Friends Near and Far

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows you are slightly cracked."      Bernard Melzer

The hardest part of traveling on Meandering Joy is missing our family and friends.  The best part of traveling so frequently is meeting new friends.  While in Stuart, we have been able to get together with several boating friends we have met over the years.  

We met Faye and Sanford while in Marathon last January & February.  Sanford and Steve hit it off instantly with their shared sense of humor.  Faye and I share a love of reading and we spent many hours in the pool together talking about our families while joining in the water aerobics class.  Faye and Sanford recently moved to Stuart and sold their boat. They graciously showed us around Stuart and introduced us to many fine dining establishments.  

Sanford invited us to share in a surprise birthday dinner for Faye's at Eleven Maple in Jensen Beach.  We were more than happy to join in the fun restaurant recently featured on the "Hidden Gems" episode of Emeril's Florida on the cooking channel. 

Faye and Sanford

We started the meal with the house made sourdough bread served 

with hummus, salsa verde and roasted garlic while

 we waited for the sake cured

 Hamachi (yellowtail tuna) and 

caramelized ginger.  

Faye and Sanford shared oak grilled duck breast and leg confit

 with buttered root vegetable mash, pecans and caramelized pear essence

Steve and I shared New Zealand Elk Tenderloin

with roasted farrow and butternut gratin,

garlic mashed potato with a 

dried porcini sauce

 

Coconut sorbet for dessert for the birthday girl! 

Getting hungry yet?

Joy