Dessert Party at Aime & Nancy's Home

The dessert party began at Nancy and Aime's home.  We found three different cakes, ice cream, lots of fruit and of course the super fellowship of retired cruisers living on dirt/ground. 
We saw folks tonight that we haven't seen since 2011 in Georgetown, Exumas.  This was a super time for all who attended.


Waiting for the desserts to be served!

Our Hosts: Nancy & Aime

Never a dull moment with Karen & Ron attending!

Preparing to Leave Vero...

The January, February, and March Birthday Party began at 5:30 at Ron & Karen's home.  A pot luck dinner included so many varieties of food and desserts!  Of course Sue's Feb 11 birthday was one of those celebrated and she took this image too. 

 

Carl and Aime turning over 70



A young Jim Dalton @ 64

 

Many Visits with Friends



Terry & Ron visiting for dinner at our rental location

Your turn to get dinner!

 It was a warm day as we strolled around the Vero Municipal Marina and saw some boats we recognized.  Terry and Ron Brown arrived two weeks ago aboard "Golden Echo" from our winter port: Delaware City.  It was fun touring around and taking them to church with us.  They are still here and contemplate leaving next week when we expect to leave. 






Sandy and Dave Netting stopped on Feb 24 to visit us at our rental location.  It became interesting when their English Lab Sadie walked through the door and our little dynamite Daisy became excited.  Sue and I showed them around town and to the many consignment shops that displayed their furniture and clothing near the "miracle mile" area nearby.

Lunch at Waldo's with the Logans and Nettings



Sandy and Dave Netting visiting

 



Warmer Weather Prevails

 We visited my brother Allan and his lovely wife Kathleen on the west coast of Florida in Ft. Myers.  They have enjoyed one year of rental before buying their 3/bed 2/bath condo off of Colonial Avenue.  We encountered so much traffic driving to and around this huge town.  There are many more folks in this part of the world than on the east coast where we are.  He has developed this condo from mildo infested walls to a wonderfully warm and homey location.  He and Kathy have worked very hard to rid the condo of anything not clean or worn out.  All new appliances in their kitchen and new mattresses and bedding in all the comfortable areas.  The sun became intense after we arrived and we all had lunch and a dip in the local pool.

just US!





cooling off

Beachtime at Last!

It was a beautiful day on the ocean side of Vero Beach.  We arrived at 11:30 and immediately began people watching.  Sue and I met a few couples around us and started talking about escaping from the cold weather in Albany and Sacramento Springs, NY.

A few families who have lived in colder, more northern spots have now moved to Vero permanently.  We enjoyed hearing about their 10 year plan that was reduced to 5 years and then to 3 when they sold everything and moved here.  There is a certain candor involved as they explain the typical way all of their possessions were literally disposed of before coming to Florida.  Most have a deep and comfortable feeling for the resale or consignment shops located up and down the coast.  We have also felt a greater emotional connection to these stores as well.

Life Guard Stand 

 
 




finding her way to the water

 

Miscellaneous Updates

Each Wednesday, Don walks about a mile to this restaurant on the Miracle Mile for breakfast with many of the cruisers or CLODs; which stands for cruisers living on dirt...or homeowners now, instead of just a sailboat or trawler.
He enjoys this time and always has some interesting stories to tell when he returns home at 9 or so.




Playing with Miss Daisy; she loves the water hose!

We've found that Daisy really likes to play with us when we are washing the car or watering some of the pineapple plants or palms in the yard.  It is so much fun watching her run around trying to bite the water. 









Our friend Karen Sobon cutting her delicious cherry filled cake on Super Bowl Sunday.
What a great time we had!



Daisy & Don outside our rental home

We're Newly Weds Again!!

 After placing three offers and having two inspections we finally have found our vacation home away from the cold of Delaware's winter.  The address is 1906 Oaks Lane in Sixty Oaks.  It is a gated community near all the major shopping areas of Vero Beach, FL.  Actually, the Indian River Mall is just across the street.  Sue loves it and Don is wondering how he made this major mistake.

Drive Thru...

Never saw 14 mph before?

These images show the home (it's a villa) and its' surroundings. 


front door entrance

 Daisy likes the area and is happy there is another dog living next door to her.


Enjoying the color scheme battle between Mom & Dad!

Add a sofa bed for the teenagers!



 

Facing West; this peachy color is big in Florida



Sailing in February

Capt. Dave Hicks called me on Thursday and asked if I would crew on his 46' Oyster "Inner Voice" on Saturday.  I said "sure" since you don't have a opportunity to sail on an Oyster hardly ever in the Chesapeake Bay.  His boat was beautiful and well taken care of.  Quickly I noticed the weight of his vessel as it moved thru the 3' seas quite nicely.  The other sailboats in the Ft. Pierce Yacht Club were much lighter and were bobbing around on the way to the first mark. However, as Dave explained, his boat didn't point quite a high as those lighter competitors did.  I'm not sure how we finished, but Dave seemed someway happy that we did! I'm glad he gave me the opportunity to come aboard.

Running out to the ocean



#1 Competitor Varmint

No Snow today... or tomorrow!

Yes life is delightful in Vero Beach, where we can always find something to do.  Pictured below with friends at the Quilted Giraffe, a local restaurant/club with a terrific band/dance floor.  Pictured without Sue since someone had to take the image.  Sorry for the half-face Lois!

 

Happy Birthday Sue!



Below the Merrill Barber Bridge

Reclining in a consignment shop

Lady waiting for action!

 The weather has been cooler this past week (Feb. 8-12) but it always warms up before 11!  We've been looking at homes down here just thinking about getting away from the winters, and have found a few.   The action lady to the left would be excited to be a home owner in Vero Beach. More pics to follow.




Super Bowl Sunday

relaxing at a re-sale shop

As the days roll by living a snowbird life in sunny Florida, we find it isn't quite as hot as expected. Certainly not as warm as 4 years earlier when we lived on our sailboat anchored in Georgetown, Exumas, which was a few miles from the Tropic of Cancer.  Today we woke up to 47 degree temps and tonight we could see it go as low as 39.  This doesn't upset Sue or I since we brought warm clothes and of course when we left it was getting cold in Delaware.  A recap since arriving on January 3rd has us excited to be in such a warm-hearted town.  Everyone is so friendly and share info about shopping & any items we need. 

small doggie park

dinner at Vero Power Squadron

We go to dinners and dancing quite a bit.  There are the same old fashioned block parties I remember having when I lived in NJ.  Since I am a past commander of the Wilmington Sail & Power Squadron, we stopped at Vero Beach's local squadron and were warmly welcomed.  We were invited to their Founders Day Dinner where we met over 150 members and enjoyed a filet mignon dinner with a bottle of wine.  Each day we are treated like "best friends" wherever we go.  There are so many churches here that I think we could go to a different one each week and never attend all in a year.  Daisy really enjoys Vero since there is a large and small dog park here.  She is able to run with dogs her size, chase balls (she usually doesn't do this) but she likes to sniff around all of them. 


Windy day for lunch at the Lemon Tree

We met Ann and Dave Benfer, from Wilmington, for lunch a couple of weeks ago, and will see them again on Feb 9th.

The climate is so nice here that we have thought about living here again next winter.

We're headed over to a super bowl party at a friend's home here in Vero.  I'll post some images on this blog later next week.