Monday November 11- Got up early and walked Miss Ruby. Then I took off for the dreaded Walmart run. We found if you go early you avoid a whole lot of problems. It was quick, not busy and even got a great parking spot. When I got home Jeff decided he wanted to go to lunch at the new Blaze Pizza. When we left here last year they were still building it. We got there early and missed the crowd. We had a great lunch it was yummy. They even had my blood orange lemonade...yum.
Since we were out and about we drove over to get Jeff's coffee. That lead to a Trader Joe's stop, we were so close. That one thing about coming back here, we know where all our stuff can be found. It's kind of like being home. We got what was on our list and then home. We hung around the park the rest of the day.
Tuesday November 12- After walking the dogs we went to the beach for a quick walk. It was completely empty. That made it nice. We walked up to the rocks and back. I got a few pictures to remember the day.
We couldn't stay too long Jeff was without sunscreen. Before going home I had Jeff stop so I could get some stuff I need to start my Christmas ornaments. Since I finished my quilt I have been looking for something to do. Since I make ornaments every year I thought I would get a start on them. Then when I finish them I can get on to another quilt. When we got back I did some laundry. Need to get that all caught up before the Keys because we don't have a full hook up. The good thing is there is always a nice breeze so they dried quick. We sat outside after Jeff put up the sunshade. I got started on my ornaments.
This is just the first step...with more to come....
Wednesday November 13- The weather turned a bit, today it was cloudy, windy followed by some rain. It rained on and off the rest of the day. It did try and clear up. So since the weather was icky I spent the morning inside working on snowmen for my ornament. I got one kind of figured out. Before I go ahead and make them all I try one to see if I'm going to like it. I think this will work.
After lunch we ran in to town to get our fishing license. Then since it was still rainy we went to a movie, "Last Christmas" It started out kind of slow but finished very good. We sat in the deluxe theater this time. Oh the popcorn was excellent.
Thursday November 14- Another cloudy day. We got a walk in and a bike ride before loading them on the bike rack for traveling tomorrow. I worked on my ornaments again making some good progress. Then I decided to give Belle her hair cut. I think it will be hot down in the Keys and she really needs a cut. After loading up most of our stuff we fixed up some supper. Then we headed to The Tequesta Brewing Company. Jason Montero is playing there tonight. When we got there the place was hopping. We did get a place to sit which was perfect to watch him play. This place isn't really set up for live music. I don't think most of those people were there to listen to him. He always does a great job. Then we called it a night.
Friday November 15- Got up early to witness this. We are traveling today and the weather forecast didn't look good. Somehow we didn't run in to any rain. Not while we were hooking up, not as we were driving south, not while we were setting up at Curry Hammock. We were super lucky. We were on the road at 8:45.
Just like that...good bye Jonathan Dickinson and hello Florida Keys.
Our trip down was interesting. We had more than usual traffic. Then when we got on highway 1, it seems there is some kind of bicycle ride. There are lots of bikes so every time someone goes past them they slow down. Some of the cyclist were very brave that's for sure. The good thing is, we know where we are going and have been here many times. Once you get on highway 1 you can't really get loss unless you drive by the park. It is one of our favorite parks. We arrived in a timely fashion and rolled right in to our site. We have #4. It is a really large site. Then we started getting stuff out. We are going to be here for 2 weeks so we are getting some stuff out this time. Just as we are finishing up it is clouding up. I sat down to relax and that's when the sprinkles started.
Saturday November 16-The first thing I did was make my way down to the beach to watch the sunrise. Today it was really too cloudy to see any of those beautiful colors. So I just enjoyed the critters that were there to check out the sunrise as well. Then back to get a hold of the birthday boy.
Happy 39th Birthday to this guy...our baby, Justin. So the first thing that had to happen was a sweet singing of Happy Birthday to him. Then we finished getting stuff down. We got the bikes off and the kayaks down. It was nice out there today but the wind was a bit much. Jeff wanted to go out in the kayaks. At first I wasn't going to go but I changed my mind and went. That turned out to be a bad idea. It was way too windy for me. Our site is right next to a path down to the water. We just loaded up the kayaks and headed down.
As you can see the damage from the hurricane 2 years ago is still very apparent. These will never be the same. It really has changed the fishing spot we loved, and not in a good way.
The reason the water looks so calm in these pictures is because the island was blocking all the wind. The ride back was a bit bumpy for me. Didn't get any fish either. We made it back and got cleaned up. Then we went to a new place, for us....Havanna Jack's. It is super close to the park. We even got a hold of some friends we met at Jonathan Dickinson. They were volunteers with us. Now they are down here at a park working. So we met them. It was a nice evening. We got to catch up and enjoy a pizza that was super good. Oh yeah they also had the Iowa Hawkeye game on. They won...
Sunday November 17-A cold front came through last night and it's cool and cloudy out there. I went down to watch the sunrise again but to many clouds. Took Ruby for a walk and we went down to the day use area.
Then we came back home and made a trip to town. Jeff wanted to go the hardware store, and we needed to get a few groceries. Then home for lunch. Stayed inside most of the rest of the day. I got busy finishing up my ornaments. I made them all with stick arms but I have already broke more than one. I know when I ship them they probably won't survive the trip. I made new arms with wire and added mittens. We fixed supper and called it a day.
Monday November 18- Got up early today. We are going out on The Marathon Lady this morning. We got a perfect day weather wise that's for sure. The boat had a good group of friendly people. We had put our names on the list yesterday, so we got spots on the stern, were they put the chum. We headed out to fish. In the beginning it was a bit cool, but warmed up. The fishing started off a bit slow but there were plenty of fish caught by everyone.
