No boat travel.
Today started looking out like a repeat of recent days. I had laundry to take care of, and Clark jumped on his varnishing project as soon as he had eaten breakfast. Jim and AC from Hour Plan saved the day from tedium by asking if Clark and I wanted to join them for lunch at Burdines restaurant. They planned on walking there for lunch at 1:00. I said, "Definitely yes, if Clark can drag himself away from his projects."
I had already washed the towels on the boat, but with a late lunch scheduled, I decided I had time to strip the bed and wash the sheets as well. While I ran back and forth to the laundry room, Clark sanded and applied yet another coat of varnish. He has to build up the layers of varnish, so he will be doing this project for several days to come.
AC and Jim came by to get us just after 1:00, and we walked up to Route 1 hoping for a break in the traffic to allow us to cross to the restaurant side of the road. We decided that one of us was blessed as when we arrived at the highway, no cars were coming from either direction. We scooted across in a hurry to take advantage of our good luck.
Due to focused clean up, Route 1 shows little sign of the effects of Hurricane Irma. Turning down the side road to the restaurant, however, we got to see some very sad sights.
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| Boat Graveyard passed on way to Burdines Restaurant |
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| The front of this boat looked like ripped cardboard! |
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| Trawler waiting to be crushed and put in the dumpster. |
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| Sunken and still in the water sport fish at dock. |
Fortunately, Burdines was open for business and had a good-sized crowd.
Although the old rowboat used to advertise the restaurant at the entrance to their property looked like quite a wreck, the rest of Burdines property looked pretty normal.
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| At Burdines Restaurant |
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| Restaurant is up the stairs in the background |
We got a table inside. With the open, no-exterior-walls design, this was perfect as it provided us with shade and a breeze. Facing away from the outside of the restaurant, Clark and I did have a bit of a view from inside the restaurant.
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| View from inside restaurant through port-hole style window. |
The wreck of a marina on the dock that we could see through the window was the old, ocean-side Faro Blanco. Damaged in a prior hurricane, it has never recovered. After Irma, it only looks worse.
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| Faro Blanco Oceanside |
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| Zoomed-in view of wreckage |
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| Lunch partners at Burdines in Marathon, Florida AC and Jim from Hour Plan |
We thoroughly enjoyed the company and the food starting with the french fries appetizer we shared, then sandwiches / salads, and finally fried key lime pie we shared for dessert. When I left there, I felt stuffed.
Walking back to the marina, we decided to step into West Marine for a look around. On the walk from Burdines to West Marine, AC and I noticed a tow truck waiting to turn onto Route 1. We both called for Clark to pull out his camera quick!
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| Tow truck with a great slogan! "Best Hookers in Town" |
While in West Marine, AC and I did not do much looking. We stood at the end of one of the aisles and talked while the guys shopped.
Since the marine supply store is right next door, Clark decided to pop in there quick to look for something. AC and Jim had no interest, so they planned to cross Route 1 and go back to the marina. I waited with them. If Clark came back before traffic thinned, we could cross together. If traffic thinned before he came back, I would wait for him.
The whole time he was in the store (in reality only a few minutes) we had traffic coming both ways non-stop. As soon as he joined us, we had a clearing where we could stroll across all four lanes with no cars to worry about. AC said, "We now know who has the magical power to clear traffic on Route 1!"
After we returned to our boat, we continued talking to AC and Jim when we noticed a boat out in Florida Bay heading towards the marina. We wondered if it was someone coming into Faro Blanco. As we watched, we discovered that the boat was indeed coming into the marina, and better yet, we all knew the owners.
As soon as we saw the name Third Degree on the vessel, we knew that Faith and Jim had arrived! AC, Clark and I walked over as the unofficial greeting committee to welcome them back to Faro Blanco. Since I have been following Jim on Facebook, I knew they were on their way but did not know precisely when to expect them. I first met Jim and Faith when we were doing the Great Loop on Sea Moss.
With all the activity, the afternoon flew by, and before I knew it, it was time for docktails at 5:00 by the lighthouse. We met more new people - some who will be here for several weeks and others who are just passing through.
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| Docktails at sunset in Marathon, FL (I'm the one with the blue hat) |
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| Some docktails participants Linda (on the right) is a looper from Massachusetts on Ramble On |
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| Riley is a looper dog from an Irish boat CRAIC |
Since we are usually at the marina around sunset, the backdrop does not change. Even so, Clark would be remiss if he did not do his camera duty and capture the sunset for the blog whenever possible!
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| Sunset picture - very similar to last night's sunset picture but still beautiful to look at! |
Faro Blanco had a "best sunset" picture contest. I submitted Clark's photo from yesterday but he did not win. The winning photo was also taken at Faro Blanco and submitted by Chuck Smith.
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| Winning photo taken by someone I do not know - Chuck Smith |
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