Tarpon Springs to Anclote Island 11/9/17

I got dog walking duty this morning so we took the bike and rode through the downtown and the sponge docks over to the dog park about a mile away.  I felt when we entered the "large dogs" section that Abby was the little princess in her party dress meeting the local trailer trash. There were all kinds of mutts all doing their best to hump her or sniff her butt. She was quite intimidated at first but she became more comfortable as time passed and ran and played with the other dogs.  After about half an hour she was tired and we rode back over to the marina.  I don't think I will be hearing much from her for the rest of the day. I spent the morning sorting out why I had not received a renewal for the motorcycle in the mail.  The plates expired in August but I hadn't noticed and now I had to find out why.  It appears that when I changed the address on my drivers license it automatically changed the address for the registration of the motorcycle to Charleston County.  The DMV told me they would not renew the plate until the property taxes were paid and that I had to pay them in Charleston County.  I spoke with the Tax Auditor in Lexington County where I work and paid them last year and he advised me to just pay them in Charleston County and ask for a special mailing address so the renewal went to my address in Lexington. That took an hour or so and I also checked on the property taxes for the boat.  The reason I changed my drivers license was to save money on the property taxes in Lexington County for the boat.  Lexington wanted $11,000.00 dollars property tax and I ended up paying less than $800.00 in Charleston.  Lots of hoops to jump through but well worth it. While it looks like there are as many hoops to jump through again this year and I got started in finding all of the information required to have the lower rate in Charleston County.

Debbie had gone off shopping at the Sponge Docks and we were to meet at Rusty Bellies for lunch because we were too full to go last night.  I completed the motorcycle renewal and got it mailed off with the forms and check.  We had a very nice lunch on the water at Rusty Bellies, Debbie had shrimp and I had a whole grilled fish, Porgy I think, that was very good. Beer today I'm done with Sangria!!   After lunch Debbie dragged me to a shop where she had found nice men's shorts that she wanted me to try on and I did.  They were nice and I got two pairs.  Thanks Honey.

A statue dedicated to the sponge divers that this Greek inspired community grew up with

Abby goes to the Dog Park

She didn't know which way to turn, so many dogs

Cute little Australian sheep dog

We had to wait for the tide to come in before we could get out of the Anclote River, so around 3:00 we headed off as two other Loopers docked at Turtle Cove.  We didn't go very far out the river and anchored behind Anclote Island for the night.  It was a peaceful evening on the hook and we are excited about moving to Marker 1 Marina tomorrow where we will stay for a month.  It's been non stop travelling for 7 plus months and a stay for a month should be a nice break.