March 13, 2009: Venice, Fl

We made it a must to stop in Venice, Fl to see old Kiwanis friends, Bob and Jan Moore. We docked at the Crow’s Nest Marina just beyond a stone jetty in the crystal clear water. We even saw dophin playing in the water way as we came in.

Venice is a small water front community of around 20,000 with a wide divided main street lined with royal palms and palmettos. We had a beautiful view of the pier from the water when we were coming into Venice. Bob and Jan live minutes from town but on secluded, palm filled land at the end of a gravel road.

We had a wonderful dinner on the porch of the pier at Sharkey’s where we were introduced to seafood nachos. Bob, a local attorney, was full of stories about Sharkey’s construction including the palm roof structure, called a chickee, which avoided a building permit. Having it built by Seminole native people got around local zoning issues.

The Key Lime Pie Jan made for us was delicious and made from real key lines. Jan pointed out that if it the pie is made with limes from the Keys, it is a yellow pie, not green. Jan was getting ready to go to Cuba on a mission trip with her church, and we shared pictures of our trip there in 2005. It was great to be with old friends.

When they dropped us off at the marina we saw a very unusual sight. There was a strange creature in the water flapping its wings and undulating through the water. It looked like a cross between a sea ray and an octopus. It was a “bat fish” – God certainly does have a sense of humor.