We were supposed to have visited Joe and Linda in Michigan, but we postponed that side trip until another year.  Andy and I had both read articles about a possible budget standoff and another government (well, our concern was national park) shutdown. We saw all the Utah national parks in September and did not have to worry about being shut out again.

I saw on Facebook that Joe and Linda had arrived in Port Charlotte and made contact.  We left Wildwood at 0905 and arrived at their house at 1315.  It was only 159 miles.

Here is Sao parked in their driveway.

We sat and talked in the living room with cold drinks.

When the hunger pangs began, Linda suggested that we take their boat across Charlotte Harbor to Fisherman’s Village to eat at a restaurant on the water. Here, they are putting the bimini on the boat.

Bummer. the boat battery was dead.  It had been fully charged, but something is draining it overnight. We drove to Fisherman’s Village in the car. It is a waterfront shopping arcade with cutesy and touristy shops.  You walk past them to get to the restaurant on the waterfront.

It was late afternoon and we may have been the only patrons in there.  We got a great table in the corner with windows on two sides.  The one on the side faces the marina. Joe and Linda are about the cutest couple I’ve ever known.