2019: Year end Activities

November - December 2019

We arrived at Faro Blanco a couple of days before Thanksgiving and in time to join over 20 of our boating friends for a buffet at the Lighthouse Grill here at the marina. They provided a mix of traditional foods like turkey and gravy as well as items like "smoked fish dip" and "kale salad". It was all quite yummy!

Our plans for the end of the year included a car trip home to New Jersey to see family and friends. Before we left on our excursion, Bev and Dave on "Amelie" invited us aboard their new sailboat for a delicious dinner. They told us about some too-close encounters with bridges on the way down the coast. A few days later, when the wind had settled, Dave went up top to check out the damage.

Dinner on board Amalie
Dave and Bev - "Amalie"
Ev and Clark - "Sunset Delight"

Dave 65 feet up in the air!

Having picked up a rental car on Monday, we left early on December 2nd for our long drive to, ultimately, Connecticut. We got underway around 10:00 on Tuesday and pulled into our New Jersey driveway at noon on Thursday. To pass the time on the way north, we listened to the impeachment hearings on NPR. As we changed states, I had to search the internet to find the next NPR station.

The morning after we arrived at our house, it snowed - just enough to make us get the shovels our to push away the slush on the driveway.

Quite a change from sun in Marathon!

Clark had some business to take care of while home including taking pictures of the dock.  We need a permit to make some changes to the dock layout, so we pulled out the rowboat and Clark went out with the camera for a ride in the chilly creek.

Clark out taking pictures in the row boat

While in New Jersey, we got to connect with family and attend lunch with friends. Evelyn has three grand nieces that live in the Philadelphia area that she desperately wanted to play with. Her nephew and niece-in-law made it happen by suggesting a get together in New Hope, Pennsylvania at a place called Giggleberry Fair. This is an indoor playground for little ones.

Ev on Carousel with Molly and Grace (twins)

Clark with Grace

Ellie (driving)

Ev's nephew, Tom, with grandniece Molly

We filled in the next week mostly with doctor's visits - everything from head-to-toe ...  dentist to dermatologist! Coming away with a clean bill of health, we headed north to Connecticut to meet up with our Connecticut-based son and his family as well as our Idaho-based son arriving with his family to make our gathering complete. The time together was short but fabulous! Many times Evelyn snuck away with the four grandchildren to play upstairs.

Devon and Jeff (elder son)
Chris (younger son) and Heather

Not triplets!  Left to right ...
Sierra and Violet (Idaho)
Lily (with bow - CT)
Heather made the clothes for Christmas!

This time with Jack in his matching outfit.

Ev and her Christmas camera!

Proud girls and their handmade Gingerbread House
(with a lot of help from Jeff and Heather)

It is such a joy to see family and friend and so hard to leave, but having taken care of medical business and given and received as many hugs and kisses as possible, we started our drive back to Florida first thing the morning after leaving Connecticut.

On our second day of travel, I pointed out to Clark at 6 o'clock at night (after having been driving since 9:00 a.m.) that Google maps said we would be home by midnight if we kept going. Even after 8 hours of driving that appealed to both of us, so after a stop for dinner, we just kept going and going and going. The best thing of driving past Fort Lauderdale and Miami at midnight is the lack of traffic. Though we passed a number of police cars ready to pull over speeding cars, Route 1 through the Keys had almost no traffic. We arrived at the marina at 2:00 a.m. and were in bed and asleep by 3:00. We slept until almost noon and then surprised folks at the marina who did not expect us to be back yet.

Having just completed family Christmas celebrations, it felt bizarre to return to a world where everyone was still anticipating the big event. At least I had not only completed shopping but had delivered all my gifts as well! I could just relax and enjoy the upcoming events as they transpired. The marina and boats were well decorated for the season!

Boats at Faro Blanco Yacht Club

Faro Blanco Lighthouse

A restaurant down the street had a Santa with, given the weather conditions, a rather windy ride.

On the 23rd, AC hosted a "Ladies' Coffee" on "Hour Plan". We had a lot more sweet treats than we did people to eat them. What a selection of yummy confectionery!

Christmas Eve we had a full day of fun including a dip in the pool and a ride to Big Coppitt Key to hear the Wilson family participate in the Christmas Eve services at the Big Coppit Baptist Church. Bobby (father) played guitar and Nina and Anna Mae sang at the service.

Very strange to be swimming on Christmas Eve!

In the pool on Christmas Eve at Faro Blanco Yacht Club

Mia with Roy and Yasmine at BCBC

Wilson Family at BCBC
Nina, Anna Mae, Ella, Mia, Wendy, and Bobby in Red

Christmas Day we joined other boaters for a pot luck dinner / feast!

Ev (in white hat) taking advantage of the great food.

Jim "Third Degree"
at Christmas luncheon on the docks

Trying to work off all the food that seems to go with boating, I have repeatedly walked the 3-mile round trip route to the 7-mile bridge and back. I enjoy the exercise and the view. Usually I cannot convince Clark to go with me.

Sailboat on the horizon

Personal Watercraft out for a run

Welcome to Marathon!

Iguana in the rocks along the path.

After the big Christmas lunch, however, I managed to convince Clark to join me on a walk. We started out to walk to the bridge as per my usual route. Along the way we got distracted and stopped into Marathon Marina to see if our friends Brent and Debbie on "Change of Pace" were home on their boat. We never did make it out to the bridge that day.

Ev and Clark at Marathon Marina - Christmas Day 2019

Generally, we find interesting things to do and see around the marina.

Clark's binoculars wearing his hat ...
reminded me of Johnny 5 from  the movie "Short Circuit) 

Guard Pelican on pole near our boat

Lobsters living under the dock near "Morning Star II"

Sharks eating lobsters under dock near "MS II"

Tail end of very large manatee

Tail end of manatee between our boat
and "L'Attitude Adjustment"

Acrobatic Pelican waiting to be fed by local fishermen

Rainbow over boats in marina

and ending over nearby hotel

Worshiping the sunset

The last days of 2019 went flying by and suddenly it was time to celebrate New Year's Eve! Sandy and Bill on "L'Attitude Adjustment" had friends visiting from Sweden, Ann and Peter. They took them out fishing and caught two fish to eat for dinner.

Ann watching Bill filet a fish 

Second fish's turn

Hungry Pelicans waiting for the scraps of the filet

Faro Blanco Resort and Marina puts on a big party for New Year's Eve. They bring in live music, drop an anchor from the top of the lighthouse at midnight, and have a fireworks display. Clark talked so much through the night that he was in danger of losing his voice.

Anchor ready to drop

Wendy and Bobby Wilson in New Year garb

Anchor down - 2020 is here!

Lots of folks come to the Keys over the Christmas break from work and school. We met one family with a daughter who is extremely interested in owning a boat some day. Given her interest, I suggested we take them out on our dinghy for a ride around the area. They were thrilled.

Vik and Onica with Evelyn on dinghy ride
New Year's Day 2020

Vik and Onica with Clark

We took them under the 7 mile bridge, through Boot Key harbor, past Sombrero Beach, and into the Atlantic Ocean for a lovely boat ride.

View of Sombrero Beach from Dinghy

During the past month Ev had a couple of occasions to indulge in my painting hobby. Her most recent attempts allowed her to practice painting palm trees and beach scenes.