20 December 2023
no boat travel
Last year we had a Christmas luncheon at the marina, so I decided to inquire of the other boaters here if anyone had planned anything for this year. I visited a number of boaters. One of the ones I talked to had family coming for Christmas day. Another one was leaving the marina to spend time with family over the holidays. It wasn't looking good.
Then I started getting answers varying from "no" to "we should do something". No one was leading the march forward, so I stepped up to get contact numbers for the boaters here and send out group texts to poll folks on participation. Although it looked like it would be a sparse showing, I got around 20 "I'm in" responses quite quickly. Let the party planning begin!
We did chores around the boat today and I decorated for Christmas. I put up our tree and hung a wreath!
My granddaughter, Lillian, colored the wreath for me as an early Christmas present (or a late one as it was supposed to be given to me last year). That's her driving the pickup!
Facing east, we enjoyed a pink sky at sunset tonight. Really pink!
The sunset facing west contained more normal hues!
21 December 2023
no boat travel
Today started out as a normal Thursday at the marina including the weekly pump out of the holding tank. While the pump-out crew was in our area, Clark started chatting with Mike who works here and asked him, "Are there any churches around here that let the congregation sing along on Christmas songs?" He responded, "Wellll, as a matter of fact, the church I attend has just that sort of thing going on tonight at 5:00!"
We could bike there in daylight, but we would be biking back in the dark, so we got out our headlights and taillights in preparation.
When we got to the church, the first thing we saw was a truck advertising "Key West Snow Removal Service". I wonder how much business he gets!
Saint Columba Church is very active in the community. This is the church that is supported by the Farmer's Market we attend on Saturdays. The church is tucked in a wee bit further down the road from where the FM truck parks. I had never noticed the church on all the times I have been here!
We were welcomed with open arms and told we could lock up our bikes on their covered pavilion.
The sign below says it all - "Carols, Cookies and Cocoa". What more could you ask for?
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| Sample of the stained glass windows at the church |
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| Live music |
Steve, who told Clark about the event is sitting in the back playing the banjo. His wife, Nancy, is up front with the fiddle.
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| Children's youth group / choir |
At the entry to the church they had a Disney character display complete with train. The pastor told us that it, among many other things the church owns, were donated.
We enjoyed an hour of singing Christmas Carols followed by a vast array of homemade cookies including brownies that I found delicious.
By the time we left the church, it was dark as we expected. Since it was almost directly across the street, we decided to go to Coast-to-Coast Pizza for dinner before biking home. They are relatively new to the area. They don't deliver, but they do have good pizza and friendly staff / owners. Again, since we were right there, we decided to stop into Publix and pick up a few things. Shopping in the evening was great as the store was a lot emptier than during the daytime.
We set off for home with our lights on, but before we got to the boat, Clark's taillight quit working. The battery needed a charge. We charged all our lights via USB cable ready for our next nighttime outing.
22 December 2023
no boat travel
Today, being Friday, it was once again time for photography class. The instructor decided we needed to work on complementary colors.
On the way home from class, I found some natural examples for class next week.
Clark decided we should go out for a Christmas dinner tonight. He made a reservation at the Butterfly Café at Tranquility Bay resort. We have never been there but heard it is a nice place to go for a special occasion. The reservation was for 6:00, so when we left the marina, the sun was already at the horizon and disappearing fast.
Since it was a nice night and a relatively short walk to Tranquility Bay, Clark suggested we walk there. Tranquility Bay is about .5 miles west of us on Route 1. I have only ever seen the entrance to Tranquility Bay as we biked past to / from Faro Blanco. It was interesting to actually go in and see the grounds.
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| What we see at the street |
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| First View of Tranquility Bay Grounds |
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| Entrance to Butterfly Café |
We had a lovely dinner including dessert! I had NY Style cheesecake! After dinner, Clark asked the waitress if we could explore the grounds. She said we could roam to our heart's content and that is just what we did. The property is huge with almost 100 units. Some units are a single room and others are full-sized condos. We found three pools, a fitness center, and one putting green. Clark learned later that there are three putting greens; we only stumbled across one on our explorations.
I felt like I was walking in a maze as we strolled along the various pathways wondering if we would find our way out again. The place is huge!
As we walked past their Tiki Bar, we noticed the Faro Blanco lighthouse lit up for the Christmas season.
On the walk back to Marlin Bay, we got to admire some local Christmas decorations.
23 December 2023
no boat travel
Today was a bit different than our usual Saturday. Clark injured his shoulder this past summer when his arm got jerked unexpectedly in the wrong direction by one of our rambunctious grandchildren. He was been diligently doing physical therapy for weeks / months but it is not taking care of the problem. He decided that he needed to get an MRI done to see what is going on with the muscle.
