So, Shrimp Festival on Fort Myers Beach was actually last weekend, but it’s been very busy around here and so I’m finally getting around to updating the blog. Better late than never, right? This time of year is always so crazy for us because it’s peak season and spring break around here. It’s also Corey’s birthday (St. Patrick’s Day) and he spent the weekend with his mother celebrating. Since it was just Randy and I, we decided to get off the dock and take the boat to the north end of the island (where the festivities were) and anchor out just north of Matanzas Bridge. We had been wanting to try anchoring here for a while as an alternative to the mooring field and we enjoyed it. We were even joined by our friend Tom and Mary Kay on Tom’s sailboat, Forever Young as well as Mike and Kathleen aboard Sojourn.

We shoved off Saturday morning and were anchored by 10:30am. We hadn’t planned to see the parade and we dinged to shore around 11:30am and actually caught the tail end of the parade in Times Square. It was actually perfect because as soon as the last float went past, Randy and I headed for the craft show tents to have a look around. We were able to get through them all and get out of there before the mob of people came in for the show as well as the food. We headed for the Lani Kai for a rumrunner and to do some spring break people watching. After that, it was lunch at La Olas, our favorite mexican joint on the island. We met up with Mary Kay and Tom as well as Johnny (Randy’s dad) and April there and made plans to meet at the Lighthouse for some beers and live music.

Randy and I headed back to the arts fair so I could purchase 3 small canvases of sea turtles by artist Jen Callahan to hang in the Blue Turtle. FYI: canvases are great for boats because there is no glass to break. After drinks at the Lighthouse, it came time to head back to the boat for the evening and once Randy and I got back to the boat, we decided to head to Bowditch Beach at the northern-most point of the island for sunset. We grabbed the dog and jumped in the dinghy for a spectacular sunset.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast with Tom and Mary Kay and then Bloody Marys at Gulfshore Grill. Then it was time to head back to the dock. Once back at the dock, we decided we didn’t want the wonderful weekend to be over so we packed a cooler, umbrella and the dog into the dingy and headed for a relaxing afternoon at New Pass beach. It was the perfect ending to a great weekend.