Friends here from Missouri - what a visit!

The girls looking good poolside!

Hanging out at Sunset Grill - catching some rays

Catching up with everyone

Fresh stone crabs - can't beat it!

chowing down on the stone crabs -
don't think Capt Mike wanted to be interrupted!

Everyone happy - "good friends and good food"

Yes, that's foil - getting a few "highlights" poolside

Interesting Elk painting in the
Key West Elks Lodge

Sunset at Mallory Square - Key West

Last night together - cooking up the fish
Quite a feast!

Capt Mike practicing his casting skills

Dick honing up his tennis skills
Notice the flip-flops
Serious game!  Ha!

On Friday – November 30 the whirlwind began!  We had 3 couples from Missouri here for a visit.  Scott & Julie got here about 4:00 and Dick & Debbie and Randy & Julie got here around 6:30.  First thing we did was hit the liquor store!  Then once they dropped off all their stuff at the condo – it was off to Dockside for dinner and drinks.    Their condo was really nice and less than a mile from NautiNell – just down the road a spell.  We enjoyed catching up with everyone.  The food was great and so was the band.  You can always count on Dockside and it’s only a short walk away.

Saturday morning we were all up early and headed to Key West for the day.  What fun!  We stopped at the local Elks Lodge for a drink and ended up having ribs for lunch.  They were cooking them out on the grill in front of the lodge.  This Elks Lodge is an IBPOEW.  “Improved BPOE of the World” A little different from ours back home – that’s all I’m gonna say.  Everyone was really friendly and they made really good drinks!

We had dinner at Hogs Breath and several cocktails in several places in between.  I really wish I had taken a picture   - on the east end of Duval Street it is rather “colorful” – Key West Style.  Right outside this “gay bar” was a Santa – (man) dressed as a woman would dress if she were dressing as Santa – right down to “his” red fishnet hose.  What a sight!  Something just isn’t right seeing Santa that way!  LOL!

On Sunday we spent most of the day at Sunset Grill here in Marathon.  The bar/restaurant has really good food, a swimming pool and a sandy beach area.  You literally can spend the entire day here and we did.  It was too windy to take out our boat.  We really wanted to give everyone a boat ride but 5-7 foot waves dictated that we didn’t.   The rest of the week didn’t look too good as far as wind goes either.  Oh well.  

We hung out at the condo mostly on Monday.  Their pool is heated and it was really nice to just relax a bit.  However, that didn’t last very long.  Randy and Julie had to go back home.  Sorry to see them go.  Guess some people do have to work, huh….!  For lunch it was off to Hurricanes.  Really busy and it took a while for lunch but it didn’t seem to matter.  It gave us more time to visit. 

That night we celebrated the sunset at Keys Fisheries with some really fresh stone crab.  Then it was back to the condo for more visiting and “a little more partying”………..! 

It’s really good to have a friend that’s a hairdresser.  Julie fixed me up and made me look “beautiful” again!  Pretty cool getting my hair highlighted poolside.  That’s a first!  While we girls were playing – the boys went fishing in the whaler.  Think it turned out to be more of a boat ride.  We hit Sparky’s Landing for happy hour and dinner.  I had a coconut Margarita that was out of this world.  Sparky's Happy Hour has wings and shrimp for 25 cents from 2-4.  Pretty good place to be!  We'll be back!

Wednesday the seas were supposed to lay a bit so the boys chartered a boat to do a little fishing out by the reef.  From what I could tell the ride was a little bumpy out there.  They came back a little green and not wanting lunch.  They did catch several yellowtail, mutton and a black grouper (grouper not a keeper) While they fished we girls shopped.  Perfect day. 

We spent our last night together at the condo with a wonderful fresh fish dinner.  Julie has way too much energy!  She dove in and did most of the cooking – fresh fish cooked three different ways, along with potatoes, rice, salad and all the works.  Can’t beat that!  AND Mike and I ended up with all the leftovers!  Yea!

Now it’s Thursday afternoon and I’m still catching my breath.  They left out this morning about 10:00 heading to the Miami Airport.  Miss them already!

