Jan. 30 – Marathon, FL

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“Laughter is sunshine, it chases winter from the human face.” ― Victor Hugo

The weather finally cleared up a little this week…still not warm but at least we had some sunshine. We were able to get off the boat and enjoy the MTOA picnic at Sombrero Beach, the swap meet at the City Marine, we ran errands, rode our bikes and spent several evenings with friends. It was definitely an improvement over the last few weeks.

Boot Key Harbor heading toward Burdine's on Wednesday.

Burdine's...still a few clouds in the sky when we left and we did get a little wet on our way home.

Local entertainment by Ty and Cory at Burdine's

Fun with new and old friends

Fried key lime pie...one of the reason we needed to get out and ride our bikes this week

Sombrero Beach on Friday was a busy place...a little cold for the water, but the sun felt wonderful.

The couples who made our picnic a reality. We had 58 people attend.

Ted and Sally were in charge of cooking up the hamburgers and hot dogs...they did a great job.

A few of the MTOA members who came out to the picnic 

Cruiser's Net swap meet on Saturday

A farewell dinner with the crews of Amici and Exuberant. It's not really a goodbye...just a see you later. We'll see everyone again later in the year.

The view from our dinghy on the ride home

Jan. 26 – Marathon, FL

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ― Dalai Lama XIV

Although the weather hasn't been the greatest (pretty much the wettest and coolest on record) this year we are trying our best to stay busy. We've had more than several days that I haven't left the cabin or even changed out of my jammies...good days to watch moving on Netflix, made possible by the generosity of our neighbors for letting us sign into their unlimited wifi. Other days have been cold, windy and cloudy but no rain so we try to get out and do something...mostly visiting with friends, enjoying happy hours and sharing meals. Being in Marathon really is about spending time with friends and we are truly enjoying that.

Besides social gatherings I've filled my time with basket weaving, Mexican train dominoes, a little shopping, DVD exchanges (remember everyone has been spending a lot of time on their boats), reading, cooking and on occasion a little cleaning. One day seems to run into the next.

Today we woke up to a normal Key's morning with plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures, so we had a chance to enjoy Marathon for the reasons we are here...the sun and the water. We started our day by sitting on the flybridge and enjoying our coffee, the first time we've been able to do that in two and a half weeks. But the best part of the day was actually getting out on the water. Our friends on Exuberant invited us to go for a sail. What an amazing way to spend a winter day.

It wasn't a trawler type day, the wind and waves were a little too high to make a comfortable ride on our boat, but on their 44' Hylas sailboat we had a great ride. We flew across the water at 7-8 knots and enjoyed the spray of the sea and the breeze and the sun in our faces. It felt wonderful to be on the water. Thanks Burt and Prue for the invitation.

A few of the basket weavers at the City Marina

My new basket...it's coming along, but it still needs a little work.

Dinner and game night on Amici 

Dinner and game night on The Pearl...are you seeing a pattern here. When there's bad weather you have to find inside things to do.

Sailing on Exuberant.

Look at that water...amazing!

Silent Sunday

Jan. 20 - Key West

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” —Unknown

Our oldest son and his family gave us a gift certificate for a biplane tour of Key West for Christmas. We've been watching the weather, trying to plan a good day for the tour and day in Key West...a day that didn’t have too much wind and no rain. That's been a little difficult this month, but it finally happened today. Getting to the bus stop this morning was a little chilly but the sun was out and we were excited to be heading to Key West for the day.

Marathon is about 50 miles from Key West...an hour by car or about two hours on a bus that stops every few miles. The Lower Key Shuttle is a bargain at $1.50, watching and visiting with people on the bus is just a bonus. Our timing for our tour was perfect, we arrived at the airport and found the Conch Republic Air Force about 20 minutes before our flight. Giving us just enough time to settle in and look at some of the other planes the company owns.

