Sunset Celebration - Looper Party

Sunday 2/25/2018
No boat travel.

I did something today that I almost never do - I went shopping by myself. I pulled out my bicycle and rode the two miles to Kmart to buy myself some new clothes. Clark offered to come with me but I said he did not need to come. Because I planned on browsing, trying on clothes, and taking my time, I did not want to feel rushed by having anyone else with me. After spending a large chunk of the morning in the store, I felt accomplished as I came back with several new shirts and pairs of shorts.

Sandy had offered to take me with her at 1:30 to Publix shopping, so after lunch we left to buy food. Unfortunately I had forgotten that the Sunset Celebration party scheduled for today started as early as 3:15. Since we had no car, Clark and I planned to walk there and needed to leave at 2:45.

Sandy and I returned from the trip to Publix at 2:45. I had no time to prepare food for the event. I could not go empty-handed. Suddenly I had to improvise and threw together a veggie and dip plate that was not what I intended to bring.

At 3:00 we finally set out for the party. When we reached the end of the property, Clark got a text from Jim and Faith asking where we were. Apparently we had a miscommunication. Earlier in the day Clark had asked Jim if he could take our chairs to the party in his truck. Jim interpreted the request as 'could we have a ride' and said yes. Clark thought only the chairs could get a ride.

It all turned out well because Jim found us at the entrance/exit to Faro Blanco, picked us up, and delivered us (and our chairs) to the party in plenty of time to hear the presentation on navigation software that Clark had not wanted to miss. Unfortunately the presentation was short and lacked content, so we could have missed it and no worries!

As we rushed to get out of Faro Blanco with the expectation of walking to the party, we spied a familiar and unexpected person standing in the middle of the road. It felt like a blast from the past. Bob from Knot Sew Easy stood in our path!  Wow! Shocker! Thinking we were overly late already, I apologetically gave Bob a quick hug with promises to talk to him at the Sunset Celebration party.

Ev with Bob and Liz Knot Sew Easy

The Sunset Celebration is a party hosted at Banana Bay the last Sunday in February every year for any loopers - past or present. It's like a family reunion with our looper family. We got to see and spend time with folks we know from prior years as well as those we met just this year.

Wendy and Mia - La Cigale

Wilson Girls - Mia, AnnaMay, and Ella - La Cigale
with Maddie Waldrot - Dixie Belle

Looper Group

Loopers at Sunset Celebration

Sponsor - Michael Martin - Curtis Stokes Brokers
AGLCA Director - Kim Russo
Looper - Bobby Wilson - La Cigale

Of course it would not be a sunset celebration with a sunset.

Sunset as seen from Banana Bay Marina

Sunset at Sunset Celebration

Every year the band "4 Sheets to the Wind" is invited back to play for the devoted loopers who love their music.

4 Sheets to the Wind

We left the party with Jim and Faith around 6:30 or so. When we got back to Faro Blanco, we found Liz and Bob and their new-to-them 35' motor home walking the docks. I also got to meet their boxer named Maggie. We talked until 9:00 when they left to take Maggie for a walk.

The food at the party was not that great. I saw crackers in a large variety of forms, a few veggies and dips, and a bunch of desserts. I was lucky enough to snag one chicken wing. Clark was not so lucky. When he got there, they were all gone. Even with the rather poor options, I managed to find enough food that I forgot about dinner. Clark did not, and at 9:30 he said, "I'm hungry! I couldn't find anything to eat at the party."

Fortunately I had leftovers in the fridge, so very rapidly I produced a spaghetti dinner complete with salad and vegetables. Even though I had not felt hungry, when I smelled the food, I decided to partake as well.

Islamorada Flea Market Day

Saturday 2/24/2018
No boat travel.

Having gone to bed at 1:00 a.m., neither of us felt like getting up when the alarm went off at 6:55. Jim on Hour Plan rented a car and planned to depart at 7:30 to get there early in the day. Even though I did not plan to attend the outing, I got up with Clark to help him get his stuff together for the day.