The good thing is though – during all this “chaos” – Jeremiah (Jeff and Linda) and Seamoore (Carlton and Becky) finally made it in to the marina.  Good to see them.  We traveled with them while traveling the Loop last year.   They're staying here a couple of months too.  Think there may be a happy hour tonight…..!  We’ll see.  :-)

Till next time!

Admiral "C"

 

New Scooter and Thanksgiving here in Marathon

This boat is actually going to tow
the other one to Honduras!

Cleaning the Whaler - always something

I really did help - just taking a break in my beach chair!

Another beautiful sunset!

Here's our new scooter!  Zoom! Zoom!

Beautiful sky tonight - over the Country Club

Having turkey dinner at Sunset Grill

Happy Thanksgiving! 
We have so much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving Day sunset

Saturday morning (Nov 17) Mike picked up the rented mini-van at the airport and we were on our way to Lake Placid FL at about 10:00 a.m.  Yes, there’s a Lake Placid in Florida.  Who knew?  I thought it was in New York.  Learning a lot about geography, it seems.  I know more about Florida now than I ever thought I would.  Anyway, we were headed to Lake Placid about 260 miles away – through Alligator Alley – still didn’t see any alligators!  The objective here was to pick up our new “used” Yamaha Zuma Scooter – 49cc.  As I mentioned in my last blog – Mike sold our “Tank” – and found this little scooter for a bargain.  He’s also looking for another one so I don’t have to rely on him all the time…..  Look out!  I can be dangerous on a scooter – just ask that taxi driver in Key West – but now, that was a long time ago and no one was hurt- long story – ask me about it sometime.  LOL!  J

Anyway, we finally made it there about 4:00 – a little longer road trip than we anticipated – they were a very nice couple – Bobbie and John.  While Mike and John loaded up the scooter in the van – Bobbie took me out on their property where there is a swamp area – they have a resident alligator named ‘Zilla there.  Yea!  Or at least I thought.  Not one alligator showed its face.  They must be frightened of me!  LOL!  They hide in fear – yeah, that must be it!  I can still say “I have not seen one alligator on this entire boat trip”.  We did see some Sand Hill Cranes though.  There are two that live on their property.  What neat birds!  I’m told that they mate for life.  They didn’t seem to mind we were around.  They just walked right on by.  They were huge!

We decided not to drive back in one day  - it would put us back really late and we really didn’t have any real reason to be in a hurry.  We stopped in Clewiston FL for dinner at Beef O ‘Brady’s Sports Bar – not bad – and then we found a pretty nice Best Western nearby.  The motel wasn’t so bad but the walls were paper thin.  I mean we could hear the couple next door all night – if you know what I mean.  Eeewhh!  The complimentary breakfast turned out to be a disappointment too.  It sounded so good!  BUT – wasn’t…. They had scrambled eggs and sausage, etc.  BUT no salt.  Nope!  They were OUT!  You mean to tell me there was no salt in the kitchen?  The shakers were completely out on the counter.  Now there was a Wal-Mart Supercenter right across the street but no one would put out the effort to go get salt!  Sheeh!  Not really a big deal but – scrambled eggs need salt – at least Hot Sauce!  They didn’t have that either.  HA!

We did a little sightseeing along the way home.  Not really a whole lot to see.  We stopped at D-Hookers in Key Largo for a break and to watch some of the NASCAR race.  This is a really cool place.  I highly recommend this place for anyone that is cruising through Key Largo.  We had stone crabs and peel ‘n eat shrimp.  Yum!

We saw this nautical consignment shop along the road and had to stop. “Mother Earth” it was called.  Mike bought a cast net – and even got a lesson on how to throw it.  Now he’s going to get in to “live bait” fishing.  We’ll see…  We also bought a ladder for the Whaler.  Now when we go snorkeling – we can get back in to the boat!  Ha! 

We finally made it home and unloaded the bike from the van.  I went to the local Publix taking advantage of having a vehicle.   After that we just rested from our big weekend road trip.

