It was another humid day! It seems that we’re finally into the summer weather pattern of possible afternoon thunderstorms forming after the heat buildup from the day. There was even a little fog hanging around this morning. We pulled away from the dock at 9:00 heading north to Venice for 1 or 2 days. We’ve never really stayed in downtown Venice before, so we thought we’d spend a couple of days there to check it out. It was about 19 miles to Venice, but we traveled at our usual 10 mph arriving at 11:30. We chose a slip at Fisherman’s Wharf Marina at the bridge in downtown Venice.
It is run by the owners of Marker 4 Oyster Bar and Restaurant. We got settled in at the marina and went up to the restaurant to register and walk Auggie.
After lunch, we took a hot walk across the bridge and down Venice Avenue, the main street in town.
We strolled along the street, ducking in and out of shops to catch some AC when we got too hot.
Bob played the gentleman and stopped to help a lady with her bike chain when it became derailed. The bike was in pretty bad shape all the way around, but he did what he could to get her moving again. We stopped in an old fashioned ice cream parlor for a root beer float (my favorite) and so Bob could wash the grease from his hands.
We cut through the park so that we could walk through the Venice Mall–a collection of shops in an old warehouse building.
On the way back, we stopped at the restaurant at the marina to check out their happy hour selections and see the noisy parrot that they had caged outside there.
He was a 30 year old macaw which was making quite a racket.
Back at the boat, we cooled off in the AC, did some reading, and computer work. At 4:00, we went back for happy hour and to use the $10 off coupon at the restaurant that we got for staying at the marina. After dinner, we walked Auggie and prepped the boat in case it rained overnight. The sky clouded up for awhile, but by sunset the clouds broke up a little and we could see the sky. While we watched a DVD we heard the wind pick up and it started to rain. Bob checked the radar and the rain wouldn’t last long. It rained for about 10 minutes and then it stopped. The rest of the night was clear and calm.
