All anchorages are not created equally

For the past three days we have been enjoying the Historic Village of Longbeach: 1885-1955. (Apparently life here hasn’t changed much in 59 years.) It’s situated along the ICW on Longboat Key at the northern tip of a 10 mile-long barrier island mid-way between Tampa Bay and Sarasota. When we lunched under the spreading buttonwood trees at the Mar Vista Restaurant, exuding Old Florida charm, we saw “Please don’t feed the peacocks” notices. It wasn’t until we took a longer hike around the neighborhood that we discovered just how large the peacock population was... perched on roof tops, poised on verandas, parading across streets and lawns... oh my! Another surprising find was the Ringling College of Art and Design located on the campus of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a 5-minute walk from our anchorage. Darcy joined the 3-hour Learning Lab for Painting and Materials yesterday afternoon and returned with a canvas of exuberant sunflowers in a blue vase. The teachers were juniors at the college and they were both talented and encouraging. What a gift! Wally used that time to set up his own learning lab on the aft deck of Summertime and created drink coasters by coiling sisal rope and stitching it pine needle basket-style. Every boat should have some.