Marathon again

We spent a few days at a mooring ball at Boot Key Harbor at Marathon, then moved back over to the Marathon Yacht Club. Our first night back was the "bring your own" cookout. You bring your own meat and cook it on their barbeque and then come inside for the salad and sides. It was pretty cool. The sunset was awesome and you could see a "fingernail" crescent moon, Venus and Saturn as it got darker. The pictures don't do it justice.

 A few days later we attended a Looper function at Banana Bay Marina, just down the street. There were about 120 people in attendance, about half current loopers and half who have finished their loop. We were very pleased to run into Joe and Pat from Glory Days. We haven't seen them in ages! It was good to catch up. We made arrangements to go to dinner the next night.

One of my favorite things since we got here is that I FINALLY got to see a manatee in the wild! We have been in "manatee waters" since we arrived in Mobile, but look as hard as we might we have not seen one... until now. This one came into our little harbor here and just drifted around. It stayed for quite a while so I got lots of photos.

Tomorrow (March 1) is a very special day. Our beautiful daughter Rebecca will be 30. The day of her birth is a very special day for me too, as it marks the day I became a mom. Of all the jobs I've ever done (with the possible exception of being a Granny) that is my favorite. She continues to be a tremendous joy in my life. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Tomorrow we leave Marathon for Islamorada. If you have been keeping up with our blog, it is the place we drove to with Pappy and Sa - the one with the big lobster.

All the guys cooking meat

Almost looks like the SC flag, doesn't it?

Loopers at Banana Bay

Pretty good turnout!

Yay! A manatee!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful child!

From Key West back to Marathon

We made our last day in Key West a good one. We rode through Truman Annex and looked at the condos and homes, and The Little White House. We saw the office of the Conch Republic Secretary of State - it's where you get your Conch Republic passport. Since we missed the jazz wine tasting at The Gardens Hotel, we went by just to see it. It is a beautiful place.

That night we went back to Mallory Square to see the street performers again. We walked from there to Santiago's Bodega, a tapas restaurant we had seen advertised.  It was well worth the walk! The food and sangria were fabulous! On our way back to the boat, we saw some interesting sights on Duval Street. I still had my camera and wasn't sure if the night-time pictures would come out, but I think you can make them out. The first one was a man on a three-wheeled bicycle, decorated with LOTS of lights and booming out loud dance music from big speakers mounted on the back. The second photo is pretty surreal - Spiderman playing a sitar!

I haven't mentioned the Boy Scouts who have been across the dock from us for a couple of days. They are from New York, and some of the dads/chaperones are fire fighters. Very nice people all, as well as the crew of the sailing vessel Calypso Gypsy. They seemed to be having a wonderful time. The parents can be very proud of their young men - all very polite and well-behaved. (And they didn't pay me to say it!) They left just a little before we did on Tuesday.

Our trip from Key West back to Marathon was a little rocky, but we made it in one piece with no damage to the boat or its contents. The Marathon Yacht Club, where we stayed before, was booked until Friday. We went to the mooring field at Boot Key Harbor, across Hwy 1 from the Yacht Club. The mooring field is huge! There are hundreds of boats here, many of them permanent residents. You tie your boat to a mooring ball and dinghy into the main dock for anything you need. On Wednesday afternoon, Donna and Greg from Lady in Red pulled up in their dinghy to say hello. They are at a different marina, but had come in to the dinghy dock. We went to a meet-and-greet Thursday night and ran into Twila and Mike from Nauti Nell. There will be a Looper event here in Marathon Sunday night. We look forward to seeing some of the people we haven't seen in a while. It seems like we all scattered after we made the Gulf crossing!

Today we will move back to the Marathon Yacht Club. It will be good to have air conditioning when I want it and a chance to do some laundry! And my internet connection should be more stable. It will also be good to see Marty and Jerry on Monarch again.

Love these chickens!

You can get your Conch Republic passport here!

The Gardens Hotel

Note to my Dad: We found another place to take Sa!

Mallory Square at sunset

How do they do that?

