Gemini Loop: Venice and Boca Grande

We cruised from Bird Key to Venice, with the occasional dolphin on the bow. At one time, there were four! Venice boasts a quilt shop, a yarn shop (I was delighted) and lots of consignment and thrift stores (Diane's favorite haunts)! We had a fabulous lunch at Althea's! The downtown area had beautiful flower boxes and lots of murals, as well as pretty parks.

Our next stop was Boca Grande, a resort island with a quaint little downtown area. We walked around the neighborhoods, admiring the banyan trees and beautiful houses and gardens. The Harwells found the beach and cruised it looking for shark's teeth and shells. The restaurant at the marina was really good, with a very friendly staff. We would have stayed one more night, but they were expecting a dock-full the following day.

The water was choppy and the wind was blowing pretty hard when we left Boca Grande. We were planning to anchor in a place called Pelican Pass, just off a wildlife refuge. The conditions persuaded us to anchor in a protected area for a while, until the wind died down a few hours later. We still made it to Pelican Pass in time for Steve to put the dinghy in and take Diane and Joe to the dock at the refuge. They walked across the island to the beach and wandered for a while. The next morning, we were hoping to dinghy in to a small lagoon where we thought we would see manatees. Apparently the water was too cold - they were all hiding.

We cruised the short distance to Captiva Island and will be here for two days. Can't tell you much about it yet since we just got here. I do have a few photos already...