After our overnight stay at Naples City Dock, we headed north back to our home port of Fort Myers Beach to spend New Years with family & friends. We had been away from our home port dock for 4 nights and we weren’t ready to head into Snook Bight just yet, so we stopped at the Matanzas Harbor Mooring Field where my parents and nephews were already moored on Island Time. Once we were moored, we headed into shore on the dinghy to check in and grab an early dinner at Matanzas Inn Restaurant. We had a relaxing evening watching movies with my nephews and Corey and the next morning we headed in to Snook Bight with my parents following on Island Time.
My parents got a slip in our marina for 2 nights (New Years Eve and New Years Day night) and we celebrated the new year with them. My sister had to work, so she drove down to the marina New Years Eve and stayed with my nephews on Island Time. Randy’s dad and April joined us New Years Even for a nice dinner on Blue Turtle and get together on the bridge of my parents’ boat later. I don’t think many of us stayed up to midnight to see the new year, maybe only a few but we were well rested for New Years Day.
On New Years Day, Randy took Corey and Ryan for a sail on the Sunfish (that we borrow from Dave) and I had mimosas with my parents on the bridge of their boat. When Johnny and April arrived around 11:30am, we all assembled in the marina breezeway for a beach bike ride and then lunch. There were 10 of us total, including my parents, my sister and nephews, Randy, Corey and I and Johnny and April. Some of us had new bikes we wanted to try out and so we all rode north down the beach. We stopped at the Diamond Head Resort where we had lunch on the beach at their beach bar and restaurant called Cabañas. After lunch, my parents headed back to the marina while the rest of us continued our ride north on the beach. We parked our bikes at the Lani Kai on their bike rack and continued to walk from there. We went to the pier and then stopped at a couple places for drinks and then slowly made our way home. It was a great way to start the New Year!
