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Mike lost his shoe from the dock
He was determined to find it......
And no, he hasn't |
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Super Bowl Sunday!
Shucking Oysters |
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| Lots left to shuck! |
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| Bill preparing the Jambalaya |
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See I told you Mike lost his shoe!
He even put up a reward!
|
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| And the Super Bowl feast begins! |
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| Dorothy about to be released |
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This lady, Dorothy's namesake, is the one that
rescued her |
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| It took several to carry her to the water |
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I bet she can smell the water!
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And off she goes! Healthy and Happy!
Thanks to the Marathon Turtle Hospital! |
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| This guy crowded in line at the Ice Cream Store! |
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| Gathering for another cook-out! |
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| Rick out did himself this time! |
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| This is pretty much how we spend our days! |
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Gathering for the Dinghy Poker Run!
I had no idea that there would be such a crowd! |
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And off they go!
Best count was there were 24 dinghies in all! |
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| Gathering up to draw a card |
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Second stop was the beach!
I think we overwhelmed the beach goers! |
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| Yes, Mikey - you are the "Dinghy Captain"! |
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| R L and Karen really need to learn how to have fun...... |
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Earnest Hemingway's bedroom
(Thanks, Mikey) |
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| Beautiful grounds at the Hemingway House |
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| One of the cats' watering holes |
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The picture doesn't do this justice
It was a beautiful African Tulip tree |
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| Yeah, right after this - he bit me!! |
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| You really see the strangest things in Key West |
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| MTOA Gathering at Banana Bay |
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| Beautiful view of Florida Bay |
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What could Mike and Larry be discussing?
Who knows! |
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| Sunset at Banana Bay |
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| It just kept getting prettier! |
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| View of the Bay from Crane Point |
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Inside the oldest house in the Keys
outside of Key West |
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| What a view! |
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Can't remember the name of the plant
Not an aloe, but it's very old |
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| Another view of the Bay |
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Isn't he cute!
Burrowing Owl |
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Adderley House - the oldest house in the Keys
outside of Key West - built in the early 1990s |
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| Doesn't look all that comfortable! |
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| Pretty sparse! |
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| more foliage |
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| Sunset in the harbor |
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| Beautiful sky at night |
As I mentioned in my last post it’s been a very busy season.
The first weekend of February was no exception.
We had planned a Dinghy Poker Run on January 31 but had to cancel it due
to really windy conditions. So we went
on with the hotdog cookout! Mike cooked
hotdogs on Ricky’s grill and of course we all ate too much. As the day went on the winds seemed to calm
down a bit so we decided to take a short dinghy ride over to the beach. It turned out to be a beautiful day!
One good thing about canceling the Poker Run was that we
were able to attend a Turtle Release at the beach. The Turtle Hospital was releasing Dorothy –
named after the lady that rescued her.
Dorothy, the turtle was found just outside Sisters Creek here near the
Harbor and was in quite a mess. After
spending a few weeks at the hospital she was tagged and returned to the
waters. Dorothy is a Loggerhead turtle
weighing about 110 lbs. and about 15-18 years old. They said she could easily live to be over
100 years old. We had always wanted to
attend one of the “turtle releases” but had never been at the right place at
the right time. We finally made it! It was very cool to see her take off into the
water. She went about 200 yards and
popped her head up as if to say “goodbye”!
February brought on the Super Bowl. Of course it was again cookout time on the
dock! This time Karen and R.L. (Last
Call) supplied oysters – raw, steamed and grilled. Wow! Patty and Bill fixed up some mighty fine
Jambalaya and the rest of us kicked in appetizers, sides and desserts. Again we ate too much but definitely enjoyed
ourselves. Oh yeah, there was a football
game to watch too! Turned out to be a
good one too! But neither Mike nor I won
the pot. Oh well, there’s always next
year!
Finally we were able to have our Dock Dynasty Dinghy Poker
Run! We started off the day with a Dock
Dynasty Sunday Brunch on the dock.
Yummy! Yes, we ate again! :-) Then everyone started showing up for the
registration. Turns out the word had
gotten out through the grapevine so we had lots of boaters showing up for the
Poker Run. Way more than I had
anticipated! No problem! We just made more copies of the score sheets
and collected their money. The more the
merrier and the bigger the pot! Turns
out we had over 24 dinghies – hard to get a definite count – they kept
moving! We had 65 hands playing – with $325 in the pot! 75% went to the high hand and 25% went the
lowest hand. That’s a pretty good
prize! Everyone had a fun time – the
weather cooperated this time and we were able to spend quite a bit of time at
the beach and dinkin’ around. Finally
about Happy Hour time everyone made it back to the dock for the drawing of the
last card. The big winner was a lady
that was a guest on RickShaw who is out in the mooring field. R.L. who is on Last Call here on the dock was
the “biggest loser”! What a great time!
February also brought on a week
of cool and very windy weather. I’m glad
we were able to get the Poker Run done before this front moved in. It’s only supposed to be in the 60s with lows
in the 40s and 20-30 mph winds! That’s
pretty cool for here plus the wind makes it rather unpleasant on the dock. We’ll have to come up with some other
activities! I see a trip to Key West in
our near future.
Mike and I did go to Key West one
day. We even managed to do a little more
sightseeing than usual. We toured the
Hemingway House. It was pretty
interesting but not near as fancy as I expected. Pretty drab actually. I guess he was a writer not an interior
decorator. Ha! There are over 50 Hemingway cats on the
premises. Most of them have 6 toes. And wouldn’t you know it - the one I managed to
pet – scratched and bit me! The nerve!
Ray had brought a boat down to
Key West from Islamorada that day so we met him at Rick’s and gave him a ride
back to Marathon. Of course, that was
after a little more people watching and Happy Hour at Looe Key. Fun-filled day!
The Gigantic Nautical Flea Market
was held in Islamorada and, of course, we had to go check it out. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been in
the past. I think it was mostly because
of the weather – a little cloudy and somewhat cool. It turned out to be a good day though. Mike was able to pick up a stereo for the
dinghy for a good price. Of course,
always the bargain hunter.
Some of us girls decided we would
go to Crane Point. It’s just a block or
so away from the marina and most of us haven’t been there! Crane Point is a 63 acres nature preserve. It
preserves one of the world’s last remaining thatch palm hammocks that contains
endangered species. It is also the home
of the oldest house in the Keys outside of Key West – the Adderley House. George Adderley was a Bahamian immigrant and
built his home in 1900s out of “tabby” – which is burnt seashells. There are several nature trails and we took
the Golf Cart tour. The view of Florida
Bay was beautiful as was the flora and foliage along the way. I really enjoyed it!
The first of March has seen many
of our fellow cruisers heading out. It’s
been a good weather window so a couple of boats left for Ft Myers Beach. Others will be heading to the Bahamas
soon. I guess we had better figure out
where we’re going so we can figure out when we need to leave! Decisions, decisions!
Till next time!
Admiral “C”
