Hi Marc, very moving video this week. Such devastation. Just tonight, in our campground in AZ, I was talking with a couple that lost everything outside of Fort Meyer’s. They decided to that Ian was the last straw for them, and they hit the road. They are looking in the southwest for a place to land. For now they are living in their RV, and enjoying life.
I truly feel for the folks you met, Gerald. It's heartbreaking down there -- and I say that as someone who's weathered multiple hurricanes. That devastation is mind-numbing.
Those are my favorite beaches for vacation. Taken my boat down many times. Been visiting Johns Pass since I was a child. I was already jealous of all your travels out west to now find out you also had a beautiful sailboat in FL!! My two dreams are sailing the Bahama Abacos and taking my RV out west.
Looks beautiful Marc, except for the excessive commercialisation. We too headed south for the winter - to the Sunshine Coast Queensland! We can't wait to get back to the US though. Thanks again for your excellent work. The Two Tasmanians
We completely agree, CQA. Having lived once in that area ourselves, we had a ball going back for the first time in ~20 years to rekindle old memories and see what's changed, and better yet what hasn't.
Fabulous coverage of the area, Marc. You captured all the best of the area. There were even some areas you covered that I was not familiar with, having lived there during the time you used to live there. Wow... downtown Sarasota sure has changed. I hardly recognized it. I remember when it was quaint. But then big money moved in from the East and everything started to change from 2005 onward... real estate skyrocketed. I sold my home for twice what I paid for it, only four years later. I'm glad Pine Island survived, even though it was destroyed. I mean, the people are building back again. The result will be mostly a whole new modern look... you will have to go north to the area you just covered to see quaint beachside homes. Gord
The folks of Pine Island are resilient, Gord. We may be surprised by how they rebuild. As for downtown Sarasota, sad but true that I'm fine if I never return.
I had a cruiser years ago and continue to get an occasional thought of acquiring another larger boat. My land cruiser is serving me well. The areas you highlighted are areas of Florida I enjoy. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I still get to Florida a coupe times a year. Really nice job on your editing.
Thanks Marc for showing the areas close to & the exact spot the storm surge did the most damage. I'm impressed at how little damage it did once you get further from the epicenter of the eye. We're planning a winter trip down there later in mid January so thanks again for the information.
Interesting video. Did not think the area was open per Ian…. You mentioned your “employer” Are they in the Travel Industry. Thought you were retired nomads. Great Adventures. Great work Mark
Thanks Dave! I'm in the insurance claims industry, hence my reason for going to Pine Island. I still work a 40-hour work week in addition to GA. It keeps me busy for sure.
@@GrandAdventure Thanks Mark. Great work. I worked now retired but did Disaster Public Assistance work for 11 years. Got me to see alot of different areas I would have never seen if not working. Keep up the great videos
Thanks for another well done video Marc. Prayers for the people of Florida that have been devastated by this hurricane. And I hope you and yours have a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving.
I hope you check out the east coast of Florida. Long point campground near Sebastian Inlet is awesome. Would love to meet up with you as well…enjoy the content..
Thanks for the tip Thom! Our sole visit to the FL EC was St. Augustine this trip, but that leaves a lot on the table for our next trip through the state.
Great video Marc. Love the area. Do you miss living down there? Do miss having the boat? It is a lot more risky on a boat than an RV. That ship in your video looked exactly like the one I was on in 1987 when I went into Tampa to load fertilizer for Mombasa, Kenya. How is the sand? My wife wants to know if it is coarse or fine? I feel for those people in their loss after the hurricane. We still have people in our area rebuilding after the fires in 2017! Ram 🤙🏼🤙🏽
The sand down there is ridiculously fine, Ram. It's so fine that it squeaks when you walk on it. There are definitely some things we miss about the sailboat, but the RV feels like a sailboat on wheels to us. Honestly, as much as we enjoyed our time there, it has changed so much that I don't think I would want to live there now.
