Thanksgiving Day the American Way

Thursday 27 November was American Thanksgiving Day. A perfect day in all respects. A brilliant sun rose out of glassy Biscayne Bay and painted the high rises first orange, then rosy pink. Sunrise here is so spectacular we don't want to miss it - particularly on Thanksgiving Day. We'd spent two nights at anchor - the second without any apparent dragging - and had spent some time at Monty's restaurant and waterside bar the previous night! Today we had nothing to do except get ourselves to my schoolfriend, Sue's house for Turkey dinner by 4 p.m. To celebrate in true Canadian/British style I cooked bacon and eggs and, dare I admit it.....fried bread (delicious,decadent and artery clogging) for breakfast, and we drank a toast -in strong black coffee - to American/Canadian/British fellowship everywhere. We had decided that we'd better move 'Southern Vectis' into a dock at Dinner Key Marina as the dinghy ride back in the dark, after a Margarita or three, had proved daunting after our Monty's session. So we prized ourselves away from our tranquil anchorage and joined the parties ashore early in the afternoon. Everyone at the dock was very friendly and helpful. We had a wonderful time at Sue and Jean's Thanksgiving party. Catering for a group of about 18 family and friends is not easy - but both the company and the food were perfect. We loved the garden and pool area, though Sue said it was too cold to swim although the air temperature was over 80F! It was also great to meet up with another Isle of Wight schoolfriend, Jeannette. We had last seen each other in 1995 at a significant birthday event! Such a lot of catching up to do!
Friday 28 November
We left the Marina and spent a day sailing in Biscayne Bay. We wanted to get to know the waters and get a better feel for how the boat handles. Again, it was a perfect, blue, breezy day. We had hoped to spend the night anchored in 'No Name Bay', which is at the south end of Key Biscayne, but is was chock-a-block with boats all seemingly still celebrating Thanksgiving! So we move to a peaceful anchorage just around the corner on the west side of Key Biscayne. Today we'll probably sail to another anchorage and may move back to the Marina for Sunday and Monday night as strong winds and the possibility of thunder storms are called for. More anon.