Final Fiesta in the Grove

Our weather window seems to be holding, so we are sticking to our plan to take off to No Name Harbor on Tuesday and start the Gulf Stream crossing about 4am Wednesday. Our new GPS works super well, and it will help significantly. All the training I did on Claude's Garmin certainly helped. The GPS unit itself has an extraordinary amount of map/chart data already programmed in, and I have learned how to program waypoints and routes. Sweet! We will take a practice run out the channel Tuesday during the daytime, verify all our coordinates, and then head out Wednesday. It is sunny and mild again here, perfect weather for running in the morning and amusing oneself in the afternoon. Last night we took the fun seriously and "did the town" We started at the Cafe Tu Tu Tango with tapas and sangria, then a walk around and a stop at the Ritz-Carlton for Mohitos. They had a very good "smooth jazz" saxophonist playing to a tune track. The lobby bar was dramatic, at least 2 stories high with huge marble pillars and an enormous window looking out upon a lit fountain. The server brought us a trefoil-shaped dish of lovely mixed nuts and we felt very chic. Next another lovely stroll to listen to a supposedly jazz band at Cristadelle's Quarters. This four-story New Orleans-style restaurant is never very full, and we cannot figure out how they stay open. Anyway, we listened to the band there for a while (it was the same one as two Saturdays ago) and shoved off for our last stop - our favorite Sand Bar. In contrast to the elegant places we had been before, the Sandbar was packed! They have a bunch of screens, and all were playing the Steelers/jaguars game last night. Honestly, the beer and football experiences have been the most fun. So, we wrapped up our last big night in Miami in style and today are charting, planning, and doing last-minute projects. Even though slightly daunting, the thought of finally crossing to the Bahamas is getting the energy going and we feel very good about it. Sadly, Claude may not make the crossing with us after all, but he has a grand tour of the Florida Cays planned, and I am sure he will have a blast.