Then Monday morning Mike took the van back (before 7:00 a.m.) and spent pretty much the rest of the day working on the scooter.  Hmmm.  Wouldn’t start.  He finally decided to have someone else look at it.  The problem is there is not one shop here in Marathon that works on scooters.  The closest one is in Key West.  He did find someone that would transport it to the Key West shop for $25. The guy does this quite often I’m told.  Anyway the shop said that we should have it back in a few days.  There is also a couple of bikes in Key West he wants to check out.  Sounds like another bus trip coming up.

In the meantime we are working on refinishing the teak furniture on our sundeck and the bright work – sanding – staining.  It’s really looking good!   There is always something to do on NautiNell.  Good thing – keeps us out of trouble! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This is the second Thanksgiving that we have been away from our family and friends.   We are having a great time aboard NautiNell but we do miss being home this time of year.  We are truly blessed though and wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Several restaurants here had special Thanksgiving meals.  We spent our day at Sunset Grill with a couple we have met here at the marina.  The food was great and we all ate entirely too much!  OF COURSE!  Mike and Linda keep their boat here and live in Naples.  The name of their boat is “Calypso Poet”.   It used to be named “Life’s 2 Short” and was owned by a couple from Springfield MO.  What a small world!

We have a week to finish up the teak refinishing and to get NautiNell all spiffed up.  Next Friday we have two couples from back home coming for a visit.  Can’t wait to see them and catch up on everything!  I see another trip to Key West in our future!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”

Hanging out in Marathon - trip to Key West

And they're off!

completely airborne! 

one of the leaders - at least for now

making a lap - fast!!

another "out of the water" adventure!

about to get lapped!

Qatar - the big winner of all
driven by a shiek from Dubai

seen this guy race before - very fast!!

A beautiful day for a race!

Veteran's Day Parade in Key West
Love the bagpipes!

Just one of the many entries in the parade

A great parade - lots of scout troops

Inside Hogs Breath Saloon

One of the infamous roosters in Key West

We’ve been here in Marathon for two weeks now.  Wow, time is flying here.  I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving.  This is the second Thanksgiving now that we’ve spent on NautiNell.  While we are having a great time here in Florida – I do miss my family and friends.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

We seem to be on a mission here checking out all the restaurants.  By the time all the other boaters get here we should be quite the experts on where to and where not to eat.   So far, we haven’t been to any of the “where not” to eat places.  All is good!

Saturday Marathon held its Veteran’s Day parade.  It wasn’t really very big – but it was nice.  Afterwards there were festivities at the American Legion.  We hung out there for a while – people watching. 

Sunday we had a full day.  The International Powerboat Races were being held this week in Key West.  The finals were Sunday.  There is a bus that goes to Key West from Marathon.  You can even take your bikes.  AND – for seniors – it only costs $1.50 each way.  How’s that for a bargain!  It’s about 1 ½ hours to Key West on the bus.   We met a couple (Gary and Sheryl) at the bus stop from Vera Beach that had also come down to the races.  Also, a girl named JJ that works at the local liquor store.   After a few more stops the bus was pretty much full.  The ride didn’t seem nearly as long as I had anticipated. 

We made it to the races just in time to see the start.  Wow!  We had a great view at Mallory Square.   It turned out to be really cool.  Watching the boats, the people, eating hotdogs and pretzels, drinking beer and enjoying the sunshine – all in Key West.  No complaints here!

After the races we had a few beers at Sloppy Joes.  That’s when we heard all the commotion outside.  Cool!  Here comes the Veteran’s Day Parade – down Duvall Street.   Now this Veteran’s Day parade was pretty cool.  It lasted quite a long time.  I guess I didn’t realize how many people actually live in Key West.  It was quite impressive.  They threw out some good candy too!  HA!