It rained when they left but bad weather was not predicted.

Rainy Route 1 on way to Islamorada Flea Market

Sunny day at the Islamorada Nautical Flea Market

I fully intended to crawl back in to bed after Clark left, but that just did not happen. Instead I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Having agreed to meet Sandy at 9:00 for a drive to the farmer's market,  I wiled away the minutes caught up in my latest adventure novel.

Knowing Clark would be away for a reasonably large chunk of time, I had high hopes of enjoying some time by myself. That hope was shattered when the phone rang and it was Clark on the line with a request for me to measure a section of the electrical panel for him. He called at 8:50, and I had my "date" with Sandy set for 9:00.

With something in the way of the area I needed to measure, I tried to estimate the size of the opening in the electrical panel. Sadly, the dimensions of what he had in his hand at the flea market too closely matched one dimension or the other of the space I had to measure.

As I tried to measure, I watched the time. I also watched that I did not injure myself. The front of the electrical panel is basically harmless. Unfortunately, I had to open it up and stick my head into the dark space behind it to examine the backside for measurement purposes. Clark has warned me repeatedly not to touch certain parts of the backside of the panel for fear of being "fried".

I found holding the door open (it springs back) with one hand while trying to juggle a tape measure and a flashlight in the other an exercise in futility. Finally I decided that I had to find a screwdriver to remove the item blocking my view to get an accurate measure of the cut out. Talk about stress! I did manage to get the measurement he needed, help him decide on the size to purchase, and meet Sandy on time. Whew!

The trip to the veggie stand took very little time. No sooner did I get back to the boat than the phone started ringing again. When I answered, a familiar voice said, "I need more measurements." This time he texted me a number of pictures to go with the call - 5 altogether looking like the ones below.

Cleats for sale at flea market

Although we have four cleats port and four stern, the ones on the bow are frequently too far forward to be of optimal use. We hope to add one port and one starboard cleat more conveniently positioned at the bow. He did not buy any cleats. We decided that he would need to look closely at the boat structure to see where and how they could be attached.

I finally got off the phone with Clark having told him I would be offline for the next hour. I just sat down to apply sunscreen when Jen from Fat-n-Sassy came by to collect me for today's yoga session. I tried yoga once before recently at the YMCA near my home and hated it. For Jen, though, I decided to give it one more try. She even found me a mat to use, so how could I say no?

The activity confirmed for me that yoga is not my thing. I have had neck and shoulder issues for years. My broken arm I suffered in October just made it worse. Yoga, especially the moves the instructor focused on today, caused me a lot of pain. I did what I could, kept looking at my watch, and prayed that the hour would get over soon.

My prayers were answered!!! It started to rain and the session was canceled twenty minutes early. I am sure no one else there prayed it would end, but I cannot feel sorry I got a "get out of jail free" card.

When I returned to the boat, I called Clark to tell him I was back "online" in case he had need of me. I could tell when I talked to him that he was eating lunch (it was 11:00). After our call I decided that if he could eat early so could I, and I made myself lunch. I wanted to finish my current, somewhat depressing novel, and move on to a new subject matter. As I tried to read, I found myself nodding off. The late night, early morning combination had decided to take its revenge.

Shortly after Clark returned, around 1:00, I decided that I could not keep my eyes open a minute longer. Sleeping while supposedly reading was aggravating my neck. I crawled into bed. When I came out two hours later, I found Clark asleep on the sofa. He must have heard me come out because he opened his eyes to look at me. After rousing himself, he went to work on taxes and I sat down to my blog.

We planned to join docktails tonight having been rained out the night before. Having items to drop into the recycle bin at the end of the dock, we turned left first. While I dumped my recycle bits, Clark got into a conversation with Linda and Scott on Ramble On. I then got engaged talking to Patti and Tim next door to Ramble On on Craic. An hour later we left to return to our boat. We never made it to docktails.

Somehow Clark managed to get a really cool sunset picture.

Almost looks like the cloud is on fire.

