I am a fan of John Anderson’s music. He used to have a song called “Just a Swinging.” For whatever reason when I say or write “just chilling” I can’t help but say it in my head to the tune of that song.
Little Charlotte, she’s as pretty as the angels when they sing, I can’t believe I am out here on the front porch in this swing, Just a Swingin’, Just a swingin.
But I digress. I was going to say that we had a great time on this trip to Florida and were able to relax. We did some local things, but that was also relaxing. We slept as late as we wanted, relaxed outside with coffee in the morning and chilled.
Any time we drove around we checked out Marina’s too. We are looking at the amenities and costs of marinas in this area. They are high, but you pay for the location for sure. Clear water and warm weather equal higher slip rents. That seems fair in the end.
One of the Marinas we went to was pretty sweet. It had a restaurant and bar, pool, workout facilities, Pump out service a gas dock and a few shops. There were several boat brokers at the marina which can be good and bad.
There is always a lot of activity, but there are also non-boat owners wandering the docks too. Not that it is that big a problem but some people don’t quite get the unwritten rules of marina life. For example, you stay off of someone’s finger pier as a good rule of thumb. Fixing someone’s line if they are gone is admissible, but not to come on down the finger and gawk in the ports of the boat. Because our boat is unique looking (or was with the color scheme of Captain Ron) we have had people step on her before and cup their hands to look in the window. I just wave and make them about fall overboard because they didn’t think there was anyone on board.
The marina was pretty nice, a little tight to navigate into, but fixed piers and very high liveaboard fees. Oh, and parking would have been tough at this location. On weekends the lot would be full, and you would have to park in the overflow a few blocks away. That would suck in the rain or with groceries.
With that, it was time to get back to the camper and do some more relaxing. We even spent time doing this.
Laying in bed and reading a book. Swab can’t read yet, but she has heard most of her stories enough to get the gist of what is on the page based on the pictures. That, my friends, is some entertainment. She will make up her own story based on what she sees on the page, or sometimes she remembers the story and does her best to recite it. Either way, at times, there are some wild imagination stories for sure. For a great example, check out this video of her telling me a story about a spider that ate her and turned her into a mermaid. This link will take you right to that section of the video in the event you don’t want to see the rest of it.