Livin' on Land for a day in Matlacha

~ Still in Stuart - still trying to get the engine fixed - Don has driven to Fort Peirce to stand over the mechanic who said the part would be fixed on Thursday. We are fearful of him closing for the weekend and still no part.  We need to start our journey north.   We had a great - too short - trip to the west coast - We liked Fort Meyers and loved our stay in Matlacha - funky, fun, colorful - just my style.  Photo is of our motel  - the motel is on a dock - it was wonderful to have the water view on such a windy day but nothing was bouncy. Great to sleep in a bed and not share the shower room. We watched the dolphins fee right out the room window ! Sean and Joan stayed there in February and gave us the information - it was a real kick.

We got to the village late in the afternoon after a day of looking at boats so had just enough time to wander around the art galleries before heading off to Bert's Bar ( everyone including Sean and Joan says that's here to go for dinner ). It was delicious and again - a funky atmosphere of real bar flies, pool players, very senior citizens who had come for all you can eat fish fry night and just about everything in between.  The honky tonk music started at 6;30 - we were too tired and people were waiting for tables so we scidaddled back to our room to sleep in a real bed ...ahhhhh......

On the way back we drove north of Lake OKeechobee, we were really surprised by the vastness of the landscape, the ruralness, the huge ranches, thousands of cows. It felt like we were in Montana. It was clearly an impoverished  area, extremely interesting to see but no where I ever would like to live by a long shot !

49 degrees in the boat this morning - the winter that won't end.