2023: Key West and More

 22 February 2023

Our New Jersey friends,, Cathy and Franklin, that moved to Vero Beach, Florida drove to Marathon to visit us on the boat for a few days. While waiting for them to arrive today, I spent time in the pool with my friend JoAnn. After they arrived, we took a walking tour of Marlin Bay to show them around. We found a surprise in the main building.

An artistic member of the marina staff was leaving and drew the above in the sand on the game table in the lounge area.

As we walked the grounds, we made plans to travel to Key West the next day.

23 February 2023

We needed to wait until after our holding tank pump-out. We arrived in Key West at lunch time and made grabbing a quick bite to eat our first priority. After we had some food in our stomachs, we went exploring. Cathy recommended the Hemingway House. Since Clark and I have walked by it numerous times, but never seen it, we headed there.

Along the way, we passed by Kew West Bight, the Kapok Tree, and a sign designating the end of U.S. Route 1.

Hemingway's House is impressive with beautiful grounds and Key West's largest pool. Numerous six-toed cats, descendants of the first to live there, roam freely on the property with weekly vet visits to ensure their health.

Remains largest pool in Key West
Carved out of rock!

Urinal laid down and tiled to make a 
watering hole for the cats.

Hemingway typing room

Cats roam freely around the grounds 
and in the house

After Hemingway House, we walked around Key West heading in the general direction of Mallory Square where we would look for entertainment and the sunset.

Key West Walgreens

Oldest buildings ...

(in)Famous Sloppy Joe's Bar ...

Cathy and Franklin in Key West

A Virgin cruise ship, "Scarlet Lady", was in port, so we walked over to take a look. 

Clark announced, "This is my next boat!"

Nearby we saw ...

Cayo Hueso

Franklin, who is from Peru, explained to us that Cayo Hueso translates to "Bone Cay / Island" and was Key West's original name. Since the original name sounds close to "Key West" when pronounced, and since Key West is in the west, the name changed over time.

We spied a tower a few blocks off in the distance.

Clark has never seen a tower he did not want to climb. This one is associated with a museum. Fortunately, they charge a separate admission price if one only wants to climb the tower and not tour the entire museum to gain access. Clark was hesitant until I bought him a ticket and said it was an early birthday present. Then he could not wait to get up there to have a look around. At $11.00 I got off cheap on his gift this year!

Ticket booth to buy access to tower

Clark taking a picture of me

while I was taking a picture of him!

Ev, Cathy, and Franklin

While Clark was up there, he took a bunch of pictures of Key West. Here are just a few of them.

When he finally came down, we made our way to Mallory Square.

Where we saw talented jugglers on unicycles and ladders ...

and of course the sunset ...

24 February 2023

Fridays are the day that the library holds the photography class. After a quick shopping trip first thing in the morning, Franklin dropped Cathy and I off at the library to attend class together. This particular session focused on taking portrait pictures. 

When class ended, we walked back to the marina where Clark and Franklin were ready with the boat prepped for an outing to cruise through Boot Key Harbor.

Instead of going around the long way to the official channel, Clark decided to lower the mast and go under the 7 Mile Bridge. Since it was high tide at the time, it felt a little close as we passed underneath. Franklin asked which opening, and Clark basically said, "Pick one!"

We saw folks enjoying parasailing on the Atlantic Ocean.

Then we passed through Boot Key Harbor to gawk at all the boats moored there.

Kayaking by the Mangroves

Sombrero Beach

After ducking under the 7 Mile Bridge, on the return to the marina, Clark had Franklin pilot the boat while we put the mast and antennas back up in proper position.

25 February 2023

With a long drive ahead of them, Cathy and Franklin left around 8:30 this morning to head home to Vero Beach. After waving farewell, I jumped in a car with my friend Sandy for a ride to the Duck Key farmers' market. There seemed to be a lot more booths today than I have seen previous weeks. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the pool and putting the boat back together from having had visitors.

