Christmas on the Loop

 A Very Different Christmas

So I bet some of you thought we had found Davey Jones Locker or been swallowed up by a sea monster. No such luck! Just took a break from the blog thing. This should get us caught up. On Saturday December 17th. I got the bright idea to ride my small folding bike from Cortez, Fl to the Shirley’s winter home in South Sarasota. I had not seen it yet and there was a bike path down the keys which would get me pretty close.

Besides Sue was back in Virginia Beach catching up with everybody while I stood watch over Next Chapter. So off I went. The ride took me over to Anna Maria Island and down Coquina Beach. From there I crossed the inlet to Long Boat Key. It is named “Long” for a reason. There is minimal commercial development on the island. It is mostly homes, condos and a couple of nice golf courses. Believe it or not they are still filling the last scraps of land with new development.

I then crossed over to Lido Key and the famous St Armands Circle. St Armands is a big traffic circle lined with high end shops and restaurants. It is a bust bee hive with a lively atmosphere. It was all done up with Florida style Christmas decorations. I next crossed over the Ringling bridge to the water front in Downtown Sarasota. Downtown is again another high end Florida enclave. My trek then carried me into the Florida urban sprawl where dodging cars and crossing streets became the next challenge. After about 23 miles, tired legs and a sore butt I made my destination leaving me no longer wanting to stand or sit. It was a great ride though. I spent the night after I got both the house tour and a brief tour of their surrounding area. The morning Steve and I went to one of his local breakfast spots. As some of you know Steve and I had been meeting for early breakfast in VB for decades, something I have dearly missed since he has moved. In the afternoon Steve and Diane drove me to the airport to pick up Sue and then back to the boat. It was great to have her back onboard. We spent the next couple of days poking around Cortez and the Island.

Then Christmas was upon us. So I decorated the boat with some lights and my sister provided a nice little Norfolk Island palm to sub as a Christmas tree and a couple of poinsettias. Christmas had arrived on Next Chapter. My sister Mary joined us on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday. We packed up her truck and headed to the Shirley’s. On the way we stopped in St Armands Circle to walk the shops and look at all the decorations. We then stopped at Marina Jacks to have a holiday drink with some Looper friends then onto the main event. Diane had their place all decked out in Holiday garb with a full spread of tasty appetizers. It was a lot of fun. Oh I forgot to mention that Mother Nature decided to give the Floridians the real feel of Christmas. Jack Frost made his appearance in a big way. Not exactly what we were looking for. We made our way back to the boat after many stories, laughs  and wonderful food. Christmas morning was spent connecting with our families back home. It was harder than I thought not being with them on Christmas Day. We made the best of it and took a long walk down the chilly beach. Sue made a wonderful lasagna that we devoured. Christmas 2022 was officially in the books. Slough it was different we still enjoyed the spirit of the season.