JUST DUCKY READY TO GO WEST!
That is, up the west coast of Florida
But weather not cooperating!!
What can I say? Warm, relaxing, fun, laid-back, nostalgic,
did I say warm… Marathon is all of these for us and a little bit more. We were
undecided whether to stay here until we were ready to return home or go up the
west coast of Florida as far as Fort Myers Beach to visit our friends Levon and
Don. We’ve had a great time here with both old friends and new, but we’re ready
to take on new vistas. However, the cold fronts keep rolling in with strong
north winds, so we are still waiting for our continued adventure.
Our bikes have gotten good use here as we figured they
would. While some of the stores are about a mile away, some are further as is
the beach and church which clocks in at 4.2 miles away. The trick is to get
there in enough time to cool down and not be a sweaty mess before mass starts. One morning we had a head wind and these
short legs sure got their workout! Mat bought lights for the bikes so we could
be out at night. Believe it or not, Mat suggested we go to dinner and a movie,
(he’s not a movie-goer) so off we went, only for it to pour rain between dinner
and the movie theater. The raingear was
helpful but didn’t cover everything. Then we found the 104 seats were already
filled! All was not lost, we looked at the bright side and we had an ice cream
instead. We are nothing if not flexible! We did go back the next night and saw
ARGO. I believe it’s the first time in years that I saw best picture of the
year before it got to Netflix.
Mat has done some routine maintenance on Just Ducky instead
of the engine rebuild we had to have done 7 years ago. We still have dreams (nightmares)
that we were going to be stuck here without an engine forever. Having said that, it’s not a bad place to be
stuck.
Mat’s had a chance to go fishing and we’ve had some good
dinners from it, good for the budget too as the food here is really expensive.
I learned the basics of Mahjong and it is pretty complicated. My heart was not
in is when I realized that at home I don’t know of any Mahjong opportunities. I
guess I’ll remain a Guppy (beginner), but it is fun. The beach is a bike ride away and it is
great, with white, white sand. We took the dingy through the mangrove canals to
see the homes and the wildlife. The
iguanas are sunning themselves all around and pose well for pictures. Drinks
with music at the Tiki Bar, dinners with friends, dancing at the Elks Club,
sitting by the pool with a cold beer and 5pm happy hour rounds out some of our
activities. As I re-read this last sentence, I see the there is a beverage
theme…hummm
We rented a car for a weekend and took off for Key West.
We were urged to have lunch at Sunset Key, a small island off the tip of Key
West. It is a Westin cottage retreat.
What a great lunch and the island is beautiful! I didn’t want to leave.
An idea was forming in the back of our minds to go there for our 50th
anniversary (not far away) so I looked it up on the internet. Single bedroom cottage goes for over $700.00
a night, offseason!! Time to restructure our dreams! Key West is great though,
so much more active than laid-back Marathon.
Good change of pace.
We also took a bus trip to Islamorada, another island in
the Keys. The bus stop was a unique
experience. We met some interesting
people such as the loud friendly guy that just bought a boom-box for $300.00
(apparently they are still popular down here), another that looked like he
needed a shave and a shower who gave us a restaurant recommendation, one that
was smoking wacky-weed and another that sat there all day- he was still there
when we returned in the evening. Only in the Keys!
Everyone at our dock tried to assist the environmental
folks in the tagging of a manatee that had fish line wrapped around its fin.
They were trying to follow him to shallow water so that they could free
him. They have been chasing him for 10
months without success. While they look like big lumbering animals, they sure
can dive and swim away fast when they want to.
I’m beginning to think that freeing him is more important to humans than
it is for the manatee!
We did seem to finally find the warm weather. For the most part, it has been high in the
upper 70s or low 80s. We have had a couple of cold spells with temps in the
60’s; I’m sure all of you’re really feeling sorry for us!! I can’t get my head around the fact that it
is winter, not summer. We haven’t missed the snow and cold weather up north at
all. We just may turn into permanent snowbirds!
So at the end of the week, the winds will be moderate and not from the
north, so we are hopeful that we can take off for Little Shark River in the
Everglades, Marco Island and then for Fort Myers Beach. I hear that if you
shine your flashlight on shore at night at Little Shark River, you’ll see a
bunch of beady eyes looking back at you – alligators! Mat assures me that they
can’t climb onto the boat but iguanas can….
We’ve had some beautiful night skies, just lit up with
stars! Nature is so much more awesome that anything man can create. We continue
to consider ourselves truly blessed that we can embark on an adventure such as
this.
Hemingway hangout Sloppy Joe's
Key West Resident
Mahogany tree
Manatee Rescue?
Mangrove Roots
Sister's Creek
Sombraro Marina
Sunset Key a $700 a night view
An Unwanted Visitor