We worked on taxes after dinner again tonight. Afterwards, for a relaxation break, I put on my headphones and watched internet TV. Having had naps earlier, we both stayed up until after midnight.

Marathon Gift Shops and a big splash

Friday 2/23/2018
No boat travel.

Our short visit with our New Jersey friends ended all too soon as they departed at 10:00 this morning. As we said our farewells, Sandy from L'Attitude Adjustment came by with a group of women from the marina. They had decided to go shopping at the gift shops in Marathon. When Sandy realized that only 3 of the women walking with her planned to go on the shopping spree, she asked if I would like to come along. I said I would love to join them if they could wait a few minutes while I said my goodbyes.

Evelyn - Sunset Delight
Sandy - L'Attitude Adjustment
Leann - Rowe Boat
Ann - Morning Star II
Tonya - Sweet Tea
Kevin - Lone Star
Jen - Fat-n-Sassy (photo bomb!)

We invited my friend Darlene to get in the picture and tried again.

Faro Blanco Clan and good friend Darlene

We posed by our boat and had Sandy take a group shot of us.

Clark - Darlene - Ev - Mike

A few minutes later Mike and Darlene left for their long drive to Fort Myers Beach, and those going on the shopping spree piled into Sandy's car for our outing.

Although the shopping trip was supposed to be gift-shop-hopping (like a pub crawl only different), Ann begged for a Publix stop, so we stopped their first. As we entered Publix, Sandy said, "Okay. You have ten minutes!" Tonya took the words right out of my mouth when she said, "Oh! I love it!" We scattered like we were on a scavenger hunt.

I checked my watch when Sandy gave her marching orders - 10:15. I checked my watch as we all exited Publix - 10:32. Not bad for 5 women shopping in a food store especially given the check out lines are always unpredictable in length and speed.

For the first stop on our "Gift Shops of Marathon" tour, Sandy took us to a place called "Uniques". Tonya, Kevin and Ann conspired to pick up some gifts while Sandy and I perused the various items for sale. I picked up a small postcard-sized picture for my boat at $5.50 - big-time spender that I am.

When we left there, we continued traveling east to a place called "Marooned in Marathon". The owner of this store is married to the guitarist that plays regularly at Faro Blanco. I decided to spend real money here and bought some gifts to be shipped to my granddaughters. Unlike another store I visited recently, the owner, Marlene, was more than willing to ship my purchases.

Satisfied with our visits to Uniques and Marooned, we were surprised when Sandy said she had one more stop to make. When asked where she was taking us, she said, "I'm not telling. It's a surprise!" She took us west back towards our marina and stopped at a place called "Shady Palm Art Gallery & Photography". Although it is near our marina, none of us had taken time to look at what they had to offer. 

Upon leaving the store Sandy received fake complaints from those who said they had spent way too much money at this last stop and blamed her for it. Artwork featuring the Faro Blanco lighthouse seemed to be particularly popular with this group of shoppers.

While I was out enjoying the gift shop circuit, Clark dug into taxes. After I returned to the boat, I had bed linens to wash and a galley to clean. I noticed as I gathered up the laundry that Clark had done the part of the job that required making beds disappear and sofas appear in their place. Nice!

Since I had to stow the extra bedding, etc, I took advantage of the opportunity to hide away a few extra things that have been kicking around in the way for the majority of this trip. Some things currently on the boat will be left behind on our next trip for sure! I find it is a learning experience on this boat. Over time I learned what I needed to, and could, bring on Sea Moss. Eventually I will have it sorted out for Sunset Delight as well.

As soon as I sat down from my cleaning frenzy, Clark pulled me into working on taxes with him. We split the work, and he had the standard list of tasks for me to handle to help move the process along faster. At 5:00, having spent most of the day on taxes, Clark said we should take a break for docktails. Just as we left the boat, however, it started to rain. We waited a bit for it to stop, and by the time we got to docktails, everyone had taken shelter and decided not to return. Instead of returning to our boat, we decided to walk the docks.

