Finally! We got off the dock after a long, hot month. This Labor Day weekend gave us an extra long weekend to enjoy anchoring out. We left Snook Bight Marina late Friday afternoon and headed to New Pass. This was our first full weekend anchoring at New Pass. We had done an overnight or two when we headed to and from the Dry Tortugas and found that we really like it here. It’s close enough (about 2 hours for us) to home to get away from it all without having to sacrifice most of the day like we would if we went to Cayo Costa or Keewaydin. Both Cayo Costa and Keewaydin take us 5-6 hours to get there so essentially it’s just too far for a weekend trip since it kills most of two days traveling there and back. We’ve anchored at Merwin Key several times for a close-to-home trip, but it doesn’t offer much for things to do. We’ve come to really like New Pass because we are close enough to the beach that Corey can paddle over there by himself. Besides the awesome view of the Gulf of Mexico, the beach is really nice and the fishing is great.
We spent Friday evening getting in and anchoring Blue Turtle. On Saturday morning, Randy dinghied to shore to pick up Corey’s friend Sam. Sam has stayed with us before on one of our Cayo Costa trips and he and Corey have the best time. The two boys were in full-on fishing mode and took the kayaks all over the backwaters around New Pass. Sam caught his first snook and snapper. Both boys basically fished all day with breaks for skim boarding. They even went night fishing the last night there. Unfortunately, the boys didn’t catch any keepers but I think they still had a lot of fun. With the boys gone most of the day on their adventures, this left some quiet time for Randy and I. We enjoyed the mornings out on our back deck drinking coffee and watching all the boaters arrive. Mid-day we would pack a cooler and the wiener dog and head to the beach. After dinner in the evenings we would catch up with the boys and watch a movie. Our last evening out, we decided to take a dinghy ride to Flippers on Lover’s Key for an awesome water-side dinner. This was the perfect, relaxing weekend one could have for Labor Day.
