A day in Clearwater, FL 12-20-2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014
We slept in, and decided to make do with what we had for breakfast.

Jim is our neighbor in the slip next to us here at Clearwater Beach Marina.   Jim is a little older than we are. And he was a talkative sort.  He built boats, and did all sorts of things in his life.  It was fun listening to his stories.  Jim’s current boat is a catamaran sailboat on which he lives aboard full time since breaking up with his girlfriend awhile back.  He was keenly interested in Sea Fever, and wanted to know all about it. And he seemed anxious to tell of his adventures throughout his life.  Mostly, he struck us as a lonely guy and he loved to chat with Tim about boats.
 

Among the many things he told us, Jim said he would like to do the Great Loop and have this kind of adventure…but he didn’t want to do it without someone with whom to share it. As a matter of fact, sharing his life expanded to other activities as well, from movies to dinner out.
 

It made Kathy sad that he felt so alone. We have each other and a cadre of folks, both friends and family supporting us through the joys and the adversities on this journey.  We hope Jim finds someone with whom to share his journey.
 

After sharing stories with Jim, we needed to replenish our depleted larder.  Our list included yogurt, milk, ½ and ½, bread, and, of course, a treat for Tim.  One of the most consistent challenges throughout our adventure has been finding a grocery store within walking distance as well as carrying the supplies back to the boat.  We learned there wasn’t a grocery anywhere close, but the Walgreens across the highway carried groceries. Walgreens for groceries?  Does this bring a new high (or low) to the Walmart grocery shopping experience?  Kathy went off to investigate, with boat-bags in tow.
 

It was the weirdest Walgreens ever!  It was two stories high and encompassed an entire block. The grocery portion alone was as big as some grocery stores.  It also had a huge liquor store (or as they say in the south, package store).  They had everything on our list, except the ½ and ½.  But that was okay, we have a stock of Mini Moos (the little single servings of ½ and ½ that one usually gets in a restaurant) for just such an emergency. 
 

In addition to groceries, this mega-Walgreens carried books, CDs, souvenirs, the usual drug store medicinals, and fashions (no, Nancy, Kathy didn’t buy any),  It was amazing!  So she got the required stuff.  And a mini Hagan Daz as a treat for Tim.
 

We were still very tired so naps were in order, again, but we were determined to eat out tonight.  
 

When we got up from our naps, we got a further low down on the area, and some recommendations on where to eat.  We chose a restaurant called Frenchy’s that Tim remembered from his last trip.

Frenchy's Café, a Clearwater Beach institution

It was right behind Walgreens…what a surprise!! Frenchy's has been in business for decades. It was clear from the crowd that “the season” when the snowbirds from up north descend on Florida had begun in earnest.  In addition, Christmas holiday vacation time was coming up, so there were a lot of families.  It was packed. The food was very good. Kathy’s crab cakes were not as good as those in Fairhope, AL, but pretty darn good all the same! 
 

We walked back to the boat, and hunkered in for the night.  Off to Bradenton in the morning.