After that we went to Hogs Breath for dinner.  Always a good time to be had there.  We decided after dinner we should probably head to the bus stop.  That’s really the only problem riding the bus to Key West.  You have to remember you are on their schedule and not yours.  In other words you have to be pretty flexible.  No problem for us though.  We made it to the bus stop in plenty of time.  When we got there – there was Gary and Sheryl waiting for the bus too.  However, they had had quite a time.  They had been trying to catch the bus for a couple of hours.  The one that was supposed to come by earlier had been re-routed due to the parade – they had no way of knowing that nor did the others that were at the bus stop.  Glad we had spent our time at Hogs Breath.  Sometimes things do work out….  HA!  Anyway, this bus showed up on time and we were on our way.  It was funny because about half of the bus was the same people that had ridden down there with us.  Most were rather tired and maybe somewhat “tipsy”.  LOL!  What a fun day!

Now today we’re working on refinishing the teak furniture and the bright work on NautiNell.  It’s looking pretty good so far!  Oh and we’re renting a car this weekend – Mike has found another scooter a couple of hundred miles away.  This one is a Yamaha “Zuma”.  We’ve also sold the “Tank”.  Are you keeping up?  Mike wasn’t really happy with the Chinese “Tank”.  The Zuma is a 49cc.  I should be able to ride it (all by myself - lookout!!) – no license needed.  Also, he’s looking into another one.  Two would be nice – hope they both fit on the boat!

Oh and yesterday, when I was getting off the boat there was a HUGE iguana – over 6 feet long -  just sunning himself on the finger next to our boat.  He stayed there quite a while watching me before he just dove into the water.  Pretty cool!  Wish I could have taken a picture.  I love the Keys!

Till Next time!

Admiral “C”

 

 

Our Stay in Marathon (Sombrero Marina)

Okay - maybe I'm taking this "laid back"
way of life a little too far.......

One beautiful sunset

every night - another sunset

Pulling the whaler behind NautiNell
I know I said we'd never do that again but
it turned out okay this time

Can you just feel the Keys?

Sombrero Beach - plan to spend some time here!

Sombrero Beach - on a beautiful day

On the morning of November 1 at about 10:30 we were finally on our way to Marathon.  It was a short day and the water was like glass.  We did go by way of the ICW, but we could have easily gone outside.  We kind of wish we had because of all the crab traps!  Luckily we made it through the “mine field” without any incidents.  We made it to Sombrero Marina about 3:30.  We settled in our slip  – had cocktails -  and welcomed ourselves to our new home for the next three months or so.

The next morning we unloaded our bikes and the scooter.  We’ve definitely moved in now.  We took the scooter for a ride and did some sightseeing.  Sombrero Beach is only about 2 miles away from us.  The local Publix is just down the block.  We had dinner at the Dockside Lounge here at the Marina. i just love the atmosphere here in the Keys - so laid back - it's easy to catch the "Keys Disease"!

We’ve spent the last few days getting settled in – cleaning the boat, etc – after all, this will be our home for the winter.  We are enjoying the sunsets here and getting to know the locals.  In a few weeks some of our boating buddies, aka “Loopers” should be arriving.  It will be really good to hang out with them this winter.

Definitely more to come…..

Till next time!

Admiral “C”

 

Key Largo and on to Islamorada - riding out Hurricane Sandy!

On Monday morning (October 22) we left Boca Chita after spending a very nice “quiet” night all to ourselves.  We were itching to get going and we had a fairly nice day of travel although we did have quite a bit of wind.  It was from the NE and behind us most of the way.  That’s a good thing.

We anchored just out from Gilbert’s Marina and Restaurant in Key Largo.   We went sightseeing in the whaler  - and on our way back we stopped at the TIKI Bar – great “greasy” nachos and cold beer!  Good Happy Hour!  We were back in the boat just after sunset.  Nice night!

The next morning we had breakfast out on the sundeck and watched the dolphins play.  There must have been a dozen of them off our stern.  We decided to move the boat over closer to a canal where we could take the dinghy to Pennecamp Park.  However, it was just too windy – and we ended up just ditching the whole plan.  Instead we headed on to Islamorada about 25 miles away.  It turned out to be a very good idea although we didn’t know it at the time.  It was pretty windy and we had a lot of skinny water – we saw less than 4 feet several times.  Finally we made it to a good anchorage just outside Coral Bay Marina in Islamorada.  It was very windy and we had to get a little closer to the leeside of land farther from the marina.  We had planned to take a dinghy ride into the marina and see if any of the boaters were there we had met before.  However it turned out to be too windy for that.  Damn wind!

