Our Last Few Days in Marathon

Relaxing at Gilligan's Island (Sandbar)

Mike driving and Steve scouting
Joey must be fishing!

Get together at the FL Keys Country Club

Beautiful night in the Keys

I'm getting quite of a collection of sunsets

MTOA Gathering at Sombrero Resort

Easter morning sunrise

Beautiful morning at the beach

Easter bunny sighting!

Pizza time at No Name Bar

Another gathering!

Sunday jam - Mickey is 98 years old!

Off to breakfast on this bright sunny morning

Our destination - Harbor Hillbillies!

Another day at the sandbar

Beautiful night - even if I missed the sunset

My last trip to the beach 

Good crowd at the beach

These Florida skies never grow old

Waiting for the homemade ice cream!

Taken by a fellow boater on Easter Sunday 

Easter crowd for dinner

Our really last hurrah for the season 

We never miss a chance to eat!

Tying up at the Harbor Hillbillies

Saying goodbye to Jeff on Jeremiah  

Saying goodbye to Rambler!

Yes, we brought our
own table!

Goodnight!

After our whirlwind visit with our friends Bill and Pam, we spent a few days “decompressing”.  It didn’t take long till we were back in the swing of things!

We attended a potluck at Sombrero Resort which is next door and put on by the MTOA group.  Plenty of good food and music.  This resort has a tiki bar and pool.  The pool looked very inviting.  I’m definitely planning to go back and enjoy it when I get a chance.  It’s just at the end of our dock after all! 

Easter Weekend was busy.  First we took a great dinghy ride on Saturday.  Since it wasn’t too windy, we went out to Gilligan’s Island (Sandbar) and back to the beach.  We met a couple on “Over Ice”.  Their dinghy is named “Ice Cube”.   Robert and Brenda from Mississippi just began the Loop.  They are heading up north in a few days and plan to be in Norfolk in time for the AGLCA Rendezvous in May.  That’s where we started five years ago!!  Anyway, it was fun talking to them because they are so excited about the Loop.  It brought back a lot of memories.

Several of us were up before dawn on Easter so we could attend Sunrise Services on the beach.  It’s always so pretty there so it’s not really too hard to get up for it.  As you know sunrises and I don’t meet very often!  Anyway it was a very nice service as usual.  Later on that evening we had a huge cookout/potluck on the dock.  Ricky cooked a couple of pork butts, Carolyn brought a huge ham.  There were all kinds of casseroles, salads and desserts!  When we decided to do this on Easter, we thought there weren’t that many of us left on the dock.  Well, we had over thirty people and way too much food!  It was such a good time.  Always a great way to spend Easter – Sunrise Services followed by friends and food.  We had so much food left that we gathered up again for lunch on Monday for leftovers!  Nothing goes to waste around here! 

Mike and I had been wanting to make it to No Name Bar on Big Pine Key for pizza so later that week off we went.  Jeff, Rhonda and Joey went along too.  What a fun time that was!  No Name is known for their pizza and they definitely didn’t disappoint.  We also were able to see a few key deer along the way.

Yes, we’re back to eating again.  HA!  Tuesday is Taco Tuesday at Hurricanes and Thursday is wing night at the Ale House so yes, we had to hit those a few times. 

During the past week, the bar at the marina “Dockside Tropical Café” closed.  We’ve been surprised that it’s lasted this long.  We’d been there only a few times this season because of the service and several other reasons I won't go into.  When we went we’d usually go for the music and then only stay for a couple of drinks.  Let’s just say it was a sorry state.  Hopefully someone will come along and do it right.  It really won’t be missed.  However, it would be a really nice thing to have a place you can go to and enjoy right here in the marina like most of the other marinas we’ve stayed in have.  Just sayin’……..

Last night we tried happy hour at the Florida Keys Country Club.  It’s just across the road from the marina.  Good timing on their part.  Dockside closes and the Country Club opens its bar/restaurant to the public the same week.  A couple more boaters are leaving so this was a great way to give them a sendoff.

Jeremiah (Jeff and his son Scott) and Rambler (Richard and Kathy) left out this morning (Saturday 4/2). They are heading up the west coast.  Jeff is heading back to his home near Venice and Richard and Kathy are going to play on the west coast for a while before they head over to Hilton Head where they keep their boat.    It’s REALLY getting empty here.  There is an empty slip on our port and three empty slips on our starboard.  Guess it’s time for us to leave too.  We will try to catch the next good weather window.  That probably means in another week or so.  We’ll head up the west coast too where we plan to spend some time in Ft Myers Beach and then at Clearwater Beach. 

After a rainy day all day Monday, we were ready to take a dinghy ride on Tuesday morning.  Several of us rode over to Harbor Hillbillies which is a little houseboat that serves breakfast in the harbor.  There were several of us and it overwhelmed them, but we didn’t mind the wait.  Sitting out in the sunshine in our dinghies waiting for breakfast isn’t too bad.  This couple that owns this boat/diner calls themselves Hillbillies and advertises that it’s “Ozarks Food at Ozarks Prices”.  So of course, we had to ask them where they’re from.  It turns out they are from just outside Springfield MO.  That’s only about an hour from our hometown, Joplin!  It is such a small world.  We had fun talking about the area that we’re all were familiar with. 

Later that day we took the dinghy back to Gilligan’s for an all-day fun day in the sun.  When the tide is down it really reminds me of the lake back home where we all just bob around in the water.  Only this is saltwater and there are a few different critters swimming by.  Cindy said she saw a shark but it was a little one and there were lots of rays swimming by.  We managed to get home in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset here in the harbor.  What a great day!

We spent the next day sprucing up NautiNell because we were having two different couples coming on Thursday to see it back to back.  This rollercoaster ride it no fun!  But at least we have a clean boat!  They came to look over it while we disappeared for lunch.  We got some very positive feedback from the broker but no offers yet.  We showed it again just the other day to another couple.  This couple likes it too!  But you know the saying….”Show me the money!”  LOL!

Mike, Steve and Joey went fishing in Joey’s center console.  They caught a lot, but no keepers.  I spent the morning at the beach.  What better thing to do when the guys are fishing!  Later that day we tried the Florida Keys Country Club again.  This time it was prime rib night.  A good night and a LOT of food!

It was really windy again yesterday (Sunday, 4/10).  We took the dinghy for a ride around the harbor and to Burdines for lunch.  It was a little rough coming back!  Later on, Rho-Jo (Rhonda and Joey) treated us all to some homemade ice cream!  Is this the life or what!

I’ve been reading some of my old posts on my blog.  Some that were written almost five years ago when we were just starting this adventure!  What a life we’ve been living.  Although it seems all we do now is eat and drink, it’s because we’ve been staying at the same marina for several months at a time.  This is good – we’ve met a lot of good friends.  It’s just not as “adventurous” as it was when we were traveling about every day to places we’d never been! But we’ll be leaving Marathon on Wednesday (April 13) if all goes well.  It will be another adventure!  We’ve not spent a lot of time in Fort Myers Beach area or in Clearwater Beach.  We know that our days on the waterways are somewhat limited.  After all NautiNell is for sale and who knows when that will happen.  However, until then we are ready for new places and new adventures!  We’ve made so many good friends here in Marathon.  And we know that if/when we sell the boat, it will bring an end to our adventures on the waterways.  So some of these friends we may not see again.  However, we are planning to get an R/V so we just may not see them by water – we may be pulling up in their driveways!  Who knows!

Hopefully the next time I post we will have arrived in Ft Myers Beach.  Stay tuned!

Till next time!

Admiral “C"