Friday is Here, oh my!

Friday dawned clear and sunny (I know, enough about the weather already).   I  put this day aside to tidy up the boat, gather our stuff and start to think about moving off the boat and heading home.  In a typical Scarlett O'Hara moment, I said, "I'll think about this tomorrow" and that's exactly what I did.  Instead, I primped a bit for my lunch with Laura.

We headed into downtown Stuart for lunch al fresco - a great little restaurant with a Mexican flair.  Patient friend that she is, Laura accompanied me on my determined search for a T shirt and whatever else for Tucker.  Let me tell you, Stuart is definitely not overrun with stores for children.  We eventually found a store where I bought a cute T shirt and hat for my little angel.  Laura and I giggled as we tried very hard to remember where we parked the car.  Since we were chattering while parking, very little attention was paid to where we were.  Stuart is such a great town - everyone greets each other, cars slow down, store merchants like to chat and there is a wonderful variety of great shops.

In what was getting to be a habit, I picked up my book after being dropped off and before our cocktail/dinner guest arrrived.  To give you an idea of how voracious my reading has been this week, I was down to the last 20 pages of a 650 page book by this time - mindless fiction, but great boat reading.

After cocktails, we headed to Courtine's, one of Stuart's best kept secrets.  Our friend was well known there, so we were shown to a great table and treated like visiting royalty.  Over 2 hours later, we managed to leave the table and head for the boats.  I was determined to soak up as much of the water, boats, night sky and stars that I could on our last night in paradise.  The last night aboard is always a difficult one to bear.  Try as I might, it's hard not to think of the crazy days ahead where I zip around all day and put in 14 hour days trying to fit everything in.  Life aboard is slower-paced; very few things need to be done at a set time on a specified day.  That in itself brings a remarkable sense of freedom that's hard to describe if you haven't experienced it.