I have now lived in Tampa Bay for 15.5 years and unfortunately it is a game of haves and have nots. If you are on the wrong side of the bay (of which I am, living south of Plant City inland) you do not get the beaches, the shore life, the sunsets or well basically nothing. Our part of the state is the only part of the state in my opinion where you can not "feasibly" enjoy being a "floridian" in the traditional sense. I have driven just about anywhere in Florida now and in most parts you can be "on the beach" usually within 1 hour. Not where I live. There is a bermuda triangle that stretches from Tampa to Haines City down to Lake Placid and Ruskin where if you are in that general area, you might as well forget ever finding yourself on the beach. My closest anything beach is 2.5 hours driving distance. For that very reason I have began very seriously preparing myself "for the move". My goal is to get much much closer to Bradenton so that I could be 45 minutes to Anna Maria, DeSoto and Cocroach Bay while still within driving distance to work. I have more or less settled on moving to Parish but jury is still out.
That's an interesting analysis, and one that I honestly hadn't thought of -- especially because I worked on the Tampa/Brandon line when we lived there, and many of my co-workers lived in your Bermuda Triangle. But you raise a very valid point.
Your video was doing great until we got to Matlacha and Pine Island. The imagery made me want to vomit, it is so sickening. I was out of town traveling to New England when the storm hit, my wife was in North Pinellas riding it out. We were blessed to not even lose power. So sorry for our neighbors to the south.
Glad to hear that you fared well, BE. Yeah, we thought long and hard about including those scenes from Pine Island and Matlacha, both because of the heartache (we didn't want to appear sensationalist) and because those areas really had nothing to do with the "Lower Tampa Bay" video subject, but in the end decided that it was more important to share with our viewers what those poor folks are going through. Once the initial damage assessment was over the national media immediately moved on to other things, so we don't think that many outside of southwestern Florida realize what's still going on down there. We rode out a number of tropical systems ourselves while living in Manatee and southern Pinellas Counties, and know all too well the anxiety that you and your wife experienced. It's part of Florida life, but that doesn't make it any easier when you take a direct hit from a powerhouse like Ian was.
@@GrandAdventure I appreciate that you "did" include that. It is important to share. My wife and I honeymooned in Ft.Myers Beach, so that area has a special place in our hearts. Safe travels.
Not far from our home in Pinellas County. Pine Island is heartbreaking. Friends we have lost everything. We are grateful everyday.
It's just a reminder that we have much to be grateful for, Mike.
Miss living in Florida but enjoy going back to visit our daughter
I'm happy to be now living on the road, but we truly enjoyed our swing through the state.
Hi Marc, very moving video this week. Such devastation. Just tonight, in our campground in AZ, I was talking with a couple that lost everything outside of Fort Meyer’s. They decided to that Ian was the last straw for them, and they hit the road. They are looking in the southwest for a place to land. For now they are living in their RV, and enjoying life.
I truly feel for the folks you met, Gerald. It's heartbreaking down there -- and I say that as someone who's weathered multiple hurricanes. That devastation is mind-numbing.
Those are my favorite beaches for vacation. Taken my boat down many times. Been visiting Johns Pass since I was a child. I was already jealous of all your travels out west to now find out you also had a beautiful sailboat in FL!! My two dreams are sailing the Bahama Abacos and taking my RV out west.
We've surely been blessed by an adventurous life, DN. Thank you!
Looks beautiful Marc, except for the excessive commercialisation. We too headed south for the winter - to the Sunshine Coast Queensland! We can't wait to get back to the US though. Thanks again for your excellent work. The Two Tasmanians
Thank you as always, Leigh! Glad that you made it home safely, and hope to see you down the road.
That RV Park is next door to where I went to high school!
Yep, and our kid went to Braden River Elementary.
@@GrandAdventure small world!
Wow, from living in a boat to a home and rv, pretty amazing. Awesome video. Looking forward to the next episode. Thanks Don
Thank you so very much as always, Don!
Love this area. Use to live in Bradenton and love to visit the Sarasota area often. A l l of Tampa Bay is great to visit.
We completely agree, CQA. Having lived once in that area ourselves, we had a ball going back for the first time in ~20 years to rekindle old memories and see what's changed, and better yet what hasn't.
