The Bean Depot and a boat ride

Saturday we drove to Punta Gorda to check on the trailer. The area had been flooded and seen high winds due to the hurricanes, but the storage facility was largely unscathed, just some damage to the fence.

On the way back we stopped at "The Bean Depot Cafe" for some lunch.

 

It's a historic building, part museum

and

part

restaurant.

We sat outside even though the breeze was a bit cool and

perused the menu.

Not much in the way of vegetarian options but I had a grilled cheese on a brioche bun and coleslaw, with Sangria. The stage in the back ground had a lone guitarist/vocalist and we were entertained while eating.

They had live entertainment at lunch and dinner.

Later I painted it before the usual reading by the pool, swimming and walking Izzy that rounds out our days. I bought a very small, travel, paint pallet and needed to try it out. I found it was missing one colour that I use frequently for shadows and to darken colours, Paynes Grey, so will need to add that in.

Sunday we were taken for a boat ride by, Neil, a friend of Cyndy and Jim's who lives, on a canal, in Punta Gorda. As I was helped on to the boat I dropped my phone into the canal so all the photos to follow are taken on Cyndy's phone. It was a brand new boat and this was the first time Neil had taken it out into the Bay. Very high tech controls and design.

Cyndy and I sat out at the bow as we

spent about 20 minutes

making our way through the miles of canals

past luxury houses with pools and hot tubs, lush landscaping, docks and

boats of all shapes and sizes.

Tricoloured Egret.

After the residential area we went through an area of Mangroves that provide some protection from storms and surges.

Then

out a narrow channel into the Charlotte Harbour Bay. There are no pictures of our ride out on the bay as we were hanging on. Neil was trying out the boat, up to 50 miles and hour, crossing wakes etc. Great fun but not conducive to picture taking.

We re-entered the canals through a different

passage through the mangroves.

Great Blue Heron

and more Pelicans.

Coming back through the canals I went inside and Neil talked about his sailing and boating history and showed off the tech on this, his newest boat. It was a lovely smooth ride, powerful but quiet (although Neil did show how loud it could be if you push the "sport mode" button, which does nothing to performance, just makes it loud) and Cyndy and I were very thankful for the opportunity to get out on the water.

As we returned to the dock, I spotted my camera on the bottom. Fished it out with a boat hook and it now sits in a bowl of rice on Cyndy's kitchen counter. I am not hopeful that this will reverse more than an hour in salt water. I suspect I will be buying a new camera before my trip to Thailand.

Guest photographer: Christine

Who has been sending me pictures of

Rasta, who is, again, adapting to life with the twins, Donny and Marie.