26 February 2023

While I was wondering how I would spend my day today, I got a surprise visit from my friend JoAnn. She, her husband, and her visiting friends planned to travel to Key West for the day. She needed someone to keep an eye on their lovely dog Sammy. I quickly agreed to watch her for the day.

Sammy had a full day with us including multiple walks. She is 12 but surprisingly full of energy. When she has a place in mind to visit, despite a limp, she can get moving. Her folks came and collected her at 8:30. Since that was way past her dinner time, I made up for the insult by feeding her treats to keep her happy.

27 February 2023

Some time got away from us and suddenly a month has passed since we last visited Faro Blanco for docktails. We decided to go today. With calm waters, we thought about taking the dinghy there. However, we got busy with other activities and suddenly found ourselves looking at 5:00 and deciding to take the bicycles there instead. 

As we prepared to leave our marina for the bike ride to Faro Blanco, I had Clark check the tire pressure on the bikes. All 4 tires needed air - some more than others. Thanks to a friend, Clark has an air pump that he carries on the bike, so he pushed the pressure up to better numbers, and we got going.

About halfway to Faro Blanco, Clark pulled over into a parking lot from the bike trail. He often does that when I am dragging behind, and he needs to wait for me. Usually he pops back out in front of me as I approach, so when he did not do that, I pulled over to the side to find out what was going on. 

His bike had popped two spokes in the front tire, and he was pulling the broken pieces out of the wheel hub. Then as we stood there another popped and then another. With four spokes broken, the wheel became warped. Even so, Clark decided to ride the bike the rest of the way to Faro Blanco. 

We had a nice time at docktails and got to see folks we have not seen in a while including the Wilson girls. Mia stole Clark's hat and posed for him.

Clark got most of the way back to the boat riding on the wonky bike tire, but finally he gave up and walked it back. When we stopped for him to dismount, I saw my instructor from the Library's 3D Printing class out for a walk with his daughter. We ended up chatting with them for several minutes before continuing back to the marina. 

I decided that since my bike worked, I would peddle back and left Clark to make his own way back to the boat. As soon as he got to the boat, he set to work repairing the bike.

Fortunately, we had a replacement bike wheel on the boat. A couple of years ago, I had a similar problem with popping spokes. Given the two bikes were bought at the same time, we fully expected that Clark's bike would eventually produce the same issue. It did; it just took longer than expected. 

An hour after we got back to the boat, Clark had the bike fixed and took it out for a quick test run. He's amazing!

28 February 2023

Clark invited Allie, who used to work at Marlin Bay, to come for a visit. They agreed on docktails but no specific time was set for the visit. We thought she would arrive around 5:00, and she came at 1:30. Unfortunately, since I thought I had time to spare, I had just started the process of dying my hair - not something I could stop and do later.

No worries! Clark and Allie talked and talked while I was busy. We had some snacks while we talked. Eventually, around 6:00, Allie said she wanted to go in the hot tub. Clark walked up with her for a dip in the pool. I watched them go and then walked over to "The Concession" boat to say goodbye to several couples that would be departing the marina the next day. JoAnn and Jim hosted an onboard docktails for those leaving. 

"Masquerade" and "Yachts of Fun", both Mainships, are on the Great Loop. Both sets of owners have sold their boats with caveat that the new owners will take possession after the current owners finish their loop trips. "Masquerade" will complete the loop in Charleston, SC, and "Yachts of Fun" will complete their loop in Canada. The third couple, leaving on "Arabella", have a long way to go to complete their loop.

After saying farewell to these new friends, I walked up to the pool and found Clark and Allie still enjoying the water. Eventually, they climbed out, and we walked back to the boat for more eating and talking. 

Clark and Alllie fresh out of the pool
(Clark's wearing a towel skirt)

Allie with very tiny boat dog
"Tink" (short for "Tinker Bell") 
from boat named "Magic Moments"

In between posing for pictures, we admired the beautiful sunset.

Allie brought some fish dip when she came, so we pulled that out with some crackers and other bits of food to munch on. After our makeshift dinner, Clark walked her out to the marina gate to say goodnight.