We finally figure it out (Florida Boating, Post 26)

Sunday, Feb. 14 Valentines Day

We finally had a good night out on the water! It was calm – we had wind but no swell – the boat was not rocking & rolling – it hardly moved at all. And we never got close to bottom at low tide. Fourth night’s the charm! Finally we found a good anchorage. This has been a learning curve!

This anchorage is well protected from the south and southeast winds, and it’s deep enough to not ground in middle of the night with an unexpectedly low tide.

Here’s what I saw when I got up in the morning. That’s what it’s supposed to look like!

On Sunday morning we relaxed and played on the water – one of the few days so far on this vacation that felt like a vacation.

But now it was time to sail back to shore.

We had originally planned to sail 5 days, stay in the resort for 2, and sail for another 5 days. But we would not be able to go out on the second sailing trip, due to deteriorating weather, in particular, a forecast of high winds. We already had higher winds than ideal, and our little boat just wouldn’t do well in worse winds. Our sailing for this trip is soon to be over. We would have to pull the boat out of the water, put it in storage, and hope to be back some other time.

We were reluctant to leave, even though we had already paid for our reservations at the resort for that night and it was way too late for a refund. We seriously considered staying on the boat instead! It was like – we finally got this thing figured out, and now we don’t want to leave!

We sailed back to shore sadly, knowing that we would be taking the boat out of the water instead of going back out for another several days.

We had reserved just a basic room – some of which are quite nice, like the one we had prior to our boat trip – perfectly cute and comfortable. But it was Sunday afternoon, Valentines Day, in the middle of a 3-day weekend (President’s Day). The only room still available was their absolute worst room. It was a downstairs unit of a 2-story building, across the street from the rest of the resort. It only had one high window that faced a vacant lot, and the room smelled musty.

You would think that we would just be grateful for a shower and a bed that didn’t rock with the swells, but I can be surprisingly discouraged when I don’t get a good vibe from my hotel room. I did my best to try to like the room and told myself to quit being spoiled and entitled, but frankly, I wished we had stayed an extra night on the boat! The weather hadn’t turned rough yet, we could have had one more nice day. Regret!

First thing the next morning I was on the phone to the front desk hoping to get a better room as the long-weekenders left and the resort quieted down. They didn’t have any basic rooms coming available, but they did have an upgraded room coming open that afternoon (for a chunk more money). 

I’m like, yes please! Do you need my credit card number again? Let’s do this! (You only live once, right?) And think of all the money we saved sleeping on a boat for 4 nights, not to mention sleeping in rest areas on the freeway on the way out. Plus, it was still a modest room. It was expensive, but not nearly as expensive as their premium rooms, which are small apartments with private decks and full kitchens. Now that would be fun someday.

Even though our room itself was disappointing, there was a pretty area in back along the canal where we ate our breakfast the next morning, while waiting for our new room to come available.

While eating breakfast I spent a long time on the phone with the cancer center in Tucson, trying to get my appointments scheduled for when we return. I have to do bloodwork and a CT scan as soon as I’m back. I’m grateful to be on vacation, but the cancer is still lurking back there; it’s a reality that never goes away.

Our new room is wonderful! Large, with both a mini-fridge and a microwave and a little breakfast nook table. The table will be very handy because I plan to work on Monday and Tuesday afternoon.

And it had three windows! They don’t advertise number of windows, but that’s how I judge a room. How many windows?

And it is also a waterfront room – the window above the table faced the water. What a perfect place to work! A beautiful room. I love this room! Best upgrade ever! Now I don’t want to leave.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com