KEYS DISEASE!

Saturday, February 24

😱

We got the "keys disease"...before you panic it is not a rash or anything (!)  It means, or so my neighbor says,...that you really, really, like it here.

Key West is not all, or only, Duval Street with drunken young people, although there are a lot of those...  we avoid the weekends in the pool area here, sometimes it is a treat to watch, but mostly the music (??) drives us away.  Have we  become our parents??  But we have also discovered that Key West is a  wonderful, tropical, island space with outstanding weather, beautiful aqua water, tons of great places to eat, both casual and formal..., a thriving art community  (saw a local community musical that was great,  and have tickets to see George Winston, even took in a female impersonator, and most of the bars have entertainment of all sorts! ... from doo-wop girl groups to "clothing optional" bars...  (plus, we also get just a little crazy every now and then......see below)

Today we are renting a car, and tomorrow will go up the keys to Marathon for a looper get together.  This will also give us time and transportation to "provision up" for the Bahamas.  We will be able to get to the "outer areas" of the city to larger grocery stores.  The one in town, which we ride our bikes to, is expensive, so we get the basics there and have a large list for todays trip.  Most of the population here ride bikes, or take the free Duval Loop bus.   We rely on it daily to get us to shops, post office, etc.  We have met some nice people on the bus....everyone is usually in a great mood..(could be the sunshine and most are on vacation)...lots are from Michigan and we even met a couple who live in Saline! They were impressed to meet Bob, who designed their subdivision!  (made him feel good....fruits of his past labors)

Speaking of crazy pool antics.....Friends Deb and Ken Rogers came for a weekend visit....complete with lots of fun and even "beer pong".  Like Ken says, "when we went to college, we didn't have to play games to drink, we just drank"!  We also spent a considerable amount of time playing Euchre, our favorite card game from a previous life (when we were young and crazy...now we are just crazy!)  It was quite a battle between Jane and Ken vs. Bob and Deb...  winners?? it depends on who you talk to..... The Rogers showed us all their favorite places on and off Duval St....and we had a great time...We hope to connect up again somewhere in the Bahamas.

Properly attired complete with straw hats!

Rogers showed us their favorite breakfast spot.....SO good, especially the bloody Marys that made the wait time go fast....

After a yummy breakfast, complete with "cinnamon crunch" shots...(ordered by capt Bob)...Jane and Deb went shoe shopping and the guys continued on down Duval.....

Bob meet a new friend on the street.....the women should have never let the guys go off on their own!  Now Bob wants a dog and has a plan for his next job!  This was after a few more day time shots!  Bob is smiling and having a great time....who knew daytime drinking was this much fun!

Jane waves good bye to the Key West Ferry taking the Rogers back home to Treasure Island.....see you soon!  (after we rest up!)   A good time was had by all!  See you in the Bahamas!

KEY WEST

Captain Bob is now referred to as "Key West Bob".  He has his "mile marker one" charm on a gold chain and wears a straw hat!  I love this guy!!  A "little" more relaxed and lays by the pool (could have something to do with the pool view, but I love that he comes to pool with me)

We arrived here Wednesday, Feb 7.  Had a one night stop in Marco Island before deciding a little late in day (10am) to take off for Key West.   Had a wonderful ride for about the first 5 1/2 hours across, and then the last 1 1/2 hour we had quite a ride.  Waves splashing over bow making it hard to see out window, but with the trusty first mate, (me) we avoided the crab pots, of which there were many!!  WHO puts the pots out sooooo far in the ocean?   And I really want to pull a few up and see if they are full of crabs.  The whole idea intrigues me, and while I was calmly relaxing those first 5 hours, I thought I might get a job on a fish boat (when I grow up)....but once we hit rough seas, I changed my mind....(so I'm a fair weather boater!)

Finally it feels like a "real vacation"!  We will be here for a month, so we have time to relax and the first thing (the old) Capt Bob did was completely strip the back sunporch and power spray every piece of furniture and the floors etc!  I have come to the point where I don't care if he wants to work his butt off every day,  but this hindered me getting OFF the boat and heading for the pool......So, I gave in and took all the covers off all the cushions and washed them...  I do have to say that it looks as good as the day we bought the boat.  Finally Captain Bob turned into Key West Bob and is starting to unwind somewhat.

We are in Conch Harbor Marina.   We have only 1 other looper boat in this marina with us, but lots more in the adjoining marinas.  We had a "crawl" the other night.....visited 2 boats and had a good time getting reacquainted with boats we had crossed paths with previously.  Several are already on their way out and over to Bahamas.   We are here for a month and so happy.....our marina is more a "fishing boat" marina and not as crowded as the ones we visited the other night....we also have the pool (as mentioned) and FREE laundry facilities....that overlook the pool.   Not a bad place to clean your clothes.  Already thinking we will come here next year(!)....Ha.  People ask all the time  what we will do when loop is finished.....we haven't figured that out yet....!  Just enjoying the moment.

