Mon Feb 3 - In which we have a perfect day

A New Smyrna Beach Interlude

Rapidly we have come to like best the days when we don't have to move on. Well, you reasonably ask, can't you just decide to stay put a LOT?  Isn't it, like, YOUR sea-batical?  Yeeeeeeeessss, but we have set a goal to get down to Stuart, which is the 'starting' place for the Loop.  This is important (only in our minds) because this is where we will come out at the finish of the Loop (sometime before we will die, hopefully).  So we are moving quickly because Florida turns out to be a LONG state (which one doesn't really grasp until one is moving along a straight, shallow, flat, repetitive water route seemingly FOREVER at a blazing speed of 8 MPH).  Long story short, today we get to stay in New Smyrna Beach - and it's worth the stay.

Its little downtown is cute as a button, and we have it almost to ourselves.

Mel on the old fort - now a park at the edge of 'town'.

We were looking for a breakfast place and ended up at Donna's Sugar and Spice/Creamery.  It was so cozy and homey, and the two young women behind the counter (tatted and pierced up - it was such a good look on them) had just made warm iced sweet roll, apparently JUST FOR ME! Their young friends kept coming and going, everyone got kisses on the cheek and yummy baked goods.  I couldn't help thinking that this is a life Claire would really like... Add a few cats and Bam!

Marina Kitty!

After breakfast I worked  (at a job that I get paid for)

View from my office!

and Rick did laundry (I love having a house boat husband) and worked to keep us afloat.  Have I mentioned that a boat is one great big To-Do List?  Rick does love a project, but even he is looking a little frazzled as the faucet started leaking at the same time as mysterious pink fluid appeared in the lazarette (hole in the back of the boat where the generator/exhaust systems/power systems sit).  Isn't it great that he has something to think about?!  All those years I walked around with the OS of the kids running in the back of my mind, never free from something to worry about.  Now I'm like, lah lah lah lah I see no pink fluid therefore I don't need to worry about it... Even better, things that we brought on board brand new with no problems (like the fold-able bikes) are now starting to rust and need attention.  He won't need to be 'entertained' for YEARS!!

Then we got out said fold-able bikes and headed out over the causeway to the beach. We read that New Smyrna Beach is, according to Travel and Leisure, the only town on the East Coast of the US to be on the top 15 list of World's Coolest Beach Towns (! ) and we expected that 'coolness' to bleed in to us via osmosis.    Great ride through a hip happenin beach town.  At the beach we discovered that we could ride our bikes ON THE BEACH, which we have never done before.  It's hard and flat, and set up for cars to drive (slowly) and park on it.  This distracts somewhat from it's beauty, but it would sure make it easy to get kids and gear right onto the sand.

We had a great ride and ended up at Publix and a....wait for it....hardware store. For the part the sink needs.  Sink, what sink is my attitude.

Back at the Marina we had showers and sank, tired and clean, in to our pillow top bed (clean sheets!!!).  I need to rest my brain.  It's really worn out from not worrying all day.

Our neighbors!  Judging from the size of the puppy's paws they are gonna need a bigger boat.