This past weekend, Randy and I found ourselves kid-free for the weekend. Corey spent the weekend in Orlando at Sea World with his mom. So Friday afternoon, Randy and I dropped the lines and headed to the Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field. Even though getting a mooring ball at Fort Myers Beach only takes us 30 minutes to get there, it still feels like a mini-vacation just getting off the dock.

We arrived at the mooring field early afternoon and immediately lucked into finding a ball near the dinghy dock at Matanzas bridge. We got hooked up and both worked on our laptops answering last-minute emails and getting the last of our weekly work done. Once finished, we headed to shore to check in at the Matanzas Inn, where you register for a ball. After checking in, we spotted our neighbor’s small flats boat at docks near the restaurant and inn and decided to head to the Upper Deck and found Joe and Glenda. The bar was packed and we squeezed into the corner spot with them and had a couple of beers. It was great to catch up with them and we joked that we actually had to get off the dock meet our neighbors.

After drinks with Joe and Glenda, we decided to drive by the boat to drop Sophie off so we could go to Doc Ford’s for dinner. We had an excellent meal in a packed bar area and headed back to Blue Turtle for the evening. Saturday a.m. was peaceful and lazy and we headed to shore around noon. We bar-hopped down the beach and found a great little beach bar that we hadn’t been to yet. The Beach Pub is just south of the Lani Kai and is a tiny establishment. It’s just a small pub with great draft beer (hard to find on the beach!) and live music. The only seating is outside at tables where you literally have your toes in the sand. We stayed there a couple hours and got to see the Marcato Independent Drumline play along singer/guitar player Tommy V. It was a very cool thing to see while chilling at the beach. Later that evening, we took Sophie back to the boat and went back to Doc Ford’s for dinner…can you tell we’re obsessed with their food? If only they allowed dogs outside on the deck, it would then be the perfect beach restaurant.

Sunday morning we had a stiff current, so we decided to head to shore for lunch to wait for slack tide. We went to La Ola’s a favorite spot for World Famous Nachos or tacos (they’re pet-freindly too!). Afterward we headed back and got Blue Turtle ready for heading home. Later that afternoon, we headed to the beach to enjoy a nice sunset. A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Random images of the shrimp fleet on Fort Myers Beach