Heading out to the Lighthouse to see who's around

As we walked the docks, we saw a boat coming into the marina. Josh, one of the dock hands, appeared on the spot ready to help the captain tie to the dock. Clark decided to give Josh a helping hand. Since I had planned on attending docktails, I had a beer in one hand and a bag of pretzels in the other, so I just watched.

Pulling in to dock, the boat fought a strong wind pushing against its port beam. With the use of thrusters and with Josh and Clark's help, the boat very slowly got closer and closer to the dock. Eventually, they got the boat in close enough to tie off the lines. Although happy to have the boat secured, some additional work had to be done to snug the boat up so that captain and crew could disembark. More thruster power and some brute strength had to be used to get the boat in close enough. I am sure Josh appreciated Clark's help.

After that slight diversion we continued our stroll and found Jen from Fat-n-Sassy. We talked to her for a while and took some sunset pictures.

Sunset at Faro Blanco

Goodnight Sun!

As we talked, we noticed that Jen's dog "Dum dum" became focused on the water by Jen's boat. Did we get a surprise when we looked down in the water!

Dum-Dum noticed someone in the water at the marina

Crystal! Our favorite diver!

Crystal had been busy cleaning the bottom of Lone Star but decided that with the sun down, it was too dark to see. She was ready to call it a day. We talked to her in the water for a while and, then again later, when she was up on the dock.

Crystal is a multi-faceted and very interesting person. While deeply engaged in a conversation with her, we heard a yelp and a splash come from a slip a few feet away from where we stood. I could not tell if someone dropped something or fell. We went to investigate. It turned out to be the latter.

A private docktails party was taking place on a boat called Rowe Boat. Everyone on board had removed their shoes because the boat is brand new -- as in 2018 variety. When boarding the boat, one of the guests, Steve, stepped wrong and fell between the boat and the dock. At the time I thought it might have been due to bare feet on a slippery boat surface - a dangerous combination. Later I learned that he just missed his step and went down.

Fortunately he could swim and he did not seriously injure himself during the fall. Consequently, the hardest part of the accident became dealing with trying to get out of the water and back on the boat. He swam around to the swim platform where he tried to figure out how to deploy the swim ladder. Finally he gave up and his two friends dragged him up onto the swim platform. After the event, his wife, Kevin, looked more shaken than he did. With the excitement over, Clark and I went back to talking with the diver, Crystal, until her family came to the docks to collect her and take her home.

Walking back towards our boat, we discovered that, it being a Friday, John Bartus was playing his guitar at Faro Blanco tonight. Since we had not eaten dinner yet, we did not stop to listen. Fortunately, our boat is close enough to the pool area that we could hear him play while I cooked as well as while we ate.

After dinner Clark said he wanted to hear John's final set and walked up to the pool area. When John was done playing for the night, Clark said farewell to him one last time. We will be leaving before John plays here again.

John Bartus on guitar at Faro Blanco

John Bartus with Faro Blanco lighthouse in background

One would think that after all that we would have enjoyed a relaxing evening and turned in early. Instead, we went back to working on taxes and stayed up doing so until 1:00 a.m.

Key West Conch Train Tour

Thursday 2/22/2018
Car trip Marathon to Key West.

I made pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. While we ate the food, we talked about how we might spend the day. We considered the Turtle Hospital, Dolphin Encounters, and Sombrero Beach. With cloudy skies and a threat of rain, we quickly removed the beach from the list of potentials.

After taking a trip to the marina building to use the head, I had a revelation... We could go to Key West! Since I knew Ann and Mel from Morning Star II had been there twice recently, I stopped to talk to Ann on the way back to the boat to get the inside scoop on where to park. Darlene and Mike favored a trip to Key West over the other offered options, so off we went.

Heading West on Rte 1 to Key West

Besides parking suggestions, Ann highly recommended the Conch Train Tour to get an overview of the city. As we traveled, I ordered tickets on line. We arrived in Key West shortly after noon and headed straight for the conch train stop. We had very fortunate timing as we had almost no wait to grab a train for the first leg of our tour.