We are only 35 miles from Marathon.  We saw on the internet (yea, for my phone!) that there is a tropical storm Sandy causing quite a stir.  We decided that we probably shouldn’t try to make it on to Marathon.  They are calling for strong winds, rain and 8 foot waves on Florida Bay – right where we would be.  SO we decided to stay a few days at the marina.  Very good idea!  We luckily got one of their last slips!  It’s a small marina and safely tucked away.  The tropical storm now has become a category 2 Hurricane!  Luckily it will not make landfall here in Florida.  We will just suffer the winds and rain.  Wreaking havoc on our plans!  Oh well, we have over a week to get to Marathon – at least our reservations are for November 1 - not really a big deal.  Looks like we’ll be here for about a week until Sandy moves on. 

Thursday was a complete day of burrowing down in NautiNell – riding out the wind and rain.  The temperature has dropped to 72 degrees!  Really getting tired of the wind………..  not much we can do about it though.  I’m just really glad that it worked out where we could get in to a marina.  It wouldn't be any fun out there on anchor right now!

Friday turned out to be better – still windy but not much rain.  The winds have blown the water in though and some of the docks are flooded.  It’s a little precarious trying to get to the office and then off the docks to go to town.  We hung out most of the day visiting with other boaters.  Some of the ones we met back in March that stay here for the winter are already here.  Others are spending a few days like we are – tucked in safely from the storm.  It’s been nice to see some old faces and hear what has been going on with them.   We did manage to walk over to the Shrimp Shack across the street and have dinner.  Mike got his fill of oysters and I got my key lime pie!  I love being back in the Keys!

We will be staying here through Tuesday.  The storm should be way past us then and the waters will have had time to lay.  It’s only a short day to Marathon so why be in a hurry. 

Till next time!

Admiral “C”

 (Sorry no pictures  - not really much to take a picture of except wind and rain)

 

Our Weekend at Boca Chita Key

Our view across the harbor

One of the beautiful sunsets this weekend

Can't you just hear the sizzle?

The sun setting set the palms to blaze

Nice beach - beautiful water

NautiNell peeking thru the palms

tied up along the wall

Another evening - another sunset

yeah, three 300s - nice Donzi

three 250s = 750

this guy couldn't sneak up on anyone

entrance to the harbor

Our weekend stay at Boca Chita Key (Keyhole Harbor) was again quite an experience.  We had stayed there about six months ago over the Easter weekend.  At that time we were looking for a refuge from the wind while we staged our crossing to the Bahamas.  We really enjoyed it so we wanted to spend some time there again on our way south.

The area is a local hangout for Miami boaters.  Several come here to either spend the day or the entire weekend – all come to party!  Most are Cuban - speaking Spanish and playing loud music.   I must say though – although we did feel we were in the minority - we were surrounded by friendly fun-loving people.  We all had one thing in common – boating.  We spent most of the weekend sitting on our sundeck watching the boats come and go in and out of the harbor.  We also spent time watching the kids play – things never change.  We also hung out at the beach on the eastern side of the island.  It’s really beautiful.

If you want a beautiful setting – safe from the weather - you’ve got to try this place.  You tie up on the wall – no power or water – cost of $20 a night – only $10 for us old folks!   BUT I highly recommend if you want a quiet setting – DON’T plan to stay here on the weekend.   From what we can tell – it’s quiet during the weekdays.   We were by ourselves Friday morning when we arrived and again found ourselves completely alone after sundown Sunday evening.   But in between that time – look out!

Monday morning we are heading to Key Largo.  We plan to anchor near Gilbert’s Marina.  It’s an interesting little place with a great TiKI Bar.  Should be a nice trip – less than 30 miles.  Another rather short day.  It’s nice being able to take our time.  Our next stop after that should be Islamorada and then on to Marathon.   We will then stay put for awhile – three months to be exact.  Wonder how we’re going to be able to do that!  Ha!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”