The Good,The Bad, Key West

Stunning Marathon sunset viewed
from our dock at Sombrero Marina

Heavy Dew

     We stayed at Sombrero Marina for 10 days. Unfortunately, Roy, the dock master, could not find dockage for us for longer. Amenities are limited and the property “tired”, but it was great to be so close to land and the car.  The monthly rate is very appealing. In the mornings, we would walk the dog for about a mile and a quarter around the first 9 of the golf course. One morning the dew was so heavy, the canvas on board was drenched and the decks soaked. As we did our walk, the spider webs were encased in dew drops. The one found on the fence was very chaotic, but the one in the bougainvillea was beautiful.  Thank heavens for my great little camera that has a phone attached!  We need to discuss our options for next year and possibly put in our reservation request; the sooner the better.

     The last day there, I tried to do laundry at the marina ($2/load), but with one of 3 washers and a dryer out, the others were in demand.  I knew that with company coming for the weekend, I should really do laundry now.  I went to the laundromat in town.  It was amazing to see so many new, stainless machines.  Cost varied on the size of the machines: small load washers were $4. I went with the medium at $5/load. They really cleaned the clothes!  The driers were large, with NO lint collectors. There must be a central collector for the entire facility. The driers were paid for by the number of minutes desired. I used a large one for 24 minutes for a total of $1.50!  Expensive? Yes! Convenient? Yes, since there were plenty of machines to choose from, clean machines, clean floors, baskets and folding tables, with parking out back and I had parking for my car. 
     I included a stop at Publix to pick up some last-minute goodies for the weekend. We are looking forward to Pete’s brother and family will meeting us in Key West for the weekend.

WW II B-24 Bomber

WW II   P-51 Trainer

     Monday through Thursday, Wings over the Keys was being held at Marathon Airport.  Vintage WWII planes flew in for the event.  There are tours of the planes and, for those willing to fork up enough dough, a ride in a plane. Rumor has it that for $450 a half hour you can join 9 others in either the B-17 or B-24 the Bomber or $2200 in the P-51 for a half hour, $3200 for an hour!  I had hoped to get close to take some photos, but the opportunity wasn’t there.

WW II B-17 Bomber

        On Wednesday, 2/1, we left Sombrero Marina and anchored in the harbor for the night.  Anchoring is a challenge with so many live aboards permanently anchored (most with 3 anchors and short roads) and the cruisers like us waiting for a mooring ball.  When we arrived, we placed our name on the wait list. We were number 40. Ten days later, we moved to number 24! It doesn’t look good to even get a mooring ball before we plan to head north the beginning of March. To add injury to insult, for those not on the mooring balls (at $324/mo), Marathon charges $22 a day to use the dinghy dock, $5 per pump, no parking and laundry is $3/load.  

     Once anchored, Pete, Bailey and I headed back to Sombrero where Roy let us tie the dinghy for a while. We picked up the car and drove down to Stock Island for my physical therapy appointment. The neck is really giving me problems. My intake appointment was impressive and I really like my therapist, Misty.  I sure hope by the end of the month, I will be significantly better. 

     Once back aboard the boat, we prepared the boat for departure early in the morning, ate dinner, read a little and called it an early night.

     Thursday, 2/2. Dog was walked and anchor was pulled by 6:40 AM. The skies were lightening and the breeze was stirring.  As we departed Marathon, there were about 20 boats anchored outside the harbor entrance! The the sun had to make its way through some clouds, but still provided a pretty sunrise.

Pete took advantage while underway
to give Baiely a bath

     The wind gods looked upon us with favor. We finally sailed for about 2 hours before the winds dropped to about 5mph! The jets were doing “touch and go’s” at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station. The crab floats were many, but the Man-o-Wars were in small groups and only a dime to quarter in size.  Hatchlings perhaps? It really took some looking to find them. Pete was able to complete his conference calls early and enjoy the ride to Key West. He even bathed Bailey while we were in route!

