Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, Fl: This morning I stepped outside to bright sunshine and the distinctive call of the red winged black birds which are back. A really pretty morning with promise of a nice day—albeit pretty cold. But within an hour or so the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and we spent the rest of the day inside keeping warm. Guess we’d better get used to it since it’s supposed to be cold for a week or so. Last night after we came back from Boondocks, Esther was sitting outside with their dog, Shadow, so we stopped to say hello. Ended up staying for a while. They have a screen room with a gas heater inside so it was warm and cozy. A couple of other people wandered over before we finally trundled on home.

Cute little cottage on Southard with gingerbread trim.

Victorian style home on Southard Street

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Cold again today. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Of course it’s all relative. Cold here is 63—compared to even north Florida which was in the 20s last night. We don’t have it so bad down here in the sub-tropics. Yeah, right. Just before 2:00 Marty came over and got Mike to play horseshoes. So he left and I took care of some computer stuff. About an hour later there was a knock on the door and it was Mark—the guy who makes fish out of coconuts. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen him. He’s down here for a couple of months and will be selling his coconut fish at Mallory Square. At around 4:30 we headed to the KOA for happy hour. After that it was over to Boondocks for wings. Well, Mike had wings—I don’t do wings. Life is good.

Key West Home & Garden Tour

December 29-30

This beautiful Mediterranean-style home was transformed from a small concrete box into 3000 sq. ft. of living space. It sits on a beautiful oasis next to a salt lake in New Town--complete with a "dark" pool (to match the salt lake) and a large dock. The lake has access to both the Atlantic and the Gulf. And it has an artist's cottage on the property. Note the sports car in the foreground.

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: A cold, cloudy, and windy day today. Stayed in all day reading, watching TV and playing on the computer. Made chili for dinner. The people in the motor home across the lake from us took down their Christmas lights today. Wish they’d left them up—they were so pretty. Not too many people out and about today. And, it’s supposed to be like this all week. Ugh! Wonder if it’s ever snowed in the Keys?

New Year's Eve

Picture by Gerald

Esther and I on New Year's Eve

Picture by Gerald

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: A beautiful, sunny morning. But in the 50s. So we drove into Big Pine and did the laundry and grocery shopping. Had lunch at Coco’s Kitchen. I had the fried shrimp dinner with black beans and rice and Mike had a Cuban sandwich. The food there is so good and very reasonable. After coming back and putting everything away we sat outside for a while. The sun was really warm, but the wind made it feel pretty chilly. Ray stopped by with his new dog. Around 4:00 we headed to Key West and saw “It’s Complicated”. A really funny, laugh-out-loud movie. We’ll have to rent it later because we missed a lot of the dialog we were laughing so much. Think the high was 63 today.

Key West Home and Garden Tour

12-29 & 30

This walled Casa Marina estate of white brick sits on a large lot with a large pool and lush green gardens. A beautiful contemporary home, with its black and white interior, it beautifully shows off the owner's eclectic art collection.

Pool and Gazebo. The gazebo houses the outside living and dining area

Moon rise over the palms

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Pretty quiet this morning. The lake is like glass and the only noise is the dripping of moisture off of everything outside. Very dewy this morning. Everyone had a great time last night. We ran into Richard while on our way out to dinner and he was heading for dinner too, so we invited him to join us. The meal was great and the sunset was beautiful. After dinner we were able to park pretty close to the KOA and then walked the rest of the way. A pretty large group there. We all had a great time. And it was a blue moon, which is a second full moon to occur in a month. Usually there are only 12 full moons in any given year. I think that’s a good omen.

Howard and the band

The group

Floyd and Richard

Sandy, Esther and Mike

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Another beautiful, warm day today. Donned my shorts and tube top and sat outside in the sun reading my latest book. The warm sun felt so good on my skin. It’s going to cool off for a week or so, so I figured I’d make the best of the ability to sit outside in shorts. Going to Lazy Days restaurant in Marathon tonight for dinner. They just opened a second restaurant on Marathon. The original is on Islamorada but it’s kind of a long drive. They feature dishes with this Lazy Days sauce made with crème and key lime juice which is really good. So we’re looking forward to our meal tonight. And, it’s right on the water with beautiful sunset vistas. After that we’re going to the KOA. Howard Livingston and the MM24 band is playing there tonight. We’ll probably never get a table. Some people are heading over there at 5:00 just to get a table. He doesn’t start playing until 8:30. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a place to park. If not, we’ll go back and ride our bikes over there. Oh, and our Canadian friends, Esther and Gerald, arrived today. Will be fun to get together with them. And, as we reflect on 2009, we feel it’s been a pretty good year for us and we’re looking forward to 2010.

The last sunset of 2009

Lazy Days Restaurant--Marathon

Key West Home and Garden Tour

416 Margaret Street

This cute little Victorian is over 100 years old! It features tumbled stone tile baths (not sure what that means, but they were beautiful). It has a tropical spa pool out back with lush landscaping and lots of privacy. There's also guest quarters upstairs with its own private entrance and features a living/bedroom area, beautiful bath, a small kitchen, and even a little deck. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but pictures wouldn't do this interior justice. The decorating and artwork was phenomenal.

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, Fl: Just kicked back today. Mike slept in and I took care of some computer stuff. Early afternoon I put a pork roast in the oven and went outside and sat in the sun reading my latest book. I’m reading the Borne Sanction right now, but it’s not written by Ludlum…some other author. So far it’s pretty good though. A nice day—high of 73. Had pork roast, mashed sweet potatoes, and sugar snap peas for dinner.

Key West Home Tour

12-29 & 12-30

Southard Street Cottage

This cute little cottage with the gingerbread trim is all high tech inside with beautiful artwork, marble baths and beautiful tile work.

Pool and waterfall in their private side yard

Cute little spot

Private place to relax