All these boats leave from our harbor

The place was really packed with tourists

We went back to the big banyan tree. Notice how it extends across the entire yard, putting down more roots as it goes.

Pretty amazing... you can hear this guy from BLOCKS away!

And this is just bizarre... but he was actually pretty good!

The Boy Scouts are pulling out.

A beautiful boat and very nice crew.

Coming into Boot Key Harbor at Marathon

A little inlet off the side

This is the mooring field

More of the mooring field

A gorgeous sunset

They just get better and better

Sunrise at Boot Key - yes, I actually saw it this morning!

Beautiful, but I don't plan to make a habit of it.

The Conch Republic (Key West)

In 1982, the US Border Patrol set up a blockade of the lower keys on US Hwy 1. This is the only traffic route into the Keys and seriously disturbed the economy of Key West. As a joking form of protest, Key West seceded from the Union. It had full media coverage as it proclaimed itself the "Conch Republic" and their mayor became the Prime Minister. The commander of the local Navy installation was hit over the head with a loaf of Cuban bread, then the Prime Minister surrendered the bread and the Conch Republic and promptly asked for foreign aid. It was a great tactic! Though they didn't get foreign aid, they did get lots of publicity and a reputation for being a fun place to be. The story is here: conch republic  It's actually an attitude or state of mind... one that we are enjoying immensely. Our new "Conch Republic" flag is now flying proudly on our mast.

We had a visit from TK, Steve's college roommate, and TK's friends John and Wendy. We had drinks on the boat and had dinner at Commodore Waterfront Restaurant (in the boathouse). It's always great to see old friends and meet new ones! TK worked us into his busy schedule... he not only still works, but does many hours of volunteer work feeding the homeless in Miami. Blessings and prayers for him and his volunteers! John and Wendy live here in Key West. We really enjoyed meeting them and picking up tidbits about local activities.

Our spot here at the marina is quite busy, as I already said. The sailboats go out several times a day, but it is always interesting to watch the rush out of the harbor for sunset. They stagger their schedule, because each has to get out in the open and raise the sails before they head for the water off Mallory Square. One sailboat has a band that plays as they go out. It is always playing the same song as they come past us each afternoon.

Several people recommended the "Conch Train" as a way to get an overall feel for Key West. We would have to agree. I did the best I could with the photos... the train only stopped for traffic signals, other than a few planned stops. Along the way we saw the Hemingway House, the Audobon House and the Little White House where President Harry Truman spent vacations. We rode all over the island, excluding the military sections - it's only 2 x 4 miles.

Many of the early residents of Key West were in the salvage business. This area is a natural crossroads for maritime trade and with the reefs and shallows around the keys, there were lots of shipwrecks. The residents would go out to rescue the victims and salvage what they could of the cargo. There was no scuba gear in the early days, so the salvaging was done by divers holding their breath! We learned about all this at the Shipwreck Museum. It's a great place, with displays, films and reenactors.

We will be here at Key West until Tuesday, longer if the wind and sea are uncooperative.

John, Steve and TK

Wendy, John and Steve

A very old sponge man

And another one. There used to be lots of sponges around here.

Pepe's for breakfast

The food was great!

Just beware of the little birds in the bougainvillea - they will poop on your food if you aren't careful!

The Conch Train

The old Customs House

The Little White House

Big banyan tree

They love gingerbread around here

Oldest library in south Florida

Ruins near the beach

The southern-most point in the US

This is an "eyebrow" house - the porch roof comes down over the second floor windows

Hemingway House (built by Mr. Tift - owner of the early salvage company)

Their cemetery is above ground like New Orleans

This gingerbread is really gingerbread (men)

These little cottages are everywhere

These little birds come out every morning - they like my bread

Going out for sunset

Another one going out

And another! The one on the right is the express to Marco Island

Sunset is big business around here!

As well it should be...

The tarpon like the shade under our boat

Another look at the big banyan tree

Our guide for the salvage museum - Mr. Tift, the former owner

Cobb coins - better known as "pieces of eight"

The captains of ships that were salvaged

China packed in barrels

Views from the top of the salvage museum

Joe Harwell, this is for you!