Sunday - St Patrick's Day - March 17th

It is St Patrick's Day today and there was a parade on Anna Maria Island so we decide that coming off the island and getting back on would be even harder so we decided to stay in the vicinity of our condo today. 

Crystal clear water

This morning we walked along the beach to Rod Reel pier which was similar to the pier near us.  The sea was crystal clear and very inviting.  At the pier, there were lots of fishermen and visitors . We could see the fish swimming around the wooden stakes holding up the pier but not many were being caught.

We tried to book our condo for next March but it was already booked out so we started to look for other similar accommodation and have booked a place with a jetty and boat mooring which we can cancel for free before January next year. We are going to rentals place tomorrow to see if there is anything else available on this complex. If there is we will book it and cancel the place we booked today. It seems that a lot of accommodation has to be booked a year in advance.

This afternoon we walked to the ice cream shop and had a whopper of an ice cream cornet. Now we have had one I think that will be the last while we are here.

Rod Reel Pier

We later went out to see the St Patrick's Day parade. There were lots of floats from the emergency services and people who had decorated their buggies with green tinsel. They were throwing necklaces from the floats as well as sweets and coins. I have collected a few necklaces to bring home for the girls.

This evening we ate the edible fish which Ben had caught. There were 2 sorts:- flounder and sheepshead. They were both very tasty so he will have to catch more to save on the $15 steaks we have been eating!!

Tomorrow is forecast to be thundery so we are not sure what to plan to do.

A few pictures of the St Patrick's Parade below.