in to set up the stage platform for some live entertainment. We decided to stick around and see if this one man show was any good. He was okay and the locals seemed quite familiar with him. As he began his songs there were only two other people in the audience plus the restaurant staff. We hung around for a while feeling it would be rude if half his audience left. Eventually four others showed up so we planned a quiet departure. As we paid the check we were given two free drink tickets good for our next visit. It would have been nice if they had given these yesterday. We returned to watch another of our videos. It was a bad choice as we both fell asleep almost right away. I don’t even remember the name of the movie. |