And the Rocket's Red Glare!

We have enjoyed three great days of cruising since my last blog but Cape Canaveral (Kennedy to those of you younger than a certain age) topped it all by launching a rocket as we were on the approach to Kennedy Point Marina in Titusville. Unfortunately, we were headed due west and stern to the launch and all I really saw was the cloud of smoke at the launch pad but the Admiral watched the rocket and its flaming fuel go up through a number of layers of clouds. And then came the noise! Nice of them to plan that for our arrival! That "show" beat out an earlier event that day when the GoodYear Blimp overtook us heading up the AICW. We suspect they were on their way to Daytona which hosts the "500" this weekend.

Three days ago, we left Indiantown Marina where I escaped the alligator, dropped 14.26 feet back to sea level at the St. Lucie Lock, enjoyed our last miles on the Okeechobee Waterway, and entered the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW) which we will travel on to New York City. In addition to waiting for the Old Roosevelt double bascule bridge and the Britt Point Railway swing bridge to open for us simultaneously (so close together, they have to coordinate it all at once), we passed under both the Florida Turnpike and I-95 bridges, both of which we've driven over many times. It's much more fun in a boat!

North on the AICW a bit, we arrived at Nettles Island Marina. Nettles Island is rectangular, built from spoils, and offers an inexpensive but apparently fun and enjoyable retirement lifestyle with a mix of double wides, RVs, and stick built homes. Nearly every one of the hundreds of homes on the edge of the island hosted a boat lift although a surprising number sat empty. We went for a long walk and saw folks our age playing pickle ball, tennis, shuffle board, horseshoes and other games. We also passed by a pleasant community center and an "all welcome" church. As has been true of so many of the places we've been, people were surprisingly friendly and helpful. And, the marina grocery store provided a tasty pizza which we enjoyed watching the Super Bowl first half.

Yesterday, we changed it up by traveling to Loggerhead Marina at Vero Beach. Located in a gated community, it offered a swimming pool that we enjoyed all afternoon in 80+ degree temperatures while we did laundry (mundane but part of the boat life is doing

your towels and linens at a marina or nearby). We were excited to dock by a sister ship, the Back Cove 41 ComOcean.

Before traveling to dinner at the Ocean Grille on Vero Beach, we enjoyed watching Great Blue and Little Blue Herons flit about the marina while a murder of fish crows (I love saying that) accompanied them with background cawing.

Traveling north today, we enjoyed both narrow and less developed parts of the AICW (beautiful) along with wider and more heavily populated sections. For part of our trip, we travelled through heavy rain and visibility that was reduced enough to require our navigation lights and radar. In addition to the rocket launch and GoodYear blimp, countless dolphins and a wide variety of birds (wintering loons, nesting osprey, fishing osprey, diving terns, diving brown pelican, laughing gull, great blue heron, little blue heron, and the omnipresent cormorant) entertained us along the way.

Since arriving at Kennedy Point, we've done a grocery run to Walmart and secured the boat for what apparently will be a night with some rockin and rollin. Now, we're looking forward to a skirt steak on the grill but not before a good adult beverage. Hope you're having one too!