Tue, 2/7/12
Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Very humid today.  Didn’t take much to break a sweat.  We headed to Big Pine to do the laundry and grocery shopping.  Did all the bedding (bed spread and blanket) as well since they have the washers to accommodate large loads.  Got that done and headed to the Galley Grill for lunch.  The sky to the west looked very ominous.  But by the time we finished lunch the storm clouds had moved on.  Came back, put everything away, and sat outside reading for a while.  No wind at all and the no-see’ums were out in force.  But the lake was like a huge mirror.  Not a ripple.  Walked around the lake and stopped at Char and Jerry’s site.  They’re in the process of putting pavers in.  It looks great. Stopped at Esther and Gerald’s site, but they were nowhere to be found.  Headed back home and who do we run into--Esther and Gerald who had just walked over to our site but we weren’t there.  So, we went back to their site with them and they asked us to join them for dinner, which we did.  We brought a bottle of wine and some snacks.  Very nice dinner of baked chicken served over a bed of rice topped with julienne vegetables.  Oh, and Esther and Gerald won $250 in the football pool!

Eduardo Gato Cigar Factory--circa 1871

We discovered this historic building walking around one day.  It's just off Duval--on Simonton I think.  The original, wooden building was destroyed by fire in 1915.  This building that replaced the original was supposedly hurricane and fire resistant.  Well, it's still standing.  It features large windows and a central, open-air courtyard to provide the best light for the workers.  The factory employed 500 cigar artisans and produced 60,000 hand-rolled cigars by 1890.  It's now a municipal building.  I'm so glad they didn't tear it down.