Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Went to Key West this morning and had breakfast at Blue Heaven. I had lobster benedict and Mike had a wonderful-looking tenderloin omelet. A beautiful, but humid, day. The girl at the table next to us was petrified of chickens. She was having a terrible time because there are chickens all over at Blue Heaven. One of the things that makes the place so neat. One of the hens had 8 chicks. After our sumptuous breakfast we headed to Mallory Square and parked. Walked over to the Hilton shops and signed up for a 1:00 parasail. There were two cruise ships in and a huge private yacht—the Mustang Sally. This thing was 150 feet long and had three levels above the water. There were a bunch of deck hands washing the outside. After talking to one of them I found out that its home port is Ft. Lauderdale but they’re in the Bahamas a lot. They have a permanent crew of 8. This yacht was probably more expensive than most of the estates we looked at on our estate tour. Tiger Wood’s yacht was moored at the same spot last year at about the same time. Wonder who owns this one?

Parasailing was great! We were on the boat with two other couples. We were the last to go up. It was very quiet and peaceful up there. We had a great view of Sunset Key. After the parasail we stopped at the Roof Top Café and had a couple of margaritas. I was so sleepy after that—the drink and the humidity combined. But we walked over to the historic seaport area and checked on the sloop Appledore to see if they still had sunset cruises, which they do, but the singer has left already. So, we’ll probably go on the Liberty instead. We drove back and had dinner at Captain Crossbones. I couldn’t wait to get home and take a shower.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Washed out a few things and hung out to dry. Plan to just kick back today. We’re both worn out from the weekend—getting up so early and all. Went over to the pool area around 1:00 because they were having a little lunch celebration for Sandy and Pete, work campers who have been here for years. They leave tomorrow. After that Mike played shoes and I went back and read/snoozed all afternoon. Scrambled eggs and a vegetable for dinner. Put on a few pounds after all that food we had over the weekend.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Up this morning again at 6:30 and headed back to D’Asign Source for the remainder of the tour. Viewed two estates today—one belonged to the owner of D’Asign Source (Villa Paradiso in Key Colony. The other was Villa Splendida on Duck Key. What incredible places! Finished up around noon (after lunch on the owner’s estate) and were home by 1:00. Met some neat people—including several of the owners of these estates. This picture was taken on a 13-acre estate on Sugarloaf Key. Looks inviting, doesn't it? Got back and read outside for a while and then started organizing the pictures I took. We’ll have left-overs for dinner tonight and watch the academy awards. Wonder how long I’ll stay awake?

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Up this morning at 6:30 and stumbled around getting ready for the home and garden tour put on by D’Asign Source. Got to their store at 9:00 and had a continental breakfast and then boarded our coach for the tour. Saw some incredible estates. Had lunch on the 13-acre estate on Sugarloaf—not far from where we’re staying. After the tours we had a wonderful dinner on Key Colony Beach with a steel drum band. Left there about 9:00 and were home by 10:00 or so.

Friday, February 23, 2007

A picture perfect day! Not a cloud in the sky. We met our Canadian friends, Andy and Carolyn, at Boondocks and played miniature golf and then got our table for the pig roast. Had roast pork, cole slaw, corn on the cob, baked beans, and all the draft beer you can drink for $10. Not bad. After that we drove to the Little Palm Island ferry/information center and asked about their lunch or brunch schedule. We want to go over there for lunch or dinner. This little island is rated one of the top ten resorts in the world by Conde Nest. They have these vintage wood Chris Craft runabouts that take you out to the island. We passed the island on our way out to Looe Key reef. Looks wonderful! They have these bungalows with thatch roofs and incredible luxury within. They’re very private. Picked up some information so we can decide when to go. After that back home and watched TV. Have to get up early tomorrow morning. Need to set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. (ugh!).

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Today has the promise of a beautiful day. So, we called and made a reservation on the 1:00 snorkeling trip out to Looe Key reef. Got all our stuff together and headed out. The boat took about 45 minutes to get out there. It’s about 6 miles out. They anchored about 100 yards (almost ¼ mile) from the reef. I got in first and started swimming toward the reef. At first it was cold when the water got inside my wet suit but then I didn’t notice it too much because I was fighting the waves and trying to calm down and breathe. Kept waiting for Mike to swim up to me, but he didn’t. He was still at the ladder of the boat and was really having trouble breathing through the snorkel. I kept going thinking he would catch up. The guy in front of me—his wife went back because she was having trouble breathing. So I thought I could buddy up with him. Kept going and finally could see something on the bottom. Not very pretty yet though and the water was getting into my snorkel because of the waves. Looked back and Mike was still at the boat and the other guy was way ahead of me. So, I swam back to the boat. I should have left my wet suit on because they went to another site which was much better. After taking the wet suit off it would have been pure torture to put it back on it was so cold. So my first snorkeling trip wasn’t so great. Thought the water would be much calmer. Mike felt bad, but the conditions weren’t that great. Stopped at Big Pine restaurant on the way back and had dinner. We looked pretty bedraggled. I was freezing because I still had on my wet bathing suit underneath my shorts and tee shirt. Came back and washed out our wet suits and other gear and hung them up. We were going to go parasailing at Key West tomorrow, but Andy stopped us when we were washing stuff out and invited us to go play miniature golf and then go to the pig roast at Boondocks. Think we’ll do that.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Mike not feeling too swift today. So we postponed our snorkeling trip. I walked around the lake and up to the main road. Went over to the pool for a while. Had the pool to myself. A pretty day with a few clouds from time to time. Not much wind.