Moving Day and Tampa Bay

   We got up and had breakfast and then finished all the preparations for moving from Winter Garden Manatee to Lazy Days RV Park.  We left by 10:30 and pulled into the nearby Walmart to pick up some groceries and hook up the Jeep.  We arrived at Lazy Days at about 12:15 and were able to move right into our site.  At this point we had no idea how long we were staying.  It will depend on what we find out tomorrow morning at our service appt.  We set up as much as was necessary for the dog and were out the door by 1:30 and on our way to Hudson near Tampa to meet up with Cathy Hoban and her husband Jim.  I called Bonnie and Ken on the way to see how their trip home was going and sadly they were having car trouble.  They barely made it just out of Florida before their car started overheating.  Hopefully they will have it looked at tomorrow morning and be able to be on their way!  By about 2:30 we were on Cathy and Jim's doorstep.  They have a beautiful 2 story home on the water with a small pool and fishing boat docked out back.  Cathy has a talent for decorating and designing kitchens and bathrooms... everything is so tastefully and invitingly done! (is invitingly a word?). They have 2 dogs, a mostly blind, spunky rescue cocker spaniel named Remi and a beautiful tall fox hound named Keegan who was used and abused by fox hunters.  We had some drinks and snacks out on their back porch and then hopped in their boat to take a tour on the Bay.  It was such a perfect day for a boat ride through the shallow water where we could watch the sea grass sway and float around on the bottom like tumbleweed. 

Just leaving the dock by the back of Jim and Cathy's house

Am I ready for a boat ride or not!?!?!

Getting near the entrance to the bay

Out in the bay John is relaxing with his Miller Lite!

Can you see the sea grass in the water?

Cathy helping to "weigh down" the front of the boat
Even though she hardly weighs anything!

 
Sometimes there are dolphins and sponges, but we didn't see any that day.  Jim does a lot of fishing out here.  They showed us a stilt house that was built totally out in the bay that is mostly used now for fishing parties of all kinds, if you know what I mean :).  It looks like a shack, but Cathy told us these kind of structures sell for 2 and 3 hundred thousand dollars because they are no longer allowed to be built.

Look how it's totally surrounded by water

 

This is the front.  Looks like a shack, doesn't it?

 

 

This shot is from the side.  It has to have it's own
Gas powered generators for light and fridges.  Where
Do you suppose people and pets go potty????

  Then we headed back in towards the dock side restaurant for grouper and snapper.  Jim "parked" the boat like a pro... we were impressed!!

Go, Jim, go... we're hungry!

The pelican kindly posed for us at the entrance
to the canal where the restaurant was located

Almost there!

There's the restaurant whose name escapes me...
am I getting old or what?!?

Jim... our most capable skipper

  The food was delicious and the company was delightful.  Jim and Cathy even picked up the tab because Kathy said she has been promising John a grouper sandwich for a while now, even before he retired and she was finally able to "pay up" for all his dedication to getting the job done when they worked together while being far apart.  We headed back to their house just before sunset and Jim took pictures so Cathy could post them with her emails to John's former co-workers showing how much fun he is having as a retired, past employee!!  How rude :)) 

How beautiful is that!!!

Doesn't John look the part of a happy, contented
retired person!!!  Cathy is quite anxious to join the ranks!

I hated to see the day end!
  (Sorry, Michele, my gray roots are really showing!!)
 

Jim's "selfie". Doesn't he look like John Laroquette?

We spent another hour or so chatting and then said our good-byes.  It was so nice for me to meet Cathy and for both of us to meet Jim and the doggies.  They are such nice people who sure know how to treat people to a good time!  We look forward to seeing them again next year!!  Maybe someone else will be retired by then!?!  We got home about 10:00 watched some TV and went to bed.  It was a wonderful day!!!  Thanks, again, Jim and Cathy!!!