BOAT TRIP TO BURNT STORE

 

As it says right up there under the  blog title, our life really is about the voyage itself, not the destination.    This was literally true on our boat trip last week.  The three Captains (otherwise and usually known as  husbands) wanted to figure out a route to Charlotte Harbor which none of them had tried before.   They had to use navigation instruments for this one … some of the water was so shallow, it would have been a small disaster had we strayed out of the channel.    There was a lot of zig-zagging back and forth to stay in the channels and at the proper depth. 

 

 

 

The brownish water is where it is so shallow you can actually see the oyster bars.  (And the standing birds are a pretty good giveaway too of course).   You can also see the markers that tell the boats where the channel is.     There was a little white-knuckle boating there, but it was a successful voyage.

 

  

 

The destination wasn't bad either though!  Here's a panorama view of Burnt Store Marina basin, just after we docked.   (Taken from the upstairs outdoor bar, where we enjoyed the arrival Bloody Mary that  is part of our boat-trip tradition.) 

 

 

 

 

 The exact origin of the name Burnt Store seems to  have been lost over the years.  Apparently a trading post in the area was burned during the Seminole Indian War, but there seem to be several versions of who did it and why.  Burnt Store is the name of a long road that starts in Lee County, where we live,  and extends on into Charlotte County, where the marina is.   (If you were driving, the nearest town to the marina would be Punta Gorda.)

 The top two pictures in the collage above  are in the open bar area.   There was a real salt water aquarium in Cass Cay, the inside restaurant  – but I was too busy eating and talking when we were in there to get a picture.   The bottom two pictures are views from the back and front of the restaurant/bar.   

 

 

 

A closer picture of our three boats.   The transient dock was almost empty — one other boat came in while we were there. (The snowbird season is drawing to a close.)    But there were lots and lots of live-aboard boats and so the marina was busy  and we enjoyed one of all boaters' favorite activities — looking at other boats.   (The Captains dreaming about newer boats, the first mates silently screaming 'no no no'!!)   We also enjoyed the very nice resort swimming pool — every Marina where we've ever stayed makes all the resort amenities available to transient boaters.

 

 

 

 A boat-by shot on the way home.  This colorful area is part of  Matlacha on Pine Island (where we went a couple of weeks ago — by car — for the painting class.)

 

 

We passed this working barge right out in the middle of Matlacha Pass.  It is really rather odd to see a truck out there in the middle of the big water.  The people are either repairing or laying electric lines.  

 

 

 

When we got home to Upriver at the end of our trip, this Black Vulture was eyeing us from a street lamp.   We were tired, but not dead tired.   So no dinner for him just yet. 

 

 

LINKING to MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith); OUR WORLD on Tuesday (thanks to the team:  Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer); to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thanks and apologies to Stewart — these aren't the best wild birds I've ever linked, but it's all I got);  and to WEDNESDAY WATERS (thank you Gemma).