Check out Greg and Jo Callway’s newsy article below. It is packed full of good dining tips for both Venice and Boca Grande!

Now that we have One Fine Tolly ship shape we hope to carve out enough time to take a few long weekend cruises this summer. We hadn’t been to Venice in many years so we booked a couple night at the Crows Nest Marina. On the way up Wednesday May 28th we stayed at the Palm Island Marina in Cape Haze. After arranging for a face dock so we could dropped our tender we headed out to explore Placida Harbor, lunch at the Stump Pass Grille & Tiki was good and the locals friendly. On the way back to the marina we stopped off at Rum Bay on Knights Key for a great beach view.
Off to Venice early Friday via beautiful Lemon Bay, mostly local fishing boats enroute, not many cruisers. There where a few boats at the Crows Nest Marina and due to our request for a face dock they put us at the north end of the long dock, unfortunately close to where the no wake zone starts from the Venice Inlet which created more wake than if we where further in. In general this marina has a surge off the Gulf which kept us rolling most of the time, we will look for other options next time. Otherwise the view was spectacular and it was fun watching the different boats enter and exit the cut and sunsets where nice. The marina has free courtesy bicycles so we road into the picturesque downtown area and up the beach, dinner at the Crow’s Nest Restaurant was good but a bit pricey. Saturday found us in the tender cruising the waterway past the Venice Yacht Club and then North for lunch at Pop’s Sunset Grill, a fun open air restaurant right on the Intracoastal, the bar was full of locals enjoying their Friday afternoon in the sun. Then off to check out Pelican Alley just a hundred yards down the waterway, more upscale but almost empty and the views are not as good.
Off Saturday morning we called the Boca Grande Marina for an early check in, but due to the lunch crowd they didn’t want us there until 3:00, I called back later and eventually got in about 1:30. Enroute we explored the Englewood Beach channel anchorage that Claiborne Young recommends, very quiet with barrier island on one side and residential on the other, also near the White Elephant Pub. Once through the Gasparilla Railway Bridge we cruised into the Fishery Restaurant to see what the approach was like and then the Gasparilla Marina which is quite a complex. Most everything was recently constructed, lots of condos, marina, huge rack storage buildings, Ships Store and the recently opened Waterside Grill. Looks like a very busy place, noticed David & Gail Bernstein where there for a night on a recent cruise so I’ll have to get the lowdown.
On our way to The Boca Grande John Ingraham gave us a shout on the radio on his way the the Venice Yacht Club.The Boca Grande Marina is always a treat, 2 dock hands met us and secured everything, we washed the boat down and had a great late lunch at Millers Dockside. The Eagle Grill restaurant on second floor is closed for the season and the Dockside will do the same shortly but the Marina will be open all summer according to the Harbor Master. We enjoyed watching the boats come and go and due to a fishing tournament in Boca Grande Pass that night the place was hoping with activity.
The cruise back Sunday was uneventful like you hope it will be when everything is operating as it should. Hopefully some time this summer we can make it to the Marco-Goodland area for some exploration, another spot we haven’t been to in many years.
Greg & Jo Callaway