Clewiston

We made it to Clewiston to the only marina that can accommodate our boat, the Roland and Mary Ann Martin Marina and Resort.  You have to admire the strong woman who insisted on having her contribution to the business recognized but I think everybody just calls it Martins.  They were hosting a huge fishing tournament and we were adjacent to the bar complete with live music Saturday night.  The amps were so strong that our hatch boards rattled.  Not the best night at a dock but there are no other options so we endured.  Other than that it was fun to get back to a town that we had enjoyed on a previous adventure.  We had dinner at the Clewiston Inn.  The inn had hosted the bike ride for the two years we made the trip and it was nice to see it still in good shape.  The chef is different so the food was bland but ok.  On Sunday morning we went to Mass and found several other bikes there as well.  This is a great time of year to ride the dike path. We were able to get on the path for several miles ourselves for exercise and old time sake.   We had breakfast a Cuban cafe with interesting results, more later.  At the marina, we met the self proclaimed world's greatest dockmaster, Little Man.  He even has a Sail magazine article about his line twirling skills and outstanding level of service.  We found the hype to be true.  A nice visit was had by all.

Clewiston calls itself the bass capital of the world and just in case you need reminding, there are these neon fish on poles all over town.

Part of the bike path.  It is paved for a good bit of the entire circumference of the lake.  The places near towns usually have nice launch and picnic places.

The inn is an old hotel established by the railroad and then managed by the sugar industry.  The city has a long history of involvement by Cuban companies dealing with sugar.

On the shore side of the path you can see fields of sugarcane all over.

This is the cafe mentioned earlier.  The staff was great but not truly bi-lingual.  When I asked for a vegetable omelet something was lost in the translation and I was served a dish of vegetables.  The waiter gave me a quizzical look but didn't question my choice.  It was a great dish with a variety of vegetables but not quite the omelet I wanted.

A man and his bike, a beautiful thing.  Those pilings in the background are there to allow boats to tie up while they wait on a lock to open.

One side of the canal is farmland while the other is marsh with occasional high spots where trees can take root.