Howard Livingston and me

Moon rise

Sugarloaf Key: Tonight is party night. So we went over to the clubhouse at around noon and volunteered our services. I helped Carolyn in the kitchen for a while. We were having hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, Italian sausage, and all the beer and soda you can drink. Party started at 3:00 with the MM24 band. Howard Livingston (lead singer) showed up for a while. I love his music. Partied until 6:00 and then went back to watch football. Took some pictures of the moon rise. Supposed to be the biggest and brightest moon of the whole year.

Sunset from the campground

Sugarloaf Key: Missed the end of the football game last night because we lost power in the campground for some reason. Mike was thrilled. Another beautiful, sunny day. We just hung out and are going over to the clubhouse tonight to watch the movie, “Eagle Eye”.

Private Residence--Fleming Street

Sugarloaf Key: Had a wicked storm last night—high winds and a deluge of rain. Craig just made it home on his motorcycle before it hit. We got buffeted around pretty good. But this morning dawned sunny and nice. Our awning held up very well. One of the RVs down the way had theirs end up on their roof. Headed to Key West to the Tropic Cinema to see Slumdog Millionaire. A very good foreign film. After the movie we walked down to the Key West Speedway and Mike did a couple of races. He was in first place for a while until he wiped out, flipped over a few times. I walked down to the knitting shop which is one of the best I’ve seen. Walked over to Duval and had dinner at the Old Town Mexican Café. Walked around some more. A beautiful night. Checked out the old San Carlos Theater (circa 1871) where MM24 will be performing every Thursday night for a while. Will definitely check that out—if for nothing else than to see the inside of this amazing place. Back home to watch football.

Sugarloaf Key: Took the bikes over to the Winn Dixie parking lot on Big Pine Key, left the truck there and then biked down toward the Blue Hole, but instead we took a side road that we thought would take us over to the road to No Name Key. Sure enough, it did. A little risky, because the side road had no bike path, but it wasn’t very busy either. Once we got onto the road to No Name Key, there was a bike path of sorts. It was just a big shoulder, but it was relatively safe. We rode past No Name Pub and then continued over the bridge even after the bike path ended and rode to the end of the road. Back in the 30s when Hemmingway lived here, he used to drive to No Name Key and fish off the old bridge there. To go any further back then you had to take a ferry. And that’s what was at the end of the road where we biked. Saw the old pilings. We saw three Key Deer bucks. And one snake on the side road that was either injured or dead. We also rode through a couple of residential areas out there. There are no public utilities at all out there—except for phone service. They all have solar. We saw an “open house” sign at a house for sale down there and we stopped to check it out. A really cute house—two bedrooms, large deck all around and a big screened-in porch in front. On a canal, so easy access to deep water. A really nice couple who have wintered down here for 11 years. They’re from the Binghamton, NY, area. Enjoyed talking with them. They’re asking $325,000 for the house, which is a pretty good price for anything down here. Left there and stopped at the No Name Pub for a late lunch, but they were packed, so we rode back to the Winn Dixie parking lot and went to Pizza Works for their great pizza. A really nice day. Probably 82 today.

Sugarloaf Key: Couldn’t sleep last night, so I ended up getting up at about 3:30 a.m. and got on the computer. Had a miserable headache. Checked my Chase statement, searched CD rates, and did a bunch of other stuff. Around 11:00 we headed in to Key West to get my prescriptions filled and do the laundry. We have a new prescription provider and I needed an ID card, which is probably at home in the mail, so I wasn’t able to fill the scripts. After doing the laundry we had lunch at the Bayside Bar & Grill at the Blue Lagoon Motel. Great lunch. Still have a headache. Back home and called CVS Caremark. After waiting on hold for about half an hour total, I got someone who was able to help me. She actually called the Walgreens and gave them the information they need, so we went back again and finally got the prescriptions filled. What a day. Beautiful though—81.

Sugarloaf Key: Drove into Big Pine and got my hair cut this morning. I love this guy that cuts my hair. Always interesting to talk to. Came back around 12:30 and Mike left shortly after that to play shoes. I relaxed and read outside for a while. A beautiful day—breezy and warm. After shoes Mike showered and we went over to the KOA for happy hour. Met a couple who just came into Lazy Lake a couple of days ago from the Montreal area. Came back and watched the Ohio State/Texas bowl game. The low tonight is supposed to be only 73. Hard to take. Low 80s today. Beautiful.

Sugarloaf Key: Rained last night during the night. Cleared off mid-morning. Bonnie and Ray, who are in the motor home across the lake from us, came over in the afternoon and we talked about Utah. We’re planning on going to Arizona and Utah over the summer and they’ve been there a lot. So, they gave us a bunch of good tips on campgrounds and places to see. Left-overs for dinner.