     During our trip, the VHS had announcements that the Navy was conducting live ammunitions drills SW of Key West, but we never saw them.  Coming into the harbor around 2, we saw 2 cruise ships docked near Mallory Square, along with lots of “head boats,” small, private fishing and sailing boats, lots of paragliders, as well as a few large yachts.

Conch Harbor Pool

     When we contacted Conch Harbor for our dock assignment, he cautioned us of the barge in the fairway, limiting our maneuvering into our dock.  Pete backed down the fairway and into our slip like a pro! Once secured, we read until Jim called to say they had arrived in Key West. (They flew into Miami and rented a convertible for the ride down The Keys.)

       Jim, Effie and Victoria met us at the boat and we went over to the Conch Republic Restaurant for a great dinner. The dessert of tempura fried strawberries with dark chocolate and whipped cream was to die for!  With it being a long day, contented, with full bellies and much to see for the rest of the weekend, we said our goodbyes and called it a day.

    Friday, 2/3. We met to catch the Conch Trolley.  Not only did we tour Old Town Key West, but did a loop around the Island. (helpful for us to know the lay of the land.) We got off at an toured the Mel Fisher Museum (The Attocha) for additional interest. Then it was time to eat.  Everyone wanted to experience Sloppy Joe’s. The drinks came and when I finished placing my order, as I returned the menu to the server, I knocked over Pete’s beer. We moved to another table so the staff could clean and the server brought Pete a new beer…this time in a “sippy cup” with a straw! I had a great, Greek salad while the others enjoyed their Sloppy Joe’s.  Then we toured Duval Street.  Victoria, a high school freshman, had to submit a paper by 4PM so we headed back to the boat and they to their Hotel. 

Part of Duval Street

Souvenir Shop

The Tropic Cinema

Pieces of Eight

Pottery

Flint Lock and Ammo

Sloppy Joe's Bar

Sippy Cup for Beer!

      Around 5:30, we met up and walked to Mallory Square to enjoy the atmosphere and the sunset.  There was a very distinctive profile of a large private yacht at anchor in the harbor. Jim identified it as the VENUS, commissioned by the late Steve Jobs.  The sunset was beautiful and the characters entertaining. I felt bad for the solo musicians, as no one even stopped to listen or tip.  

Mallory Square Sunset with Jim, Victoria and Effie

Sunset with VENUS silhouette  

Mallory Square after the sun has set 

Sparkles, the Dancing, Stunt Pig

Sunset Juggler

YUM!!!

     As we walked over to Duval Street, we passed The Cupcake Sushi Store. Curiosity peaked, we went to investigate.  Sure enough, the items looked like beautifully presented Sushi (which neither Pete or I eat.) After purchasing a few to taste, we talked with the owner. She is an artist and a baker, who managed to combine her talents into remarkable pieces of  edible art! Different flavored cakes are layered, rolled into a thin cylinder, coated in dark chocolate, sliced, then decorated for presentation.  I had a Black Forrest and vanilla Sushi cupcake. It was unbelievably delicious! We grabbed her card as she will ship them.  Word has gotten out. They have even been served at some of the Oscar parties.

     Victoria checked good restaurants in Key West and found the highly recommended Grand Restaurant. We had 2 big surprises: 1) that they could seat us right away and 2) even though we were across from a number of bars, the street noise dropped to background noise by our outside table. Yum! Once again, a great pick!

Great Pick, Victoria!

Super place for dinner!

Duval Street after dark

US Warship 1

    Saturday, 2/4, We left the harbor aboard PEKABU and saw Navy Warship 1; The first of the large, high speed, amphibious assault catamarans. The live amo drills must have been from this ship as the SEAL training facility is here in Key West. We also passed VENUS and got a much better view of the impressive yacht. We had a great 7-hour sail up past Boca Chica and back. No tacks and averaged 7 mph!  With lunch and an afternoon full of munchies, we thought we could catch a burger near the marina.  Once back we opted to eat at the restaurant near the marina. We enjoyed a great dinner at Prime 951, the restaurant at the marina. Never gave thought to making reservations, but they found us a table outside and it was wonderful. Even though it was a steak house, none of us ordered steak.  The fish specials were incredible and the desserts YUM! With all this great food, we should skip eating for the next week!

