The Happy Hour Group

Our Canadian friends--JoAnn and Charlie

Our Canadian friends--Esther and Gerald

Mon, 2/15/09

Sugarloaf Key:

Started out pretty nice this morning. I decided to go get groceries while Mike went over to the clubhouse for coffee and donuts this morning. I got back around 10:30 and he helped me put everything away. But the weather had turned to crap—cloudy, windy, and cool. But by the time Mike went over to play shoes it was nice again. Left-overs for dinner again and over to the KOA for happy hour. Fun time.

Private Residence--Fleming Street

Sun, 2/15/09

Sugarloaf Key: Did pretty much nothing today. Sat outside in the sun for a while reading and then came in and got on the computer while Mike watched the Daytona 500. Had left-overs for dinner. A nice, relaxing day.

Shooting their muskets

Shore emplacements

Sat, 2/14/09

Sugarloaf Key: Woke up to dense fog again this morning. Stood outside for a while under the awning and it sounded like it was raining—but it was moisture dripping off everything. Very strange. Fog cleared off early and we headed to Key West. Mike took me out for Valentine’s Day brunch. We tried a new restaurant—Azur—and what a great find. The food is excellent and they serve breakfast/brunch every day until 2:00. Lunch starts at 11:00 so you can do either. It’s a cute little place and we sat outside and enjoyed this beautiful day. After stuffing ourselves we headed to Fort Zachary Taylor where they’re celebrating Civil War days. We were interested in the naval battle. They had 4 or 5 schooners shooting at the shore emplacements and the shore cannons were shooting back at the schooners. And the schooners were shooting at each other. We’ve never seen anything like it. Great fun. Building began on Ft. Zach in 1845 and it remained on "active duty" status until 1947. Pretty amazing really. After that we parked over at the Eco Center parking lot and walked down to the Key West Speedway and Mike ran 4 races. Then we walked around for a while to kill some time and then headed to the Tropic Cinema. They’re showing the Academy Award winning shorts for a limited time. I really wanted to see them. There were 5 all together. One from Austria, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, and France. They were all very good. Walked back to the parking lot through Truman Annex. A beautiful, balmy evening.

Waiting for dinner

After the show

Randy Roberts in his Bette Midler persona

Fri, 2/13/09

Sugarloaf Key: A very strange weather day today. Woke up to heavy fog. Couldn’t even see the other end of the lake. That finally cleared off around 12:00 and the sun came out so I got some shorts on and headed outside to read. Before I could even get out there clouds rolled in. Then more fog started rolling in. Finally cleared off around 3:00 and I went out and sat in the sun reading my book. Went in around 4:00 and showered and changed for our evening at La-Te-Da. We had a 6:30 reservation for dinner and the show started at 9:00. Our favorite drag queen—Randy Roberts. Dinner and the show were both fantastic. After the show we hung out in the lounge and everybody was up dancing. So I joined them. Left there and walked back to where we parked in pretty dense fog. Drove through dense fog all the way to Sugarloaf where it finally cleared off. Very unusual.

Lunch bunch at Sunset Key

One of two cruise ships in

Schooner Liberty Clipper off Sunset Key

Sugarloaf Key: A perfect morning! Sunny, cloudless skies and no wind. We’re meeting a couple of friends at the Westin by Mallory Square and then taking the ferry over to Sunset Key for lunch. A beautiful day for it. Think I’ll sit outside and read my latest book (Joe Meek, Mountain Man) until it’s time for us to leave. I bought it when we were in the Tetons but didn’t have time to read it while there. The mountain men were such stalwart individuals.

Live-Aboards on the Yacht Back Dock

Westie relaxing on a sailboat

Nap time on a tiki torch

Sugarloaf Key: We decided to drive up to Marathon today to check out the turtle sanctuary and have lunch at what used to be Cabot’s on the Water, but which is now Frosty’s. We enjoyed lunch with views of the Atlantic. I had tilapia and Mike had oysters (yuk) and clam chowder. After lunch we walked around the marina and got talking to some people sitting on the afterdeck of their yacht. Really nice people. They’ve been traveling around for 2 years in their yacht. They spent last winter in the Bahamas and this year in the Keys. Drove up Marathon looking for The Hammocks where my sister and her husband are staying next December for a week. We finally found it after stopping at the Visitor Center on Marathon and they told us it was at MM48 on the bay side. A nice place. Took pictures and e-mailed them to her. We couldn’t see any turtles at the sanctuary until 4:00 so we decided to come back at a later date. Back home. Had salads for dinner. A beautiful day—80.

Sugarloaf Key: A really nice day. After lunch we rode our bikes from the campground, past the KOA, over the Bow Channel bridge and onto Cudjoe Key and rode around Cudjoe Key Estates. There are some really nice homes over there—and a lot of them for sale. Most of them are on deep water channels. And the water is the most beautiful aquamarine color. Most of them are well over $1 million. We biked to the end of a side street and two full-size Schnauzers came running out of this gated property snarling and barking. Thought for sure we were going to be attacked. Don't know how they got out, but Mike along with a girl walking in the area got them back inside the gate. Whew! Biked back and read for a while before dinner.