More Florida Nostalgia

I took the above photograph of my sister Susan, trespassing on an unoccupied sailboat, sometime before 2005. I know it was before 2005 because it was taken at the marina in front of Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty. Whenever Susan and I would visit my mother Mary down in Stuart, Florida, where she lived for almost 30 years, we would go to Jack Baker's for the "Early Bird" special at least once during our stay, and walk around the marina afterwards. However, in the fall of that year Stuart was hit by two Category 3 hurricanes - within two weeks of each other, I might add - which destroyed this restaurant, as well as many other restaurants, hotels, and residences along the water. A lot of these places rebuilt, but many did not, including Jack Baker's. Just for good measure, another Category 3 hurricane hit Stuart the following year, too. I once thought of living on a boat down in Stuart, like the ones in the photo, but after I saw the damage caused by these storms, I thought again. Best to just walk around the marina and let somebody else worry about their boat when hurricane warnings are announced. The same goes for a house or condo right on the water. As humorist Dave Barry once famously said, living in Florida is great, except during hurricane season, which runs from June 1st through May 31st.