Cortez Fishing Village

Cortez - We met this wonderful little fishing village when we came to Yacht Solutions/Cortez Cove Marina to have our boat's injuries repaired.  After almost 3 weeks there we were hooked on this place.  First of all, the boatyard, Yacht Solutions  & their people were the best.  The village is vintage and has several commercial fishing operations and some of the best local fish restaurants you can imagine, the outdoor seating, local music playing kind of places.  The place started to feel like home and we were sad to leave when we were finally able to.

While in the area, we were able to meet up with our friends, Bill & Peg Chamberlain for dinner, who we know from our early boating days and trips to Lake City, where Bill used to run the marina.   We had planned to stay the 2-3 weeks at Bill's marina, Riviera Dunes, but only ended up there one night so we could get the boat hauled out and repaired.  Riviera Dunes is a beautiful marina in Bradenton with lots of amenities. We wished we could have spent more time there but at least we got to spend some time with Bill and Peg.  Cortez is right across the Intracoastal from Anna Maria Island so we got to enjoy much of the island and it's great beaches, eateries and sunsets.  

Meeting new friends along this journey is really the best part.  While here in Cortez we got to hang out with what I like to refer to as our Canadian Hallmark friends, Catherine and Chris, and we also got to catch up with Jody and Norman, who we traveled with on the rivers.