More Miami to Fort Lauderdale

Jan . 9-11th. Relaxed at in Coral Gables during some high wind days.  Errands, naps, pizza, Mexican Train Dominoes night, the Botanical Garden (including the butterfly garden, which was quite cool), then cocktails John and Nancy's, followed by dinner at the Coral Gables Yacht Club. On Sat the 11th, Norman toured the four of us around Miami and Miami Beach before Lees form Ft. Lauderdale.

Sunday Jan 12th - Norman & Jody joined for the trip to South Miami and narrative of history and sites.  Later in the afternoon we got bikes and rode around South Beach awhile, then dinner at Joe's Stone Crab House and finally Salsa lesson at Mangos.

Sun, Jan 12rth, Norman & Jody joined for the trip to South Miami Marina giving great narrative & history along the way. Later in the afternoon we got bikes and rode around South Beach awhile, then Joe's Stone Crab House and finally Salsa lesson at Mangos.

A 30 mile trip up the ICW to 17th St. Marina where Joe was attending the Association of Marine Industries Conference and Expo. This was his last meeting as Chair of the organization and we enjoyed hanging out with the Windmill crew and other St. Croix River marina people.  

Off to the Bahamas

With a very short weather window to cross to the Bahamas, we left on the afternoon of the 16th as soon as Mark & Sue arrived.  Julie Ulrick came to see us off and we arrived in Bimini in time to check into Immigration.  Late dinner at the Big Game Marina Grill.
The next morning the weather turned and the winds remained between 25-35 knots with higher gusts.  

We rented a golf cart and explored the island.  Lunch was traditional Bahamian pizza, which is lobster pizza, at  Edith's, a very local establishment. We watched the local fisherman shelling a large mound of conch shells. Conch salad is the local favorite here and our goal is to taste test and compare the recipes throughout the islands. Karen's birthday dinner at Resort World, the nice Hilton resort on the island.  

The Dolphin House

The Dolphin House is a local museum that is being built by Ashley Saunders, shown in the pictures and who was toured us through.  He started the project from scratch in 1991 and is using only found materials, including making his own cement from ground up conch shells and sand.  The dolphin theme came from a special connection he had while swimming with dolphins one day long ago.  He collects everything on the island to incorporate into his designs on the house.  He is just starting on the 3rd floor and each area has its own theme. He brings in light and fresh air by adding cut off bottles and installing them as windows. Quite impressive and it was fun to talk with Ashley about each artistic piece.