Our tour of the island was in a 1942 WACO UPF-7 bi-Plane. The open cockpit gave us a great view of the beautiful blue water and the island. The pilot narrated the tour pointing out landmarks, shipwrecks and even a few dolphins and sharks. It was a unique and amazing experience. Now we've seen one of our favorite town from the land, sea and air. It was a great way to spend the morning. The people at Conch Republic Air Force were wonderful; they were professional, friendly and accommodating. The owner even gave us a ride to the Historic Seaport after our tour.

Ted and Sally from Amici came down on a later bus and we met them for lunch at DJ's Clam Shack on Duval Street. We spent the afternoon wandering around town shopping a little and watching people, although people watching was a little slow today...cooler than normal and no cruise ships in town. The most interesting people watching starts after dark. We had a chance to check out of a few happy hours before we caught our bus home, but missed out on the Sunset Celebration. It's hard to fit everything into one day when the bus is your only transportation home.

Our plane

A few of the other planes belonging to Conch Republic Air Force

Ready for take off

Pictures taken from the video we bought of the flight

Pictures I took during the flight

Looking down on Malloy Square and towards Duval Street

Views from the cockpit 

Our plane and pilot 

Cuban Coffee Queen - One of the best places to get coffee in Key West

The Porch - a great place to relax, have a drink and watch the world go by

The view from The Porch

Enjoying our friends at The Porch

Waiting for the bus to take us home

Having fun on the bus

Jan. 18 – Marathon, FL

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” —John Quincy Adams

This past week (and most of the month) has been cloudy, rainy, windy and a little chilly. Very gloomy. I know it's January, but we're in the Sunshine State and in the Keys...you'd think we'd get a few more warm sunny days.

We woke up to a bright sunny day on Saturday (our eyes had to adjust) and we knew we needed to enjoy it. We took the bus to Big Pine Key to wander through their regular flea market and the annual Nautical Flea Market. We didn't find anything special but we did have fun bumming around, watching people and enjoying the sun. Just riding the Lower Keys Shuttle on a Saturday can be entertaining, but mostly it's a test of patience. Traffic moves very slowly in the Keys on a holiday weekend and bus schedules tend to be off, but the live feed of the buses helps you feel more confident that they'll finally show up.

Sunday morning we woke to a strange looking sky and knew we were in for a windy wet day as a strong cold front moved through. Just after sunrise the winds picked up and we had winds 30 MPH+ all day. We were glad we were tied to a dock and not anchored in Sister’s Creek or swinging on a mooring in Boot Key Harbor. It was a good day to watch old movies, work on my pine needle basket and surf the internet while stew cooked slowly in the crock-pot.

The morning sky before the storm blew in. This picture was taken in Boot Key Harbor by Maresa Casey.

White cabs on the creek...not your normal view

Can you tell the wind is a little crazy?

Another picture of Boot Key Harbor by my friend Prue on Exuberant.

The beginning of this year's first pine needle basket

Jan. 9 – Marathon, FL

Sombrero Resort & Marina

"Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.” ―Hunter S. Thompson

Saturday was a beautiful day...a great day to get out in the dinghy. We loaded the dinghy up with our snorkeling gear, fishing rod and tackle and a picnic lunch and headed out through Boot Key Harbor for a fun day on the water. We stopped at Burdines for some bait and then headed around Boot Key towards Sombrero Beach. The water was smooth and we went several miles out in the Atlantic looking for fish. The water was an amazing color and so clear, but nowhere near as beautiful as the water in the Abacos…still incredible though. Stan caught quite a few small fish…no keepers, no fish for dinner, but we did spot a sand shark, a stingray, a turtle and several starfish.

We stopped at Sombrero Beach for a picnic lunch. We sat under a palm tree with a view of Sister’s Creek…not a bad place to spend the afternoon visiting with people and watching boats going by.

Burdines...they have a little of everything for the boater & fisherman

Look at that beautiful water...I just love the color

The fish were small but we still had fun.

Sombrero Beach

The view for lunch from under our palm tree cafe

A little visiter that was enjoying Sombrero Beach Saturday.

We went out to 7-Mile Bridge to fish but the water had gotten a little rough, so we decided to come back into Boot Key Harbor where the water was smoother.

Another little green iguana visiting on the dock