You make some top notch videos Marc! They feel like a network television show. Happy travels.
Thank you so much!
Nice 👍 educational video 😎😎😜😋
Thank you! We appreciate that you took the time to watch.
Thank you for the tour I sure have enjoyed it. I love it. Great place,I want to visit sometime.
We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it, Sherrie. Thank you so much.
Outstanding video 👍👍👍
Thank you Leo!
We went through all that area with our sailboat and loved it. Even stayed at John’s Pass. Now in a class having fun. Enjoy your videos!
Thank you Kenneth! It's some phenomenal sailing around there, as long as you don't find the shallow spots. 😄
Enjoyed the video. Happy Thanksgiving!! Take care.
Thanks CP, hope your holiday was wonderful.
I'm glad you do an awesome job of showing the beauty of Florida. I won't be able to get there myself. Thanks GA
Thanks as always J!
thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
The devastation is unreal! Knew it was bad, loss of lifes even more devastating. Thanks for sharing. Our prayers our with those!
Indeed Larry. We thought about skipping that segment, but felt that it was important to share what we saw.
Thanks for the great videos.
Glad you like them Matt, thanks for watching!!
Love your videos! Keep up the good work!
Wally
Thank you Wally!
Marc! Good to see you…great video as usual😊
Thank you as always Johanna!
Great as normal. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks as always Norm! Hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Really enjoyed this video, thanks Marc. Superior job as always! Happy Thanksgiving to you and family!
Thanks as always Joyce! We hope that your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well.
Fabulous coverage of the area, Marc. You captured all the best of the area. There were even some areas you covered that I was not familiar with, having lived there during the time you used to live there.
Wow... downtown Sarasota sure has changed. I hardly recognized it. I remember when it was quaint. But then big money moved in from the East and everything started to change from 2005 onward... real estate skyrocketed. I sold my home for twice what I paid for it, only four years later.
I'm glad Pine Island survived, even though it was destroyed. I mean, the people are building back again. The result will be mostly a whole new modern look... you will have to go north to the area you just covered to see quaint beachside homes.
Gord
The folks of Pine Island are resilient, Gord. We may be surprised by how they rebuild. As for downtown Sarasota, sad but true that I'm fine if I never return.
I had a cruiser years ago and continue to get an occasional thought of acquiring another larger boat. My land cruiser is serving me well. The areas you highlighted are areas of Florida I enjoy. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I still get to Florida a coupe times a year. Really nice job on your editing.
Thanks so much BBB!
We did good in Bonita Springs. Bonita Beach to Ft Myers beach is terrible to see now.
Happy to hear that you fared decently. Clearly some took a beating.
Looks very similar to siesta key
Anna Maria is very similar to Siesta Key, albeit with a deeper sense of community.
Never been to the area, but I’ll be going to Tampa General for work eventually
When you do, Barratt, look south to Manatee County for the area's best beaches
Thanks Marc for showing the areas close to & the exact spot the storm surge did the most damage. I'm impressed at how little damage it did once you get further from the epicenter of the eye. We're planning a winter trip down there later in mid January so thanks again for the information.
Our pleasure to share it, Dirk. Even within a radius of, say, 25 or 30 miles there's damage that's readily apparent.
Interesting video. Did not think the area was open per Ian…. You mentioned your “employer” Are they in the Travel Industry. Thought you were retired nomads. Great Adventures. Great work Mark
Thanks Dave! I'm in the insurance claims industry, hence my reason for going to Pine Island. I still work a 40-hour work week in addition to GA. It keeps me busy for sure.
@@GrandAdventure Thanks Mark. Great work. I worked now retired but did Disaster Public Assistance work for 11 years. Got me to see alot of different areas I would have never seen if not working. Keep up the great videos
@@daveholte7658 thank you! That sounds like a fascinating and incredibly rewarding career choice.
Thanks for another well done video Marc. Prayers for the people of Florida that have been devastated by this hurricane. And I hope you and yours have a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving.
