Spending Our Time in Islamorada

The sister ship to Hemingway's "Pilar" built in 1933

Neighborhood Pirates out for the booty!

View of the ocean from the Islander Resort

Mike - learning to taking it easy

A NautiNell sighting!

Okay, now what do I do with it??

In search of a RumRunner at sunset

Sunset at Islamorada Fish Company

Chillin' at the sandbar

Okay, I know it's Spring Break  - but a flying dinghy!!??

Now where did Mike go this time?  Hello??

Sunday Jazz Brunch at Snappers in Key Largo

Gathering at the sandbar

Another beautiful sunset from Lora Lei beach

One giant lobster!!

Sunset from the Carribean Club - Key Largo

As our time here at Islamorada began drawing to a close, I realized that I hadn't posted a blog for quite some time. The last time was when I mentioned our bus ride to Marathon – what a hoot that was!

Since then we have been busy "working" and "playing". Under the topic of working – we have installed a new generator exhaust hose. The other one was leaking a little – and it definitely needed to be replaced. Thankfully, Mike had help with this. One of the local guys "Jeff" helped him immensely. It wasn't an easy task! Now when the generator is running – the bilge pump should not be kicking on like it did. AND we should be able to trust sleeping while the generator is running – like we'd ever be able to do that! That generator can be rather noisy!

We also bought a new fridge with an icemaker. That makes two working icemakers we now have on board! No shortage of ice on this boat! No sirreee bob!! Maybe we can sell ice while we're in the Bahamas! HA! Bring on the cocktails!

Now getting the old fridge out and the new one in wasn't the easiest thing to do. Thanks to a lot of local manpower we got it done. We bought it online from Lowes in Homestead. They could deliver it but couldn't step foot on the boat. SO we had to depend on our local "friends". Thanks to everyone that helped especially Mark (Rock Chalk) and our new friend Vonn from Canada.

Mike also stepped up and got an inverter so we can stay on anchor and not have to run the generator as much. That was another reason we purchased a new fridge. There was really nothing wrong with the old one – just wanted one that would be much more efficient while under power with the inverter. Mike has had a time getting this all together. He's had to build a battery box for the new batteries the inverter will need. Of course, he had to get all the wiring done from the batteries to the inverter to the outlets, etc. Glad he knows what he's doing. Well, he acts like he does anyway! LOL! At the time of this writing – the inverter process is not quite done. He needs something from Ace Hardware and they closed early today – Saturday. May not get it completed until Monday. Oh well……. HA!  Oh, did I mention that there was smoke coming from the engine room - oops!  Just a little wiring mishap....!

We also replaced a couple of hoses and some other small "fix me ups" such as replacing the fuel filters, etc. AND we sold the old fridge on Craigslist!

Now under then topic of playing – we've been having a great time! We have taken the dinghy on several small jaunts – including out to the local sandbar. This is where everyone hangs out especially on weekends. It's only a couple of miles away under the bridge and out in the ocean. You just throw out an anchor or if you're in a dinghy like us – you just run up on the sand. It's great! The water is so clear and the sand is beautiful. We were there one Sunday afternoon when it was pretty much taken over by Spring Breakers. We didn't really mind – but we did feel really old! In fact, were we ever that young? I know we didn't look like that in a swimsuit! HA!

We have ridden our bikes up and down US 1 about as far as we could go. We can go across the street from our marina to the beach. There is a resort across the street that is on the beach and has a bar/restaurant and pools. So far, no one had minded that we hang out there! It is so nice just sitting on the beach and watching the boats.

I know I mentioned the Whistle Stop in my earlier blog. It was a great little local bar. It was sad to see it close. We did make it there a few more times though before it closed. We were becoming regulars and even had our own table!

What we have spent most of our "playing" time doing is spending happy hours on the beaches and watching the sunsets. It just never gets old. Oh, I've become quite the expert on Key Lime Pie and Rumrunners too! That never gets old either!!

There is a huge store here called World Wide Sportsman. It's owned by Bass Pro. It has a beach and marina there too. Dry-berthed inside is the vessel which is called the sister ship to Ernest Hemingway's 'Pilar'. It was built in 1933 in Brooklyn a year before Hemingway's boat was built just around the corner. Legend has it that he fished from this boat and decided that he must own one just like it.  There is also an area outside at the Tiki Bar where people feed fish.  There were huge tarpon there and we even saw a shark.  According to the bartendar it was a lemon shark.  I don't care what kind it was - it was big!  That's enough!

Last weekend we rented a car from Enterprise in Key Largo. We wanted to see the sights and go places that were too far to go to on bikes. They picked us up on Friday here at the Marina just like the commercial says – only it was nearly 5:00 o'clock instead of 3:00 o'clock. No worries! We're on island time! We're tourists for the weekend!

Of course, we had to take the driver back to Key Largo so while we were there we checked out Gilberts Resort and Marina. We had stayed here a few years ago when we had chartered a boat from Key Largo to Key West. It has really changed in the past twelve years or so. We also went to the Caribbean Club which is an old local hangout. The story is that the movie Key Largo was filmed at this spot. The bar wasn't there then – but the beach was!

We stopped at Hog Heaven for dinner. The Blues Pirates were playing. Right up our alley! We hung out there for quite a while. Mike said that his fish tacos were the best he had EVER had! And he's had a lot of fish tacos on this trip!!

Saturday we went to the Flea Market in Big Pine Key. This flea market is held here every weekend. It was worth the trip just to go to the farmer's market section. It's great to be able to get fresh homegrown tomatoes in March! Yea! Oh, and we couldn't pass up the guys with the $3.00 hats! We bought three! Big Spenders, aren't we? We made it back to Islamorada just in time to hit the Pig Roast - a fundraiser for the Local Firefighters. One thing about this area – you should never go hungry!

On Sunday we went back to Key Largo for brunch at Snappers. Every Sunday they have a Jazz Brunch on the Water. We had a really nice brunch along with Mimosas and Bloody Caesars. The jazz guy was great. It was very enjoyable sitting out on the oceanside watching the seagulls.

While we had the car, we took advantage and went to Publix and Winn Dixie several times. We stocked up on groceries and liquor for our trip to the Bahamas. Water, Liquor and Pop are really expensive over there. Oh, and toilet paper! Gotta have it! LOL!

Rock Chalk (Loopers – Mark and Shelley) showed up a few days ago. We had met them in Norfolk when we were just starting off. It was really good to visit with them. It was good to talk to fellow Loopers! Thanks to Mark for helping with the fridge! Didn't you just pick the perfect time to show up here! HA! They are headed to Ft Lauderdale where they will leave their boat and go home to Austin TX for a while. We will probably see them in the Bahamas in a few weeks.

Speaking of the Bahamas – that's where we are headed when we leave here. It's nice spending time in one place – just not too long! LOL! We had planned to leave tomorrow but since we didn't get the inverter project completed and we still need to get fuel – it looks like it will be a little later on in the week. We plan to go to Pumpkin Key just past Gilbert's and anchor out. From there we will begin our crossing – with the help of the gulfstream we will make it to Bimini in a half day or so. From there we will head to the Berry Islands and then continue east to Little Harbor in the Abacos. Then we will work our way north to Marsh Harbor. We have friends (Dick and Debbie) coming to see us and we will pick them up there around the first week of May. Yes, this is the same couple that spent time with us on Lake Michigan! So glad, they aren't holding that against us! We're all looking forward to a nice, calm and "warm" time in the Bahamas.

We will be limited with our Wifi connections in the Bahamas, I am told. So it may be awhile before I can post more blogs. Stay tuned!

Till next time!

Admiral "C"