Friday - Sunday, November 3 - 5: Clearwater, Florida

We leave Tarpon Springs late Friday morning, and 

make our way to Clearwater, Florida; a total of fifteen miles.

 This home that we pass along the river looks like a resort, complete with jacuzzi!

There are a few other marinas along the river, and there is a lot of dry stacking; 

the boats look like toys sitting in an organized closet.

Mangroves and red/green posts guide us to the ICW.

The mangroves are a popular fishing spot.

Off the river and back onto the ICW in the Gulf of Mexico.

There are many pleasure boats out enjoying this beautiful Friday.  

This island is a popular spot.

 We're so busy following the ICW and looking around at everything, that this bridge sneaks up on us!  We didn't expect it to be this low, but after lowering the atennas, arch, and ducking ourselves, we made it through!😄

To our right is Clearwater Beach and . . . 

 to our left is the city of Clearwater.

This is our spot for the night from our bow; Clearwater Harbor Marina - 

walking distance to downtown.

 From our aft deck, we enjoy a beautiful sunset right over Clearwater Beach.

Before we enjoy the sunset, we explore a little of the downtown area.  Interesting that MANY of the buildings had the same symbol on them; Church of Scientology.  Turns out that Clearwater is the biggest concentration of Scientologists in the world!  They have completely taken over the city of Clearwater, owning half a billion's worth of real estate, 

which includes 67 buildings over ten square miles!

Saturday morning we leave Clearwater's Harbor Marina in the city,

 pass under the bridge (we see our water trail behind us),

 and to the right are mangroves and palm trees which line the causeway, 

while to the left we see a pirate ship head toward the pass to go out on the Gulf, and . . . 

 ahead is Clearwater Beach!!!💗😎🌴🏖

This is our view from the bow of our boat at Clearwater Beach Marina; the palm trees line the beach area of the Gulf of Mexico.  We are only one block from the beach!!!

This is a great harbor filled with many things for sightseers to do:

Ride on unique boats,

 catch fish,

 (this is the fish I caught; go figure, it's pink!!!😂)

 and of course, do a little bird-watching!

Saturday we find out that the gang that met in "Little Diversion" channel (the last night on the Mississippi River), is all within fifteen miles of each other.  So, we meet for lunch at the famous, Frenchy's Restaurant. (In this picture we're missing Chip, however.)

We then head over to another popular spot; Shepherds Beach Resort, 

which is right on the pass to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Not only do they have yummy Rum Runners🍹, 

 they also have live music (with a full band)! 

A great place to get married, too!

It was a WONDERFUL REUNION!!!

Left to Right:  Me, Bobby (Chip's buddy), Gary & Angie (both from "Unruly"), Midge ("Rambunctious"), Chip ("Marylou"), Walt ("Rambunctious"), Bill (Midge's brother who lives in town), and Captain Dave

Sunday we have breakfast with Chip and Bobby (they're docked in the same marina as us) and bid "Marylou" farewell.  Chip is heading to St. Petersburg and will cross his wake in Key Largo in a few days; congratulations, Chip, and we'll see you sometime this winter! 😀

Dave and I spend the rest of the day doing some chores and 

then checking out the beautiful beach!

This will be my last post for a few days, as we will be in Clearwater until Sunday morning, November 12.  Krystina and Tony are flying in on Saturday to cruise the West side of Florida to 

Ft. Meyers with us.  Captain Dolphin, Dave, and I are very excited for their arrival!