Steve Job's  VENUS

Jim, Victoria, and Effie join us for a day of sailing

   Sunday, 2/5, is Super Bowl and a must see for the guys.  Since Victoria wanted to get some sun in order to make her class mates jealous of her tan, they stayed at the hotel with its beach for the afternoon.

     Over the weekend, we discussed the mooring situation in Marathon, where we now sit at number 20. Pete called up to Key Largo, but we are too wide to get the only slip he has available. Roy, from Sombrero, called to let us know that we could have a slip beginning in March, but we think we will be starting our way north by then. Pete then checked the Dockwa App and found Stock Island Marina.  If we come in on Wednesday, they will be able to accommodate us for a month! We get to stay in this great area for another 4 weeks!

     Jim picked us up later in the afternoon so we could join them at the beach bar to catch the game.  Originally, they had been told that chairs would be set up outside the bar and the game would be seen on a big screen projection TV.  Unfortunately, he didn’t say that you had to buy tickets and that the seating was limited. Since we missed out on the tickets, Victoria made sure we timed it perfectly.  Since appetizers were half priced until 6 at the bar and seating for dinner would begin at 5:30, we found a table in the bar where everyone could see a TV at 5. After our drink order had been placed, we took our time ordering appetizers, one at a time. Around 8, we finally ordered dinner and by ten we ordered dessert.  We were able to keep the table for the game.  It turns out that they had issues with the projection TV outside and those folks missed portions of the game.  By 4 minutes into the 4^th quarter, the score was Atlanta 28 to New England’s 12, we opted to have Jim drop us back at the boat as the game seemed a done deal.  It took about 10 minutes to return to the boat and turn on the TV. Boy, what a surprise! Atlanta remained at 28 points, but New England now had 21.  With less than a minute to play, New England tied the game.  For the first time in Super Bowl history, they had to go into overtime.  New England won the toss and drove down the field to win the game 34-28! (a remarkable 25-point deficit made up in the second half!) Thankfully, Jim made it back to the Hotel in time to catch the tie and overtime. By the way, Pete managed to catch a few of the season games, but this was the only game I watched all season. I guess I chose the best one!

     Monday, 2/6. Jim and the ladies, picked up Pete around 6:45 am.  They dropped Pete off in Marathon so he could bring a car down, while they continued on to Miami. Pete shuffled the cars so that the VW is now at Marathon airport and brought the Acura here to Key West.  Meanwhile, I caught a cab for my 8 am PT appointment. 

     Pete got back before lunch and started to catch up with work.  I took the opportunity to walk down to the light house and back, enjoying the exercise, people and photo ops.  On the way back I felt tired, but pushed on.  After lunch, I couldn’t wait to lay down and caught a good nap.

There are characters...
& then there are characters
in Key West!

Key West "Eagle" taking a midday siesta

 

Guard Cat for the mail

Single Ficus Tree takes over entire yard

A great way to hide the rust & dents

    originally booked our slip through today, but yesterday, Pete was able to extend our stay through Wednesday, when we head up to Stock island. I walked up and paid for the car to remain in the parking garage though Thursday, when I’ll bring it up.

     Tuesday, 2/7. Pete worked all day while I read.  I really didn’t feel up to exploring, but did take advantage of the free laundry for Conch Harbor.  I washed a regular load plus a second load of area rugs while I died my hair and enjoyed a long hot shower in their great facilities! Returned to the boat, put away the laundry and started dinner.  It turns out that the large washing machine did a better job on area rugs than I did with the rug cleaner.  I’m doubly glad I did laundry today.

     Wednesday, 2/8.  Pete doesn’t have anything pending until his afternoon conferences.  We were able to leave Conch Harbor around 10 and docked in Stock Island Marina around 12:30. This is a beautiful marina with wide floating docks, great facilities, and a dog park.  We can even park the car inside the marina on the long main dock access. I prepped lunch while he prepped for this conference call.  After lunch, I sat up above and read until it was time to leave for my 4 pm appointment for PT.  Pete was able to get one of the bikes ready, so I peddled the half mile to the office.   My therapist today was Melissa.  She is a traveling physical therapist who takes her RV to RV parks closed to her work.  We compared the pros and cons of our lifestyles.