Every day has been sunny and warm....not much humidity if you stay near the water...and rain is predicted every night, but we haven't seen a drop.  The big topic of discussion is the "snow back home"...and there are lots of Michiganders here.  Saw several last evening on our first trip down to Duval Street.....what a place, and the later it gets the crazier it gets.  We left about 8:30pm..no wonder so tired today......!  Hey, we were there at 6pm to see the sunset off Mallory Square.  Happened into a bar that had a great girl group (3) singing all 60's doo wap.  The "early" show....no wonder all the people in there were our age!  It was tons of fun....Key West Bob even had a drink.

So today its back to the same old grind.....off to the pool!  THIS is the looper life style I signed up for!

Getting Warmer!

Captain Bob just came to galley and said "you know its warm when the dinghy is fully inflated".....woohoo.  I see people sitting on back of boats having coffee and Bob says it "is hot and sticky"!   WE HAVE ARRIVED!   Finally.......warm weather.

We are in Burnt Store Marina in Charlotte Harbour.  We left St Pete on Friday and took a short ride to Anna Maria Island.  Sticker shock took over as we paid the most ever for one night on their gas dock....remember, this is my boat, my bed, my sheets, etc....why then does it cost so much to tie to a dock??? (think a very nice hotel in Michigan)...  Supply and demand here in West Florida, but we had memorable evening....(memorable is defined as being special or unusual....)  it was unusual to find Bob sitting at a beachside table with a bunch of people he didn't know (half in the bag....the people, not Bob) and having a great time!  The next morning we departed, when the tide allowed, and traveled 8 hours to Burnt Store....the last hour was a challenge.  We hadn't had waves and water like this since the great lakes I believe.....we were glad to arrive and hit the bar... AFTER our much needed rinse off of LeReve.  She gets so sticky in this salt water!

One couple who saw us "land"....mentioned they were impressed by our docking.....calling it "quite a process".  Not sure what that meant, but I said "its not our first rodeo"...(I LOVE that expression, especially since my daughter and friend dressed up her newborn in a shirt that said ...."this IS my first rodeo" ......and took her to the county rodeo!!...ok back to boating!....This marina is far superior to the Anna Maria one at a half the cost.....go figure?.... am I starting to sound like the "retiree" than I am?? haha.

We spent 2 weeks in St. Pete.....had a great time.....This picture was after a 3 bottle wine lunch with my Bible Study Best Friends.  We all lived in the same "hood" when this was home to us...Sandi, Lauri, Denise and mother Jane.  What a group!..long story behind the "flamingo" shirt... (and we did have a legit Bible Study, and IT HAS carried each and everyone of us through the valleys, some deeper than others, but we will all attest that it is our Lord and our friendships that bind us just as deep.

Speaking of this group, Bob and I are SLOWLY making our way out of Anna Maria Island area, and this go-fast boat flies by us, and the girl on the back is screaming......."THAT'S JANE.....JANE!!"
Here is was my friend Sandi and her husband!  They were on their way on a boat weekend get-away to celebrate his birthday!

We also had the usual best time with best friends, Ken and Deb Rogers.   They have been our friends forever!  Their son, who is 35 reminded us that we were HIS AGE, (actually younger), when we started hanging out together and doing crazy family vacations together.....where did those years go and how did he get older than we are??? (He, like our kids, is married with a son of his own!)...Why did we not take a picture of them for my blog?   Oh, ... because it was so windy and rocky when Ken and Deb came to dinner on LeReve that we could hardly keep the plates on the table, let alone focus a picture.....we do however have 
a pic of Capt Bob winning the Pot of Gold jackpot at their local weekly Bingo game!!

We went through 3 rental cars in 2 weeks.....first one a/c didn't work, 2nd one had a flat tire the morning after we traded out the 1st one....it is difficult enough to remember what kind of car you are driving and where it is parked, without changing it out every day!  ha....(memory retiring also!)  When we are somewhere for over a week or so, we like to rent a car.  Especially when we have lots of jobs to do  (ie: several trips to West Marine and hardware stores!)

Here is a pic of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge we went under as we left Tampa Bay.....quite a site off the bow of our little boat....




We once again had lots of dolphins swimming along side us and enjoying our wake.  I will attempt  to get a video of it, but I get so excited at seeing them so close I could pet them that I forget the camera!  We have figured out when they will swim with us...they jump in front of our bow, go under and show up along side of us....amazing.

While in St Pete we took a ride across the bay to the TECO plant....this is where the manatee hang out in the warm water of the plant....because the bay has been so cold there were hundreds of the big sea cows....they looked like baked potatoes in the water!

This one has a baby on each side

We are off to the pool to enjoy the "SUPER" day here before the big game!