We love this fishing boat. The help is really on top of everything that is happening. They do all they can to make sure everybody comes home with some fish. We didn't get as many as usual but we brought home enough for a couple meals.
After landing we get our fish and take them to the cleaning station. They do that for you as well for a small fee. The critters around here seem to know what time they will be doing the fish cleaning. They show up in full force.
It was a great day out on the water. We came on back and got cleaned up. I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open. I take seasick medicine when I go out in the water and it always zonks me out.
Tuesday November 19- We almost had a sunrise this morning. The water was what I noticed. It is super flat. We decided to take the kayaks out this morning. We loaded up our stuff and went down to the beach. We were both excited about the water conditions.......perfect.
We sat sail for a fine day of fishing. Well the fishing wasn't so perfect. We got to cover a lot of water. I don't think I have ever gone out that far before. We caught a few fish but nothing to keep. That didn't stop us from enjoying the day. I had plenty of time to take pictures.
The water was just crazy pretty. We made our way out and around the island. I thought I saw some bubbles in the water. I thought maybe some fish were working. Next thing I hear a breathy noise, it's a manatee. Now that was a nice surprise. I watched and took some pictures as it swam around.
Well that was a great way to finish up the day. I love when you run across a neat critter. We made it back and got everything cleaned up including ourselves. Then around 4 o'clock we took off to Lorelei's. It's one of Jeff's favorite places. This restaurant/bar is right on the water in Islamorada. It is about a 35 minute drive from the park. They have a great happy hour and live music. You can also watch the sunset. We arrived found us a table and watched the entertainment. He was very good. We also got to witness a beauty of a sunset.
Jeff took advantage of happy hour and we both got a bite to eat. It was a nice evening.
Wednesday November 20- Today I went down to the beach to watch the sunrise and I finally saw the sun. It was a great way to start the day.
Jeff was thinking he might snorkel while he was here so he started looking for his stuff. He couldn't find his weight belt so that turned in to a big clean out of our basement compartments. We never did find it but we got some cleaning taken care of. It was really nice out so Miss Ruby and I enjoyed some time in my hammock.
We didn't really have too much planned for today. So I grabbed a chair and went to enjoy a little time at the beach. While there I visited with a nice couple. Then I was just watching the water and this guy swam in to say hi. He even swam back around so I could get another picture.
I came home and started on our gourmet dinner. Jeff is cooking up some of our catch from our trip on the marathon lady. I worked on the sides. We had a wonderful dinner.
Thursday November 21- Today is our daughter in-law, Molly's birthday. So our tradition is to call and sing to them. Jeff even grabbed his guitar to accompany me. It was a hit. Then Jeff and I walked the dogs and got dressed. We are making a day trip to Key West today. It is a beautiful day. On the way down we made a quick stop at Sunshine Key RV Resort. That is where our friends Kip and Amanda are working. We just stopped to take a look and Kip was right at the gate. He took us for a quick tour around the park. It offers a lot and the views are very nice.
We thanked Kip for the tour and made our way to Key West. We parked the car and made our way to Duvall Street. We walked around there a bit then went to Frita's Cuban Burger's for a bite of lunch. Someone had told Jeff about this place and looked it up. They had great reviews so we gave it a go. I put the address on my GPS on my phone and when we found it, I was surprised on how small the place was. We went in and placed our order. The two girls in there were super friendly. It was a wonderful place. The food and service were superb.
After lunch we did some more looking around. Jeff wanted to go to Truman's Little White House. He planned on doing the tour. I was going to look around at the shops while he was doing that.
I walked down by Mallory Square looking at all the points of interest. I did look at a lot of shops they have scattered about. I took lots of pictures. I think pictures are worth a thousand words..
I met back up with Jeff and we went for a drink at The Hog Breath Bar. Jeff ordered me a rum punch which was super tastee. We didn't stay to long here there was lots of cigar smoking going on. We left and did some more looking on Duvall Street.
Friday November 22- I went down to watch the start of the day. It was pretty. It is cloudy today. Since we don't have a full hook up Jeff needed to dump the grey water. I need to do some laundry. Well I think there was a 10% chance of rain. I had my clothes hanging out and it sprinkled. Not lots but on and off. It started clearing up about lunch time. We decided to take the kayaks out for a bit. The water wasn't too rough. The fishing was tough but it still was a nice day on the water. Today we saw a turtle out there.
I came back in when I ran out of bait. It was warming up out there. The clouds were making way for the sunshine. After supper walked down to watch the day end.....
Saturday November 23- Back down to the beach to welcome the day. Jeff even came with today. Not only did Jeff come but I packed up Ruby too. We brought the whole viewing audience.
It was a good one to see. We really didn't have too much planned to do today. I went down and sat on the beach for a bit. It's really nice today. It's sunny but there is a nice breeze. We couldn't get the Iowa Hawkeye game today so we thought we would go to a bar and watch. Went to Havanna Jack's because last Saturday they had it on. Well, not today. They didn't get that channel. So we didn't hang around there. We came back home and hung out here. We have already been here for over a week, We will be moving on come Friday.
I put my stepper on my my mirage drive, the system that paddles our kayak. We definitely made our steps today. We spent the rest of our Sunday hanging out at site #4 in Curry Hammock. Did I say how much we like our site here? It is so private and this park is so quiet. Til next time.......
