Snowbirds, Waterbirds, and Water Dogs

Clearwater Beach, Florida   *

We are officially snowbirds. Leaving the frozen tundra of the north, we migrated through the inland rivers and the gulf to the warm water and sunshine of Florida. We always associated snowbirds with old people, guess we are officially old!

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We are also getting a small education in water birds. Not only by being in Florida, but our marina is host to multiple fishing boats big and small. The birds that gather here not only for the sunshine but to help with the catch of the day. Remy’s personal goal is to run, jump, bark, and chase them daily.

Visitors are always a welcomed event and nothing trumps a visit from family. We’re around a lot of people and having a wonderful time, but it is very comforting see a familiar face. Former Buckeyes and now Floridians. Tiffany and Mark moved to south Florida about a year ago to escape the cold and this was their first Clearwater area visit. We enjoyed catching up, dining alfresco by the beach at sunset, a walk on the beach, and an inaugural bike ride on our new to us bikes! The visit was too short, but we will meet up with them again in the weeks to come as we travel further south.

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New bikes! We know we have missing out on exploring some of the locations we are lucky enough to visit. We have talked about bikes and scooters (well Tasha has done a lot of talking) for the past several months. We stumbled across a post on a Loop FB page from platinum loopers (title for those who have gone around 2 or more times) ready to let go of their bikes at a great price and they would deliver if the location was reasonable to theirs. They were in Sarasota and Clearwater was reasonable. Within 24 hours, we had two folding bikes with bags delivered to us at the dock. They are in great shape, and we’ve had the opportunity to expand our distance of exploring. Perfect for extended stays at ports, we’re just not looking forward to where we stow them on the boat while traveling. Space, size, and weight is always a consideration for items on a boat. For now, they look great on the dock!

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Our newly adopted wheels allowed us to venture further on the beach island and visit David’s grandparents’ home. David remembers visiting as a young boy but due to the complexity of family relations, he never visited again. David spent time researching the area upon our arrival and found an article that listed their address. Our trusty bikes took us right to Narcissus Drive. The drive by brought back a flood of memories. We’re still waiting for the call indicating a long-lost relative left us island property in Clearwater! We most likely wouldn’t have been able to go back in time without our new bikes!

A few days later as we rode around the island, we ventured down Narcissus Drive again. We spotted a lady from the house getting in her car and beginning to back down the driveway. Tasha rode up, waved, and got her attention. After explaining that this was David’s grandparents’ home of past, the lady Karen (Tasha’s soul sister) invited us in to look. David declined the offer several times, though Tasha overruled and indicated we would love to and drug David inside. Karen indicated her husband Robin would not be surprised, just would wonder who she was dragging in the house this time. We toured the home; it had changed a bit from David’s visit more than fifty years ago. His grandparents had a large lake front home 8500 square feet-on Lake Erie in the 50’s, and then moved to Clearwater in 1962, and lived in this home until the mid-1970’s. The backyard was quite the oasis with the new pool, hot tub, and pup Bo. Karen and Robin purchased the home in 2015, a winter get away from their upstate New York home. They indicated it was their salvation during covid. A big thank you to these kindhearted folks who allowed David to go back in time and visit a family home. David was thrilled and happy that his wife can be outgoing and not the least shy when a stranger offers a kind gesture. Still waiting for the call about either Lake Erie or Clearwater!

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We have settled into a routine at the beach marina as we have been here three weeks now. We have our multiple walks daily with Remy and she also has a routine of visiting The Bait House, a bait shop / restaurant daily. She is greeted by the host each day as well as anyone waiting out front, she tours the bait shop and smells the clothing, the treats, and looks at the bait in tanks, she pokes her head into the restaurant looking to see who is there, she chases the local bird Chuck (a daily resident for the last 14 years!) and does not wait quietly for a treat. She has found her place and loves it. The Bait House is located at the top of our boat ramp, so we pass by multiple times each day. Remy has also friended the four legged and humans on the dock and enjoys sitting out with all.

