11/24 and 11/25 How we spent Thanksgiving and Black Friday

11/24 Thanksgiving.  Another beautiful day on the Okeechobee waterway.  Thankfully, we had good cell phone reception and had nice calls from our girls.  We got pictures of the Tyrell Thanksgiving in Milton that Alicia was attending (she held Liz's baby daughter, Allison Mildred)  pictures of each of the Backmeyers making side dishes, and we skyped with the Reichert family and got a picture of  them on the way to deliver dinner to Mission Control.

We cruised along the Caloosahatchee River.  We could see the bee hives along the river that hold the bees that pollinate the orange groves.

 We went through a few more small locks.  Along the canal, there was much work being done on the dyke that holds back the water and prevents flooding.  This is called the Herbert Hoover Dyke.

 In some spots along the canal, trees were just off to the side of the canal.  Note to self; Do Not Aim for the Trees. 

The sawgrasses went on for miles around the rim of the Lake.

We saw many osprey on markers.

Eventually, we entered Lake Okeechobee.

Lake Okeechobee is a very large but very shallow lake.  We were fortunate that the winds were light and did not kick up waves.  The crossing was about 16 miles.  These gulls followed us all the way across the Lake.  I think they thought we would offer them fish.  Sorry to disappoint them.

Many people have asked if we fish along the way.  The answer is no.  You need to have a fishing license for each state and Canada.  There is not reciprocity among the states.  It is just not cost effective.

We entered the St. Lucie River on the other side of the Lake.  John found us a beautiful anchorage.  He had bought sliced turkey with gravy from Publix.  It was microwavable and was actually pretty good.  I was thankful for the opportunity to do this trip with John.  We saw alligators but they didn't come close to the boat until morning.

11/25 Black Friday.  The alligators came close to the boat this morning.  I got this picture before we pulled anchor and headed toward the east coast.

Our first lock on the Great Loop was the lock in the Dismal Swamp.  We have locked over 140 locks since then.  We have locked up 89 feet and 2 feet.  We have locked through the Peterborough Lift lock and the Big Chute and locks on the major rivers; the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and the Tombigbee.  But today we locked through the St. Lucie Lock.  This is our last lock on our Great Loop.  There are no more locks between here and Wilmington.  It was actually kind of bittersweet.
Here is the St. Lucie lock.

Here is the Hydrophilic in the lock.

The Hydrophilic was reflected in the lock master's office window with the lock master.

With 7 miles left on the Okeechobee, we arrived in Stuart, FL.  We will stay here for 3 nights.  It is very nice here.  I had to try out the pool and hot tub.  The hot tub was very relaxing.  It was much better than shopping.

Lat 27 degrees 12.73 North
Long 80 degrees 15.36 West