      Thursday, 2/9.  I took advantage of the free Stock Island Marina shuttle to Key West.  It runs 4 times a day and drops guests off a block from Conch Harbor Marina.  By noon, I went to West Marine, picked up the car, picked up the prescription dog food, from Lower Keys Veterinary Clinic, and stopped at Publix. As I was walking up to Publix, I once again experienced the exhaustion and heaviness in my chest. Once inside, in the air conditioning, I felt better.  I figured it was the temperature difference and humidity. It happened again when I was bringing the stuff back down the dock. 

      After lunch, since Pete had some free time, we took a ride up to Scout Key, just south of Bahia Honda Key.  It is the only area here in the keys that Pete can fly the drone.  He hasn’t been able to practice as much as he would have liked, due to a lot of the Keys are “no fly zones” or “permission needed” for drones.  It was cool to see it fly.  Part of the Flagler Rail Road Bridge is still standing and it called to me.  As we were leaving we headed north.  The light on this side was great. Pete stopped the car on the south bound side of the highway and I crossed over to take a few photos. While I was squatting to get a better shot, a police car pulled up behind Pete with lights flashing.  Once he was told I was on my way back, he pulled away.  When I got back into the car, we both started laughing.  About 15 years ago, we were heading home on 301 north in Maryland. I asked Pete to stop so I could take some photos of the wild flowers along the side of the road.  As I squatted down to take some photos, a state trooper pulled up behind Pete. When I stood with the camera around my neck, broke out laughing. For working on the boat, I was wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, a bandana on my head and a single braid down my back! He told Pete he thought I was a male “taking a squat” in the flowers! He pulled out, turned around and was laughing and shaking his head as we headed south.  I can just imagine what he talked about when he got back to the station. Pete reminds me of this experience periodically when I am shooting flowers.

     When we got back to the boat, I was helping Pete run the hose to fill the tanks.  I suddenly got dizzy. My pulse was 36. It climbed to 44 when I sat down inside. After dinner, we relaxed and watched some TV.

      Friday, 2/10.  I didn’t sleep well last night.  I woke around 3 and my pulse was 40.  I monitored it for the next few hours and there was little change.  By the time Pete awoke, I had gone through a number of scenarios, but the best was to head over to the hospital to get checked out.  Lower Keys Medical Center is a small community Hospital about 3 miles from the marina. As soon as I mentioned that I was in Bradycardia, I was taken back to be examined. Last May, I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation.  Knowing that we would be traveling, I had a copy of the medical records, which to be very helpful. After an EKG, Echo cardiogram, chest x-ray, labs and Halter monitor, I was admitted.  Somehow, I have developed a 2^nd degree heart block. The next 36 hours I was monitored, poked, and treated by a great group of people. The heart rate has come up slightly without the AFib meds on board. The labs showed that that I have a hypothyroidism possibly caused by the AFib meds. So…I will now start the Thyroid med to get those levels up (and hopefully the heart rate, too!) and check in with the cardiologist later this week. Keeping fingers and toes crossed that the heart rate continues to climb to acceptable and functional levels.  If not, other options need to be discussed.

     Saturday, 2/11.  I felt a bit better today after being released. 

We dropped off my prescription and I stayed in the car while Pete ran some additional errands.  One back, I read while Pete worked on his video from the drone.  The drone is extremely well thought out. Even as the airborne drone rocked, the gimbaled camera maintained a steady horizon. The quality of the video is 4K and crystal clear.  It is going to be fun watching Pete master the drone along with the photographic opportunities. We tried a local Chinese restaurant, had a good meal and called it an early night.

       Sunday, 2/12   I made sure I moved around while working on the blog this afternoon.  Made Chicken Fajitas for dinner.  I had to adlib as I didn’t have all my usual ingredients, but the end result was delicious.  The best part of the day, was facetime with Hadi and Riley after their baths. 

     ~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~  K & P