We hope that your holiday was wonderful as well, Timaz. Thank you as always!
I hope you check out the east coast of Florida. Long point campground near Sebastian Inlet is awesome. Would love to meet up with you as well…enjoy the content..
Thanks for the tip Thom! Our sole visit to the FL EC was St. Augustine this trip, but that leaves a lot on the table for our next trip through the state.
The Wife and I went To Baytown, Texas to meetup with Marc and Zoey. Wife was upset we didn't get a picture of Us together.. O well next Time..
That just gives us a reason for next time, bud.
Some of that storm damage looks exactly like the homeless encampments in my neighborhood including the boats.. I wish I were joking 🙃
Sad but unfortunately true, J.
Great video Marc.
Love the area. Do you miss living down there?
Do miss having the boat?
It is a lot more risky on a boat than an RV.
That ship in your video looked exactly like the one I was on in 1987 when I went into Tampa to load fertilizer for Mombasa, Kenya.
How is the sand? My wife wants to know if it is coarse or fine?
I feel for those people in their loss after the hurricane.
We still have people in our area rebuilding after the fires in 2017!
Ram
🤙🏼🤙🏽
The sand down there is ridiculously fine, Ram. It's so fine that it squeaks when you walk on it.
There are definitely some things we miss about the sailboat, but the RV feels like a sailboat on wheels to us. Honestly, as much as we enjoyed our time there, it has changed so much that I don't think I would want to live there now.
Marc, the word "Florda in the title is missing the "i". 🙏
Thank you for catching that for me!
@@GrandAdventure 👍
I have now lived in Tampa Bay for 15.5 years and unfortunately it is a game of haves and have nots. If you are on the wrong side of the bay (of which I am, living south of Plant City inland) you do not get the beaches, the shore life, the sunsets or well basically nothing. Our part of the state is the only part of the state in my opinion where you can not "feasibly" enjoy being a "floridian" in the traditional sense. I have driven just about anywhere in Florida now and in most parts you can be "on the beach" usually within 1 hour. Not where I live. There is a bermuda triangle that stretches from Tampa to Haines City down to Lake Placid and Ruskin where if you are in that general area, you might as well forget ever finding yourself on the beach. My closest anything beach is 2.5 hours driving distance. For that very reason I have began very seriously preparing myself "for the move". My goal is to get much much closer to Bradenton so that I could be 45 minutes to Anna Maria, DeSoto and Cocroach Bay while still within driving distance to work. I have more or less settled on moving to Parish but jury is still out.
That's an interesting analysis, and one that I honestly hadn't thought of -- especially because I worked on the Tampa/Brandon line when we lived there, and many of my co-workers lived in your Bermuda Triangle. But you raise a very valid point.
Matlacha is locally pronounced Mat-la-shay.
We appreciate the correction, Mike. It wouldn't be a Grand Adventure video if we didn't screw up a local pronunciation. 😄
Your video was doing great until we got to Matlacha and Pine Island. The imagery made me want to vomit, it is so sickening. I was out of town traveling to New England when the storm hit, my wife was in North Pinellas riding it out. We were blessed to not even lose power. So sorry for our neighbors to the south.
Glad to hear that you fared well, BE. Yeah, we thought long and hard about including those scenes from Pine Island and Matlacha, both because of the heartache (we didn't want to appear sensationalist) and because those areas really had nothing to do with the "Lower Tampa Bay" video subject, but in the end decided that it was more important to share with our viewers what those poor folks are going through. Once the initial damage assessment was over the national media immediately moved on to other things, so we don't think that many outside of southwestern Florida realize what's still going on down there. We rode out a number of tropical systems ourselves while living in Manatee and southern Pinellas Counties, and know all too well the anxiety that you and your wife experienced. It's part of Florida life, but that doesn't make it any easier when you take a direct hit from a powerhouse like Ian was.
@@GrandAdventure I appreciate that you "did" include that. It is important to share. My wife and I honeymooned in Ft.Myers Beach, so that area has a special place in our hearts. Safe travels.
@@BackroadExploits thank you, and same to you.