Florida is warmer in winter than the rest of The Great Loop. “Loopers” tend to dally waiting on spring to cruise up the US East Coast.. Since David can’t wear shorts all the time, even here, we’re “wintering over” in sunny Florida with lots of other Loopers from the “Fleet of 2018”.
The boat is ready to go, we’re ready to go… but it’s hard to leave a place as delightful as Bradenton. Several Loopers have told us that The Great Loop is like being on vacation for a year. I’m good at being on vacation!
This week highlights: a day at Egmont Key State Park, the Bradenton Area Regatta (amazing!), Big Cat Rescue & more! Since pictures are worth a thousand words, we’ll let this week’s photos do the talking. 🙂
Egmont Key State Park … accessible only by ferry, Egmont Key State Park is a barrier island with a lighthouse dating from 1858 at the southern tip of the Tampa Bay Ship Channel, as well as the ruins of a Spanish American war fort and ghost town. There are no facilities (i.e. no bathrooms, no water, nada …) It also has miles of amazing beaches, shells, supposedly 2000+ gopher tortoises, although we only saw one, and solitude. Despite several folks on our ferry, the beaches were empty and the beachcombing was superb.
The Blue Blood Super Moon was a highlight before dawn on Weds, January 31 … and YES, I was up to see it! Proud of myself!
After the show in the sky, we visited Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue organization. Worthwhile, we learned alot and were glad our tour fees support the effort to eliminate the mistreatment of big cats.
Then there’s the Bradenton Area Regatta Festival – complete with mini-miss budweiser type powerboat racing, live music and unbelievable fireworks. Optimystique has a front row seat… they even close the bridge across the Manatee River and over 200,000 people enjoy the free festival and racing.
Now what? Stay tuned!
Cheers! Jan & David