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We (meaning Tasha and Remy) also have pushed the rules and Remy has been to the beach (more than once)! The signs all say no dogs and having a peacekeeper in the family we normally follow all the rules. But Tasha wanted to get this old pup in the gulf. She is crazy about the water and this would be a new adventure. Remy has swum in Lake Erie, the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Tenn-Tom (not really swimming), and every creek, swimming hole, and puddle in between, but never salt water. Being that we are on a boat, many of our travel destinations won’t take us this close to a beach where we can walk Remy right to it. Tasha talked to the parking guy at the beach (because he carries authority – right?), and while he loved on Remy, he indicated he would walk her right down and into the water and let her swim. He told her to be respectful pup owners and clean up if needed, so that’s what they did! A couple of times and we’re not done. Remy goes to the beach early in the morning, not on weekends, and stays on her leash until we get to the water’s edge. Then she frolicked like a young pup with glee! The excitement of our pup in the gulf the first time would have been well worth the reprimand or fine(?) (but that never came, even with several official beach vehicles / people passing by). Pure Joy! Remy enjoyed it so much, we did it again as a family and the peacekeeper / rule follower did not hesitate joining in. He did ride his bike to the beach, guess in case he needed a quick getaway! And we will do it again!

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We spend a fair amount of time on route planning, David plans the exact route for our chart plotter, looking for obstacles along the way which will slow our travel. We will be traveling mostly on the intracoastal and that’s a whole new venture for us. There are multiple bridges daily (some need to be raised or timed), multiple shoaling areas, and very defined channels to follow. Tasha is still trying to nail down marinas for the end of December and February. We have three days to fill at the end of December before we dock in downtown Fort Myers, we can only find space at one marina after dozens of calls. And NO ONE calls you back, ever! We would stay here if we could but it’s at least 3 cruising days to get to Fort Myers. This is the downside to our adventure. At some time soon, we’ll begin to work on April marinas and further out.

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We also spend time reading up and then exploring the area. There is a lot of history, art, and fun things to see and do in the area. We are enjoying our bikes, love the trails, we’re learning all the back streets, and using the abundance of bike racks when we do find somewhere we want to stop (typically involves food and drinks).

We only wish Remy was with us on our exploring. We have seen a lot of buggies behind bikes with pups in them, but we’re going to have to move up to electric bikes for that to happen!

Our marina is very active, and we very much enjoy that aspect. We are entertained by the charter and commercial boats that come and go. We have begun to memorize their scripts as some come and go three or more times a day, every day. There are the small fishing charters, large fishing boats, dolphin watches, large dinner cruises (we witnessed a wedding on one), shark boat, catamaran, tiki bar huts, ice cream cruise, pirate ship, Little Toot! and more! The marina is the hub of beach activity and always something to watch or someone to talk to.

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Our exploring took us back to Dunedin by Jolley Trolley this week for the annual Christmas boat parade, tree lighting and Christmas celebration!

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David has been talking about wanting to see a Christmas boat parade since we left home. This is more of a southern tradition as boats are typically winterized by now back home. We arrived late afternoon in time to stroll the beautiful and holiday decked out downtown and grabbed dinner at the Crown and Bull.

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Thirty+ boats were decorated, and the Christmas winter wonderland themed boats paraded down the intracoastal between the two Dunedin Marinas to ring in the Christmas cheer.

Santa arrived by boat and there was a celebration throughout the town. It was our first real feel that Christmas is coming. Still seems a little off with all the sunshine and 70-degree days.

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Dunedin was quite busy and it’s still a little hard getting used to going places where you don’t know anyone. From our years of being very involved with our community in Indiana, we always knew someone. We flagged down the Jolley Trolley for our return home and upon stepping onto the Trolley, we were met with a loud cheer yelling out LOOPERS! And Now or Never! There were a group of loopers on the trolley welcoming us! And as a looper you are always associated with your boat name. No anonymity in Dunedin, Florida. Remy was mentioned by name though, as we were told to give Remy a hug. Our pup makes friends everywhere she goes. This was a fun night out, sharing a bit of Christmas cheer with others from around the country.

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We have been in Clearwater a few weeks now and will stay about two more. Winter in Florida is the time when loopers pause a few months before the trek north up the east coast. Everyone wants to enjoy the sunshine and further north can be very cold on a boat. We are enjoying the beach life and will be here until just prior to Christmas. when we will cruise the 33 miles to downtown St. Petersburg for Christmas!

Off to St. Petersburg for Christmas!

Cheers! D, T & R

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