Helen Ginger, Goddess of the Internet

A few months ago, Helen Ginger posted to her Straight From Hel blog while on vacation in Florida. In one of them, she mentioned that she would be visiting Ft. Lauderdale. I wrote and suggested that she try to find Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar and take a picture.

Now many mystery fans know that Slip F-18, Bahia Mar Marina is where Travis McGee moored his houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee is a creation of the great John D. MacDonald. He is a boat bum detective (a salvage expert, not a PI), the quintessential modern knight errant.

I know McGee's not there anymore, but I secretly hoped, like Carl Hiaasen, that I was wrong.

"..possibly the old houseboat is tied there still; McGee on deck, tending to fresh bruises, sipping his Boodles; watching the sun slide from the sky over Las Olas Boulevard..Anyway, that's what I want to believe. If he's gone, I prefer not to know."
(Carl Hiaasen ponders McGee's current whereabouts)

So I suggested that Helen pay the site a visit if she was in that area. Wouldn't it have been something if she had found Trav and Meyer, maybe shared one of Trav's martinis and a bowl of Meyer's chili? She brought back the next best thing, an account of her search and pictures of the famous Bahia Mar Marina. You can read about her adventure here. She and her husband went far beyond what anybody could reasonably ask. I owe them big time.

Thank you, Helen.