Conch Train Selfie
(Mike and Darlene are hidden by my hat.)

We rode the train down to the docks looking for a place to have lunch. Our timing was phenomenal; just before we got off the train, it started to rain lightly. Fortunately, we had a very short walk to get under an overhang at a dive shop before it started to pour. As we stood waiting for the rain to subside, a line of bicyclists came riding by with their shirts so soaking wet from the rain that they were glued to their bodies. With no sun and a cool breeze, they must have been pretty miserable.

Having debated our dining possibilities during the rain, we decided to eat at The Waterfront Brewery. As soon as the rain let up, we took off. We almost made it to the pub before more rain hit us - but not quite. Although not soaked through, my shirt picked up a little moisture and felt slightly damp by the time we arrived.

The Waterfront Brewery

We could see available tables in the restaurant and had one set of four people in front of us looking for a table as well. As we stood at the hostess's desk, we wondered if a hostess even worked there. Finally, she appeared. I decided as I watched her work that I have never seen a less efficient person. She seemed to take forever to complete any task and visited each table no less than three times before finally seating a customer at the table.

As we watched, the hostess first cleaned the selected table, then cleaned the seats, then surveyed her work, then retrieved and put out place settings and menus, and finally came to the hostess station to collect the next set of patrons. Since she worked as slowly as molasses flows in February, some groups of customers gave up waiting and walked on to find another choice for lunch. In some bizarre way, I found watching her intriguing. I decided it took real talent to be that slow at doing one's job.

Finally we got seated at a booth overlooking the docks. Since this pub is located very near to where we docked during our Key West visit last month, we could see the dock where we tied up during our visit. Clark decided to take a walk over to where we docked to see if he could find our missing flashlight. He came back empty-handed as the fire box that had been open when we stayed here now had a solid lid on top that would not allow Clark to peak inside.

Even though we had to wait for a table, we enjoyed the restaurant. The food was well-prepared and tasty. Mike and I sampled and enjoyed one of the pub's home-brews - American Lager. By the time we finished eating the sun had come out and our shirts had dried.

Ev, Darlene, and Mike enjoying fine food at
The Waterfront Brewery
(Clark - photographer - absent from picture)

After lunch we walked to the Conch Train station for the next leg of our trip. When we disembarked,  we decided to find a shop specializing in Key Lime pie that Mike visited on his last trip to Key West about 4 years ago. By the time we found the shop we had walked almost all the way back to where we had eaten lunch.

Kermit's Key Lime Pie Shoppe

Man holding Key Lime pie at door

Surprise!!!
We did not expect him to be a real person!!!

Besides the usual pie, a specialty of this place is a chocolate dipped, frozen key lime pie on a stick. Clark and I are not Key Lime pie fans, so we passed on purchasing their wares. While Darlene and Mike placed their orders, I wandered off to find a restroom and walked into a wonderland of vegetation.

Dining area for Pie Shoppe and neighboring restaurant

Complete with fish pond

and an infinity pool!

We grabbed a table to admire the view while Mike and Darlene enjoyed their tangy treats. Although I am not a fan, I did sample Darlene's pie to see how pie here compared to other places. I was glad I had not purchased a slice for myself. After enjoying the pie shoppe, we walked back to the train for the final leg of our train tour.

Our final leg of the Conch Train tour was the longest with a 45 minute duration. As the train wove its way through town,  the driver / guide told us some of the historical significance of homes and buildings, related ghost stories (Key West is rated the 4th most haunted city in the U.S.), and miscellaneous tidbits of information including the history of the Conch Republic.

The first Conch Train tour of Key West occurred in 1958, and they have been telling stories ever since. While passing the cemetery, for example, the guide told us about two epitaphs engraved on headstones. The first story was one about a woman hypochondriac. On her gravestone, it said, "I told you I was sick!" She had it engraved herself before she passed away. The second epitaph was also written by a woman about her "roving" husband. It said, "At least I know where you will be sleeping tonight."

