Spending the Holidays in the Keys Again!

Rick was in charge of the carving the turkey -
He did a great job!

Lining up in the food line!!

Guys waiting to hear
"Let's Eat!"

Gathering of some of the girls

Rick and Terese always do a
superb job smoking the butts!

Gathering on the dock - smelling the smoker!

Full moon - dockside

Gathering at the dock has become a habit

Cuttin' the rug at
Dockside Lounge

Merry Christmas!

All decorated for Christmas!

The boaters aren't the only thing
"lit" this time of year!

Rescue by dinghy!

Jerry's boat had a problem - lucky for them
we all were close by!

Boat Parade - pictures don't do justice

Very cool!

Sailboats are always cool when lit up

A couple of Elves
aka  Cheri and Terese

One of the Key Deer we saw on No Name Key

We saw several that day

Turtles being monitored at the
Turtle Hospital

View of Florida Bay from the Hospital grounds

This guy will be better soon

Very cool place - they provide a great service

One of the young ones showing off

They are really beautiful when you get a chance
to see them up close

Sunset on the harbor Thanksgiving night

Beautiful sky

Hard to beat the skies at sunset

Since we finally arrived in Marathon on November 24 we’ve been busy enjoying the great weather and visiting with our “Dock Dynasty” friends.  We all pretty much went our own way in the spring and then ended up back here for the winter.  Not a bad life!

Since there is a lot going on here and I plan to only post about once a month – I’m just going to hit the highlights……..

We spent Thanksgiving with everyone at Karen’s.  She has a condo here – it was too cool to try to have it on the dock.  What a great day it was!  Everyone, of course, ate too much and we watched football.  Even in the Keys – you gotta watch football on Thanksgiving!

We caught a ride to Jacksonville to pick up our car with Bob and Katie.  They were going home to Ohio for Christmas and were driving right by Jacksonville on their way.  It worked out great!  Well, it did until we went to start the “silver bullet”.  No go.  The battery was as dead as it could be.  It took some doing but we finally got it going with the help of Bruce (the dock master) and his jumper cables.  We were then on our way again back south.  We planned to spend the night somewhere because it was a 9 hour drive one way.  We decided we’d stop in Port Orange for the evening.  That was good  -  but in the morning the car wouldn’t start again.  We were in the hotel parking lot and only about a mile away from Walmart but no one would even look our way much less stop.  Mike remembered we had one of our bikes in the trunk.  Of course the tires were flat.  He carried it to a gas station to get air then rode it back to the car.  He was planning to carry the battery on the bike to Walmart.  However, finally one of the guys that was there to take care of the hotel’s lawn offered to help.  He had jumper cables and we were able to get it started one more time.  Then off to Walmart for a new one!  Finally about 11:30 we were on our way again.  So much for a nice leisurely drive back to Marathon. We did manage to stop in Ft Pierce for lunch at the Original Tiki Bar.  It’s at the marina where we stopped coming down.   No big deal – we got back to the boat about 7:30 safe and sound.  Always something……

There was a play at the Marathon Local Theater – “Tuna Christmas”.  This theater is really funky and fun to visit.  I had gone to a play there last year and really enjoyed it.  The one this year was really funny!   Two guys played over a dozen parts a piece.  We had met one of the guys at Karen’s.  The best thing is they serve beer/wine there and even homemade brownies!  Can’t beat that!

Of course, we’ve already managed to hit some of our favorite restaurants either for lunch, dinner or happy hour – Hurricanes, Sparky’s, Burdines, No Name Pub, Sunset Grille and Nowhere Pub (that one’s new) – along with the Happy Hour docktails that gather behind our boat we definitely don’t go hungry or thirsty around here.

We’ve taken a few dinghy rides around the harbor and Mike has gone fishing a few times.  It’s been rather windy so we haven’t been able to go out much farther.  We have been to the beach but that’s been by scooters.  The weather really has been unseasonably cool for the last few weeks – getting down into the low 60s at night.  I know that may not seem cold – but it is by Florida standards and sitting out by the water after the sun goes down usually consists of long pants and a light jacket.  Not complaining, just telling it like it is.  J

The Christmas Lighted Boat Parade was last weekend.  That’s always a lot of fun.  They come into the harbor and go right past our boats so we all have a great seat!  We had a bunch of appetizers and docktails and watched the boats go by.  Some of them were really good!  Of course most of our boats here are all decorated too.  We definitely get in to the “spirit” around here!

Mike and I went to Big Pine Key to check out the gigantic Flea Market they have every weekend.  The highlight for me is those wonderful “donuts” that the guy has there right out of the fryer.  Yummy!  They’re still warm and are lightly covered in powdered sugar.  No calories there!  After a couple of hours of wandering around we decided it was time to do our trek to No Name Pub where we had to have their famous pizza!  The place is located on No Name Key where you will definitely see the small Key Deer.  They are protected  -  and they will sometimes come up to you and eat out of your hand.  We saw several when we were in the car.  Didn’t get to see any face to face this time.

We finally made it to the Turtle Hospital here in Marathon.  We’ve be wanting to go to it but it never seemed to work out.  This time we went with Bill and Patty.  It was their first time there also.  What a very informative and educational place.  They really do live up to their name.  It is a functioning hospital and they rescue the sea turtles that get in to trouble.  In fact they took in over 35 turtles just last weekend.  Several of them were from the northern east coast where the temperature had plummeted rather early and they hadn’t had time to migrate to warmer waters.  Some of them have already been released once they were checked out.  There are some that have come in contact with boats and/or fishing lines and were really in bad shape when they got here.  Some will be released in a few months – others will remain as permanent residents.  They do a wonderful thing here.  I was really impressed.

Next I want to go to the Dolphin Center.  It’s also here in Marathon.  We’re planning to do that in a week or so – probably after the holidays.

There are still a few of us that will be here Christmas Day.  SO we will be having a potluck dinner on the dock.  Looking forward to it.  I plan to bake some Christmas cookies this week even though it is 80 degrees!  I do have to admit that I miss not being “home” at Christmas.  This is our 4^th Christmas away from our family back in Missouri.  Who knew!  Maybe next year………..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”