FEBRUARY 2026 CRUISE To MARINA JACK’S – SARASOTA, ST. PETE’S MUNICIPAL MARINA
AND CROW’S NEST – VENICE
On February 18th ,5 boats left for this year’s February cruise north. Little Suzy, Cookin’, Aurevoir Y’All, Karine and Top Shelf cruised up on a beautiful day with calm seas up to our first stop at Marina Jack’s which was supposed to be for 4 nights. Once we saw the seas would be very rough with high winds we decided to cut our stay down to 3 nights and cruise up to St. Pete’s Municipal Marina 1 day early. During our stay at Marina Jack’s we enjoyed some free time as well as group activities. Adding a little twist to this cruise, we had a few different scheduled events besides our group dinners together. Our second evening in Sarasota consisted of an early fabulous dinner at Rosemary & Thyme followed by a fabulous Murder Mystery Trolley Tour – “Who Killed The Circus Queen”. This consisted of terrific acting by professional actors who came aboard at various stops giving us hints on the murder as well as ourselves acting along as part of the show. Fun was had by all and will make a great memory for this part of our cruise.
Weather was on our side on February 21st as we cruised our way north to St. Pete’s Municipal Marina. After arriving safely, we had an impromptu group dinner at Doc’s Fords nearby. Our second evening was a relaxing open day for all to enjoy as they wish and our third evening consisted of a group dinner at Ruth Chris’s Steakhouse. The following day we participated in a scheduled Club Event in downtown St. Pete’s. Top Shelf, Little Suzy and Cookin’ enjoyed a Walking & Culinary Tour – “Taste of Downtown St. Petersburg”. This also was an excellent event which consisted of gaining some historical knowledge as we walked through the beautiful downtown. Our first stop was at Red Mesa Cantina which used to be the old firehall converted to this restaurant. Starting with Chips and Salsa followed by Shrimp and Beef Tacos and beverages made this stop one I think we all will be venturing back to as it was fabulous. Walking over to our second stop proved to be just as interesting as we strolled into a beautiful courtyard that we probably never would have found on our own. But even more interesting was the little bistro – Dracula Legacy Wine Bar and Bistro. The owner is Romanian and loves the Dracula theme and as you can see by the photo, the whole bistro décor was the Gothic Dracula/Transylvania of the legendary movie – “Dracula”. Here our food consisted of wonderfully prepared Charcuterie boards for the group.
Prior to heading to our final stop, our tour guide – Scott (who was excellent) brought us over to where the Grand Prix Race would be held that weekend. We would have loved to be there for the race but the Marina needed our slips. Maybe next year. We also toured a very interesting Art Gallery along the way. Our final stop was a restaurant close to the marina called Bella Brava New World Trattoria. There we enjoyed pizzas and salad.
To top of the evening, the entire group including Karine and family joined us for beverages on Little Suzy.
The following morning, February 25th we all cruised down to Crow’s Nest in Venice for our final 2 nights. Our first night was an open night and the second night was our Group Dinner at the marina at Crow’s Nest Upstairs which was excellent. Also, for our final night, we enjoyed some snacks and beverages on Little Suzy prior to dinner. The following day, we headed for home with what should have been 1 foot seas but definitely started off a little more intense as we headed out. But the winds died down and weather was on our side again as we enjoyed this final leg of our February Cruise. We sure have some amazing people in this club and George and I look forward to our next cruise in March!
See you then our fellow boaters!
Suzy Koprash
“Saltwater is in our veins!”