Touring the town, we saw too many historical and interesting sights to include in the blog. Some of the highlights are pictured below.

Key West "Whaling Wall"
painted by marine artist Wyland 

"Curry Mansion"
decorated for Valentine's Day

The Bull & Whistle Pub
- the last of the old-time Duval Street open-air bars

First Flight Restaurant
where Pan Am made first commercial flight

We heard about Mel Fisher as we passed the Ship Wreck Museum. Mel Fisher searched for years to find the Atocha  which, when discovered, yielded $450 Million in treasure.

The Mariana carried 24 Cubans to the U.S. in 2015.
The rusty craft sits in front of the Ship Wreck Museum.

 When visiting Key West it is a common occurrence to see roosters roaming the streets. Until we took the Conch Train tour, I did not know the story behind their roaming freely. Prior to 1986 when cockfighting became illegal, fighting roosters provided entertainment and income to people in Key West. When they could no longer use the roosters for cockfighting, and they could not kill them, the owners released them to wander the streets.

Typical sight in Key West - Roosters on the streets

Famous "Sailor's Kiss"
at Customs House in Key West

Harry Truman's "Little White House"
Harry Truman loved Key West and spent his presidential vacations here.

150 Year Old Banyan Tree in Key West

U.S. Route 1 starts in Key West at Mile 0 and ends 2269 miles later in Maine. The sign above and the one below are located on the building at the start / end of Route 1.

2 people taking selfie at end of U.S. Rte 1

People in Key West take a lot of pride in being located at the southernmost point in the U.S.  The builders of the house shown below wanted to own "The Southernmost House" in the U.S. but that title was already claimed by their neighbor.

"The Southernmost Southernmost House USA"

As we passed Sloppy Joe's Tavern, we learned about its close association with Ernest Hemingway who spent so much time here he had a desk where he could write. Some while after he passed away, incomplete manuscripts and uncashed royalty checks were found in the desk. When we passed by here, the music blasted from the bar which enjoyed standing-room only for its patrons. Very popular place!

Hemingway Hangout

Our fascinating tour of Key West ended around 4:15 or so. We agreed at that point that we had seen all that we needed to see for one day and headed back to the car for the drive to Marathon. Prior to the Key West outing decision, we had agreed to dine at the Sunset Grille tonight to enjoy the view. As we drove back to our boat, however, we all agreed that dining on board sounded like a better idea.

While I prepared dinner, Clark took off to attend the Faro Blanco staff recognition pot-luck dinner being held at the lighthouse. Since he was there, he could not resist getting a sunset picture.

Faro Blanco staff appreciation pot-luck dinner at sunset

When Clark returned, we ate our home-cooked dinner of boater-style "Chicken Testaverde". As we ate and after we ate, we talked and talked and talked  the night away.

Key's Fisheries

Wednesday 2/21/2018
No Boat Travel.

Having done most of the boat cleanup and preparation for our friends from New Jersey coming to visit, I spent the morning on last-minute tasks waiting for their arrival. I attended Lycoming College in Pennsylvania with Darlene, so I have known her almost forever. Clark and I met her husband, Mike, many years ago as well when we were all young and working for Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Mike and Darlene arrived around 1:30. I pulled out food for sandwiches, and we sat, ate and talked, talked, talked. I asked them what they wanted to see / do in Marathon, and their first priority was a trip to the Keys Fisheries for snow crab claws.

Although Clark and I have visited Key's Fisheries in the past, we have never ventured upstairs to the bar before. Here we had drinks, snow crab claws, peel and eat shrimp, and crab and spinach dip appetizers. While there we spied something we would not expect to see.

Throw Ring from Barnegat Light in Barnegat, NJ

Key's Fisheries Dining 

Afterwards, we moved downstairs where we could order something a bit more filling to complete our meal. Clark and I shared a grouper sandwich while Mike and Darlene shared a lobster roll. Clark even managed to capture a sunset picture.

After dinner, we walked back to the boat where we continued to talk well into the night.