After a cool and restful night in Ft. Pierce, we took Kaleo 15 miles up the ICW to keep her on a mooring in Vero Beach while we visited friends in Ft. Lauderdale.
After getting Kaleo secured and packed up for our week ashore we:
- Visited with cruising friends from the Bahamas, Jan and Karl of “White Pepper”, who happened to also be our mooring neighbor in Vero Beach. They were kind enough to ferry us from ship to shore so we could leave our dinghy onboard and watch Kaleo while we were gone for the week.
- Returned the favors by driving them in our rental to a nearby boat yard to snap insurance photos of their friends’ boat. Cruisers truly take care of one another.
- Made our way down to Cooper City, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, to stay with Ted and Mili (of “Morning Glory”), in their beautiful land home where they welcomed us like family
- Celebrated Memorial Day weekend pool party style at Aunt Bev’s (Ted’s sister) and had a blast meeting their family, swimming and dining on BBQ ribs and chicken
- Toured Ft. Lauderdale with Ted, Mili, and Bonnie (their youngest daughter) and hit up stateside favorites like Target, TJ Maxx, and West Marine. Thanks for showing us around town!
- Stopped into a salon for the captain’s first haircut since leaving the country over six months ago
- Tuned into their wise counsel as we contemplate our next steps and life back in the states
- Feasted on an epic Surf ‘n’ Turf dinner at Chateau Cook, played Mexican Train (our signature entertainment), and watched game 1 of the Mavs/Heat finals as a sendoff before Ted and Mili head north on “Morning Glory”
- Drove to Pompano Beach on Wednesday evening to stay with Sean and Erica, longtime friends from Dallas who now live in Florida
- Dined at the hip Rocco’s Tacos with the Bakers (unbelievable margs, fresh tableside guac, seafood entrees!) and toured A1A Beachfront Avenue in the evening lights
- Raided the local Target, Fresh Market, and Walmart to fully reprovision
- Checked out the beach and A1A in the daylight on a trip to Bluewater Charts and Books to pick up Skipper Bob’s East Coast Guide
- More dining, this time at Greek Island Taverna with the Bakers and stayed up late visiting (on a school night for Sean and Erica)
- Raced back to Vero Beach to return the rental car on time while managing to pick up a whole new house battery bank for “Kaleo”. Whew.
- Stopped by “White Pepper” to say hello, thank you and farewell-for-now as they were heading north early the next morning.
- Joined Ted and Mili for dinner and Mexican Train as they had pulled in to Vero for the night on their transit north. (It felt like months since we’d seen them but writing this we realize that it was only a couple of days).
- Spent Saturday touring Vero Beach by way of their free well-kept, air-conditioned bus system. Enjoyed sushi lunch at Siam Orchid and a movie on the big screen (our first since December).
- Organized and packed all the groceries and supplies into the cavernous storage compartments on “Kaleo” and prepped to head north in the morning
- Started Sunday with a Lifechurch.tv service, “I Quit Comparing“, before getting underway for our next anchorage on the Banana River.
Though we already miss the crystal waters and laid-back lifestyle of the islands, it was nice to have such a warm welcome back stateside from great friends.
N 27° 39.3 / W 80° 22.2
