Mon, 2/15/10

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Sunny and nice today—but still only in the upper 60s. Felt pretty good in the sun though. In fact, it was pretty hot in the sun. Mike played shoes in the afternoon. I sat outside reading. Finished “Last Train to Paradise” which was a great book about Flagler and the amazing overseas railroad he built—much of it with his own money. He used to quip that he was a rich man until Florida. This amazing engineering feat was wiped out with the category 5 hurricane that struck the middle Keys in 1935. The eyewitness accounts were horrendous—like bodies found with their faces literally blasted down to the bone by the driving sand. One victim was found the day after the storm, impaled by a piece of two-by-four that had passed completely through him, just beneath his ribs, somehow missing his kidneys. He was still living and appeared very calm as a doctor prepared to remove the length of timber. The doctor offered him a shot of morphine to dull the pain, but he refused, saying that the operation was sure to kill him. He said he’d rather have a couple of beers. They gave him the beers, pulled the timber out, and he died. Jeeze and I thought going to the dentist was bad. After shoes, Esther, Gerald, Sally, Mike and I went over to Mangrove Mama’s for happy hour. Sitting there drinking under the coconut palms, we all got pretty drunk—except for Mike as he was the designated driver.

Overseas Highway--built right on top of the railway--using the rails to make the guardrails

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Well, the big party is over and now our maintenance guys have clean-up duty. I guess there were 1000 or so people from outside the park. Howard Livingston brought his motor home over and put it on a site across the lake from us. He left around 6:00 tonight. Cold again today. Didn’t even make it out of the 50s. Tomorrow is supposed to be the warmest day—maybe high 60s. We just hunkered down all day. I did a roast for dinner and we just stayed inside and watched the Olympics. I love watching the short track—and especially Ohno.

Esther bundled up in front of the stage

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Cloudy and cool today—no COLD. We headed over to Jerry and Char’s site on the other side of the lake. Everybody brought something and they had lots of food. The performers were all out in the tiki hut at the end of the peninsula. We drifted around. Got some beer and a hot dog and walked around some. Came back to our site for a while and watched the Olympics and then went back to the peninsula for Howard’s show. It was really cold out there with the wind, but as usual it was a great show. After his show I packed it in. Mike hung around for a while. He really wants to see Jerry Jeff Walker who’s on at 7:15. No way I’ll be there.

Esther and I about to make our way down the peninsula...balmy weather, eh?

Esther with one of the performers--Chris Cook I think

Howard

Howard and the Band

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: A really nice morning. We had to go to Big Pine to pick up some snacks for a get-together tomorrow at Jerry and Char’s site across the lake. There’s going to be a huge party here tomorrow in the park with several big name entertainers—including Howard Livingston and the MM24 band. It starts at 1:00 and continues until evening. Unfortunately, the high temperature tomorrow is only going to be 61—with high winds. Since we had to go to Big Pine anyway, we decided to do the laundry. Walked the bike path while the clothes were in the washer. Really nice out. This is going to be the last warm day for a while. The rest of the week the temps don’t make it out of the low 60s (sigh). Got back and sat outside in the sun reading. We decided to go to Michael’s restaurant in Key West tonight for Valentine’s Day. After making the reservation we turned on the Weather Channel and saw the forecast. They were calling for severe thunder storms with high winds. Shortly after that Ray stopped by who lives a few sites down from us and works at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station and he warned us about the winds and said we’d probably better take down our awning. He said they even cancelled bus service in the Keys after 5:00. Probably true because the school buses weren’t going to run and parents had to pick up their kids. So, we cancelled our reservation at Michael’s and decided to run up to Bobaloo Café for dinner. Had a quick dinner and when we came out the sky to the west was black and the wind had picked up. We headed back and it started pouring and the wind was incredible. We could hardly see. The temperature dropped from 75 to 67 in about two minutes. We made it back and got drenched dashing from the truck to the RV. Hunkering down the rest of the night.

Morada Bay--Islemorada

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Very cool again today. Mike went to Key West with Floyd and his step-son, Larry, to do some racing at the Key West Speedway. I hung out at home and stayed inside. I had an enjoyable day reading, dozing, and watching old episodes of Sex and the City. The boys had a great time. Tomorrow is supposed to hit 75. We’ll see.

Morada Bay

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: Sunny, but really cool and very windy which makes it feel COLD. We had our big party tonight. Joanne and Nels have been coming to Lazy Lakes for many years now. And they always do a shrimp dinner for the whole park. They buy all the shrimp. And we had coleslaw, beans and bread to go along with it. It just so happens this year was their 62nd wedding anniversary. So we had a big cake and Esther and Gerald decorated and it was really great. Sally narrated a poem she wrote for the occasion which brought tears to everyone’s eyes. And Fiona and Jerry led us in singing “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” which brought on more tears. What a great couple and a fun night.

Nels and Joanne

Chocolate Cake

Jerry and Fiona





Our table

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL: The last warm day for a while today. So, we put the bikes on the back of the truck and headed to Big Pine Key. After talking with the bakery at Winn Dixie about the cake we ordered for the shrimp boil tomorrow night, we headed out on our bikes. Biked down to the end of the road on Big Pine and then headed back. An easy ride out but had the wind in our face coming back. Saw a key deer buck. Stopped at the Blue Hole and met a couple from New York and a girl from Baltimore. Biked back to our truck and headed back home. Decided to go to Mangrove Mama’s for cocktails and I got absolutely shit-faced. Ted joined us and Dale and Carolyn also. Back home, two excedrins and flopped into bed. I’m a mess.

Gator at the Blue Hole

The Blue Hole

Mangrove Mama's

Ted joined us