Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  An iffy day today.  Threatening rain, but really warm and humid.  Decided to drive to Key West and see Red Tails.  A good movie about the Tuskegee airmen.  They were such good fighter pilots that the bomber groups requested they escort them on bombing missions.  And they were all black.  A very highly decorated and respected group of airmen that started integration in the military.  After the movie we stopped to see Esther and Gerald who were outside.  Their site has been all closed up the past few days so we thought they were off doing something.  We didn’t stay long.  I was miserable because I stuffed myself with popcorn.  No dinner for me tonight.  Upper 70s today with about 80% humidity.

Key West historic seaport.
Picture by Sandy

Sunset Key
Picture by Sandy

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Forecast was for rain today.  But it was clear, warm, and humid.  We sat around reading and relaxing outside for a while.  Then I got antsy so we drove into Key West for the Arts and Crafts Festival on Whitehead St.  The gal that cuts my hair had a booth there.  She makes purses out of canvas and then paints them—and they are beautiful!  She is so creative.  After walking around the various booths we had a late lunch at the Rooftop Café and then headed home.  On our way out we did a little exploring around Old Town.  Stopped at the St. Mary Star of the Sea catholic church on Truman.  A beautiful church and grounds built in 1904.  Back home and said hi to Ralph and Sharon who just arrived today.  82 today.

St. Mary Star of the Sea catholic church
Key West

Beautiful manicured grounds of the Star of the Sea catholic church.
Key West

St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church
Key West

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Around noon we drove over to Geiger Key, parked at the end of the road and walked down to the end of the Boca Chica air strip and watched planes taking off.  Very active today.  Walked down the path to the “castle” some enterprising individuals built out of rocks and hurricane detritus. The boat the Cubans came over on was gone. Drove back and had lunch at the Geiger Smoke House and Grill.  It’s also a marina.  There’s a place for boats to tie up and you can also rent kayaks.  A beautiful day to be eating right on the water.  Back home and relaxed the rest of the day.  A nice 82 degree day.

Mikey on a rock wall at the end of the runway.

Sailboat way out in the Atlantic.

Some enterprising person/s built this cairn which is precariously balanced on a rock just below the surface.

They took off four at a time--one had just peeled away.
WOO HOO!!!!!

Like our own private air show!

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  We had a great time at our dinner last night. A few of us hung around to about midnight.  I was going to throw the remainder of the rolls we brought to the dinner away but Esther said she’d use them to make French toast and invited all of us over this morning.   So we headed over at 11:00 and enjoyed delicious French toast.  I was thinking of taking the fixings for mimosas, but figured we’d all done enough drinking.  Came back to our site and relaxed reading and dozing.  Another great day.  Low 80s today.

Picture by Gerald

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Today was our domestic chore day—groceries and laundry.  Stopped for lunch at Boondocks on the way back.  Another gorgeous day—82 and breezy.  Ribs tonight at the clubhouse.  We’re bringing a bottle of wine to share with Esther and Gerald since we lost another football bet. 

Ft. Zach Beach

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:   Rainy again this morning.  But not for long.  We headed to Big Pine to run some errands.  Noticed that Fat Albert was down at the base for maintenance I guess.  Decided to drive down Blimp Road to check it out up close—well, as close as you can get to the base.  On the way we passed a large backwater where people race their remote-operated boats on Sunday.  There was a girl there with her German shepherd, Mac.  He loved the water.  Took some pics of Fat Albert and then headed back home.  By now the sky is clear and the temps are already in the low 80s, so we packed up some drinks and sandwiches and headed to Ft. Zach beach and spent the afternoon sunning, reading, and people watching.  One of the guys from our park, Dallas, and his friends were there cooking out.  They had lobster, shrimp, sausage, burgers, and key lime pie.  They invited us to join them.  How generous is that?  But we found a picnic table on the edge of the beach in the shade of the Australian pines and set up our beach chairs.  Had our sandwiches and relaxed in the sun for a while.  Then we walked back to where Dallas and his friends were and chatted them up for a while.  Mike had some of the sausage they had on the grill.  What a beautiful afternoon though.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Back home and I had a garden salad with grilled chicken and Mike had a salad and a burger.  Great day!  82 today.

Mac, the German Shepherd--he's an island dog.

Fat Albert at the base.

Cruise ship sailing past Ft. Zach.

Beautiful Ft. Zach beach.

Schooner America sailing past.

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Today was the usual Monday—except that it was raining this morning.  Undaunted, Mike went over to the clubhouse for donuts and I started the cleaning.  I was just finishing up when Mike returned.  Mike went over for shoes in the afternoon and I relaxed outside reading my book and soaking up the sun.  Over to the KOA for happy hour.  Upper 70s today.  Nice.