We biked to the Farmer's Market together. We were arrived late - 9:05 instead of 9:00 and the only thing I found to buy today were tomatoes. The woman who runs the show gave me a free jar of bread and butter pickles to take with me.
Afterwards, Clark biked with me to Publix. So far this is normal. However, when I left to head back to the boat, he left to go get the MRI. I made sure to only buy what I could carry, so I did a lot of "cherry picking" from my grocery list to be sure I could get back under the weight.
Clark had hoped to go to Baptist Health as he heard they have an MRI machine and it is near our marina. However, Baptist Health does not accept out-of-state prescriptions, which Clark had. He hoped to get it converted to a Florida prescription, but the person who could do that was away until January 4th. Then, after converting the script, he would need to make an appointment.
They suggested he try Advance Urgent Care on the eastern most end of Marathon. When he talked to them, AUC said they could take his prescription and give him an appointment for today at 11:00. Unfortunately, they are about 6 miles from the boat.
When he got there he found out the MRI would be done in a trailer. He expects to get the results on Tuesday since Monday is Christmas day.
On the way biking "home" Clark saw a helicopter at Island Fish Company who advertises that you can come to their restaurant by car, boat, or air. They had a helicopter there to prove it!
The sky gave us a great sunset view tonight. The dark, dark clouds to the south looked particularly ominous though nothing came of them as the night wore on.
24 December 2023 Sunday
no boat travel
Our new friends at Saint Columba Church insisted we come and enjoy their unusual service today.
After each bible lesson read by one of the church members, the congregation sang a related carol starting with Mary expecting the babe to Christ being born in the manger. Following the service we had more of their homemade cookies. Unfortunately the brownies from the other night were all gone!
We talked to the pastor after the service and she told us about all the wonderful things the church does. They have a couple of sites where people can donate goods like furniture or clothing. They have several grants that they have received to support local activities. They even put on the Celtic Festival event that is coming up in January. This is one busy church!
Hammock House, shown below, offers free children's programs throughout the year.
Back at the docks, Clark saw a fisherman cleaning fish with an egret patiently waiting behind him to be served. The pelicans were fighting and squawking in the water nearby. The fisherman told Clark that he throws bits to the egret on occasion because he was so polite. The feisty pelicans went without.
The wind has been unrelenting here in the Keys. Today, we had winds from the east gusting to 20 mph. Clark decided that we should bike to San Pablo Catholic Church today to see the Christmas lights on display there. Of course we had to be there after dark to get the full effect.
I reminded him that there are such things as taxis in Marathon, but he reminded me that we would have to pay an extra fare to have them take us "over the bridge". Gee. That might be a full $12 each way! I guess we have to go by bike.
Thank goodness my folding bike has 6 speeds. I used 4 of the 6 on our ride to San Pablo church. On the way there, for most of the time, I had it set at the easiest-to-pedal setting and felt like I would never arrive at our destination since we were moving so slowly against the wind. I kept telling myself that I would get a reward at the end of the 5-mile ride. I would see the pretty lights. Then on the way back I would have the wind with me.
As we passed the 1 mile mark, we stopped to take pictures of the snowman lying on the ground. I told Clark to take a video of him rolling around in the wind, but Clark chose a still shot instead.
At this point we were only 1/5 of the way to our destination, but I already felt like lying down with the snowman! The wind made such a different. We bike here regularly to Publix for groceries!
By the time we covered the next 3.5 miles and got to the bridge at Vacca Cut, I gave up. I got off and walked the bike. The rest of the ride had been torture even on a flat pavement. There was no way I could go up even the slight incline of the bridge. As I walked my bike, I enjoyed the view of the water from the bridge. When I got on the bike at the top of the incline, I enjoyed the ride downhill.
Clark said that as he rode down that hill, he expected the bike to pick up speed, but it did not as the wind had such force as to keep him from accelerating naturally. It was a tough ride, but at the end of the bridge was the entrance to the San Pablo church We had arrived!
It was still light out when we arrived, so we had a wait to see the lights to best effect. We took the "Stations of the Cross" walking tour while we waited.
This included 15 statues depicting the crucifixion of Christ.
After it got dark enough, we walked through again to see the various light displays.
Now the bad news with it being Christmas Eve, the ice cream shop we passed, Sweet Savannah's, was closed! A treat there would have made the bike trip well worthwhile!
Some decorations we saw along the street on the bike ride.
We hoped to find a place to eat out after the light show at the church, but it was not looking good. Clark stopped several times on the bike ride back to the boat to inquire about possible places to eat. I said, "No, they're closed" or "No, let's keep going" to a number of his suggestions. Finally, he found a place just before we got back to the marina that I said yes to -- Barracuda Grill.
We have biked past this restaurant probably hundreds of times over the 6 years we have been coming here. This is the first time we stopped in to try the food. It exceeded expectations!
