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| A Rose Amongst Thorns |
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| Sunset Bay Marina |
Well it's been sometime since our last post but Kris and I have covered a lot of territory over the past several weeks. We are currently tied up at the dock at Sunset Bay Marina located on the St. Lucie river in Stuart, FL. We plan to stay here until the first week of April and use the time to organize our move to Belize. We anticipate leaving for Belize on or about the first week in May. After our arrival in Stuart on 2/8/11 we rented a storage unit off I-95. I had been negotiating with several car dealerships back in New York since early January. Our 2009 Sonata was in storage in NY and it is not a suitable vehicle for the roads in Belize. Therefore, we were searching for a 4WD pick up truck with 4 doors and good gas mileage.
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| Why move to Belize???? |
We made a deal on a 2011 Nissan Frontier with Marc Kuzio at Nissan North in Fulton, NY. We flew back to NY on 2/16/11 to complete the deal. We picked the truck up on the 17th and installed a tow hitch at U-Haul the next day. All of our personal belongings were in storage at HC Storage in Westmoreland, NY. We rented an 5'X8' trailer and packed up all of our possesions on Friday and Saturday.
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| Moving Day |
On Sunday morning we met Kris's Mom and Dad for breakfast, packed a few remaining items into the trailer and set off on our drive back to Stuart towing a trailer full of memories of our life in Central New York. As has been the case on this whole journey we have to thank several people for their assistance in helping us with this stage of the move. Marc Kuzio the salesman at Nissan North understood our situation and negotiated openly an honestly by telephone and the internet. Several other dealers who shall remain nameless refused to offer pricing or conduct negotiations on line. Too bad for them because Kris and I got a great deal and they lost out on a sale. Thanks again Marc! My sister Marsey and her husband Alan let us store our Sonata in their garage from August until we traded it in. It was great to have it inside and well protected during these many months. Thanks Marsey and Alan! My sister Becky opened her home to Kris and I while we were in CNY finalizing the car deal and packing up our belongings. Her home was conveniently located to everything. She was also instrumental in selling my 2001 Dodge Dakota Sport in mid January. Thanks Becky! Last but not least we'd like to thank Kris's dad Percy for his help loading the trailer. It was a cold and blustery Sunday morning but Percy at age 96 was right there helping us load the last of our possessions. What a man! Thanks Percy! While in NY we did have a chance to visit our old dockmates Sam and Barb for an evening of cocktails and laughs. We keep the home fires burning knowing that the four of us will one day sail together again. On Saturday evening Kris and I joined my sister Becky for dinner at Ventura's restaurant an East Utica landmark. Without a doubt Utica has the best Italian restaurants in the country and Ventura's is one of the best in Utica. We had a great time and the food was excellent. We took our time driving back to Stuart making stops in Chambersburg Pennsylvania, North Myrtle Beach and St. Augustine FL.
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| View from Hotel Rosselle South, N Myrtle Beach |
While in North Myrtle Beach we stayed with Kris's sister Kathy and brother in law Mike at their condo on the beach. We had a great time catching up but regrettably had to leave the next day to get back to Stuart. We arrived back in Stuart on 2/23/11. All of our belongings are now in storage and we're shopping for furniture and appliances for our home in Belize. The next several weeks will be spent negotiating with shipping companies and getting the boat stored on the "Hard" at the Indiantown Marina. This will be an extremely busy time for us but it's very exciting as well. We love the Stuart area. Sunset Bay Marina is friendly and the restaurant at the marina "Sailor's Return" has live music Wed - Sunday nights. Acts very from Blues to Jazz to contemporary rock music. A river walk runs from the marina to historic Stuart along the southfork of the St. Lucie river. A bandstand is located on the river when you reach the historic district. The City of Stuart sponsors live bands perfoming free of charge on weekends and holidays.
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| Riverwalk Concert |
We caught a fantastic latino group called the Mosca Project one Sunday afternoon. They really got the crowd on their feet and rocking.
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| Bathtub Beach, Hutchinson Island |
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| Don't tread on me!!!!! |
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| Bathtub Beach |
We are just a few miles from the beaches on Hutchinson Island and plan to ride our bikes over several times each week time permitting. Also we are close to many family and friends. Son Marc is living in West Palm Beach and my sister Marsey is also down for a couple of months at their home in West Palm Beach. This past weekend we drove over to Rotonda, Fl. located just south of Venice where we visited Ihor and our friends Gary and Gail Rushford who we worked with at the CNYDSO. Gary and Gail have a home in Englewood and we went out to lunch for Gary's birthday. We really had a good time. Now that we have a car and we're staying at a marina our life has become a bit more conventional. We'll enjoy the relative stability for the next few weeks as we're certain to encounter many new adventures as we settle into our Belizean home. The weather is outstanding with temperatures in the high 70's and low 80's with blue skies and sunshine everyday. That's about it for now. We'll keep you all posted on the move. Belize or bust!
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Extra Crew???
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