Day 17: A Sail and a Snorkel

The winds on Saturday dropped down to 12-15mph so Keith and Betty suggested we all sail out to "Sand Key". Sand Key is a reef about 7 miles south of Key West. It is one of the many reefs that surround the Keys. In the 1700's and 1800's many ships ran into these reefs and spilled there treasure throughout the ocean floor. The reef now has an unmanned lighthouse and weather station. The reef under the lighthouse is only 1-2ft. deep in the center and tapers out to about 8-9ft., then drops to 90 ft.



The water looked OK for snorkeling so Kathy and Betty grabbed their gear and jumped in for a peek at the reef.



Paula was a little unsure when she heard the water was so cold. Finally she relented.



The current and the wind around the reef was pretty strong so we tossed out a line for the girls to grab onto. Each time they began to swim towards the reef the current pushed them back. It wasn't long before the cold water and the current convinced them to return to the boat. Denny succeeded in reaching the reef, which was about 100 yds. into the wind.

Day 16: A Bike About

This afternoon we met up with Keith and Betty and Denny and Paula to bike around the island. It's close to 13 mi around the island, but fortunately there are no hills except the bridge over the inlet.



Our first stop was the Key West Boat Show. Although it's not a big show there were some interesting booths. Several were selling old nautical gear.



For the fisherman there was tons of used and new gear.



I mentioned earlier that we enjoyed some great jazz and blues last Friday evening at B.O.'s. Well we decided to return this evening for drinks, dinner and music.

Day 15: A Day to Catch Up

We had a pretty late night last evening so we decided to sleep in and spend the day working around the motorhome. While I washed the jeep and polished the MH wheels, Kathy washed windows and cleaned up inside.



The MH wheels are aluminum and tend to oxidize making them rather dull. Here is a shot of the first one I completed.

They really needed polishing. There is a great product, "Blue Magic" I heard about on the MH blog I follow. It's a blue polish that interacts with the oxidation as you apply it. It literally turns the oxidation black before you removed the polish.

By mid-afternoon we were ready for a break and headed to the pool for some sun and relaxation.

Kathy has been wanting to see some of the movies that were up for the Oscar's so we went to see "The Reader". We rode the scooter which turned out to be a mistake because it died half way to the theater. Fortunately there was a scooter rental place across the street so we left it there and took a taxi. The move was very very good. It's easy to see why Kate Winslet won the Oscar for "Best Actress".

Day 14: Beach Day

There is nothing like a day at the beach! So off to the beach we went for the afternoon. The temp was in the mid 70's but the wind at 15-20mph making for a cool time whenever the sun was blocked by a cloud.



We met up with Keith and Betty, and Denny and Paula for a great seafood dinner at Dante's. It's just a stone's throw from Keith's boat. They have a beautiful pool which is open to the public as long as your eating or drinking at their restaurant.


After not being to impressed with the conch fritters I ordered the other night I decided on the fish platter. Denny on the other hand went for the "Cracked Conch". He offered us each a piece and it was very tasty. It was sort of like Calamari.


Following dinner we headed off to Cowboy Bills. Wednesday night is ladies night so their drinks are free. They also have $3 Corona's. In addition to a great Country Western Band from Nashville they were giving away $200 and lots of prizes for the best female rider. Ten gals signed up and the crowd cheered them on through the elimination process. This is the young gal that won. Two hours earlier she got married.

Day 13: Goodbye and Welcome

Boy does time fly when your having fun! The Reiffs departed today after spending 7 action packed days with us. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and we welcome them back anytime they can break away. Prior to their departure we had an excellent lunch at the Hogfish Bar and Grill. Al took one more opportunity to taste the seafood by ordering a lobster appetizer.



Not long after dropping the Reiffs off at the airport we welcomed Denny and Paula Sult. They're here for a week and staying at a nice guest house 1 block off of the main drag. They are going to join us for a couple of days when we head out of here on March 1.

Day 12: Kayaking in the Mangroves

During our visit to Key West two years ago we went kayaking through the mangroves. We had such a good time that Betty and Kathy suggested that Barb join them on another 4 hour adventure. A friend of Keith's and Betty's filled out the party as Gary, Al and Keith pursued other activities.

Barb and Rex made a good team. There is a rumor that they ran aground a couple of times. Here's a good shot of some of the wider openings that exists but most of the time the openings are no wider than the kayak.

There is a lot of sea life to be seen as you wind through the mangroves. Below is a crab that Barb captured in several pictures. There were also thousands of jelly fish swarming on the bottom.

Following a much needed rest, the group met up at the "Schooner Wharf" for a recap of the days events.

The night was still young for the Reiffs who still had some energy remaining. They danced the night away as they tried to burn off some the calories consumed over the last week. I think it also had a lot to do with this being their last night in paradise.

Day 11: Wreckers Cup Race

Today we participated in the Annual Wreckers Cup Sailboat Race aboard Keith & Betty Gordon's boat "Bar Hopper"



Fortunately the high winds of the past week dropped down to 10-12 knots, however the wind direction also changed to the north. This meant that we would be sailing the entire race downwind.



There were a variety of fleets, but unfortunately no handicap ratings were assigned to the different boats. There were also only three rules. 1. There are no rules! 2. Refer to rule #2! 3. Refer to rule #2!



As I mentioned there were a number of different classes. Below is one of three schooners that entered the race. The schooners allowed paying passengers on the boat for the race. The overall winner of the regatta a J-24 which flew 2 large spinakers, one was from a Farr 40. As I said there were no rules. By the way, Keith's Catalina 36 was the first Catalina 36 to finish.

Day 10: Art Show & The Beach

We heard the "Key West Art Show" was going on today so we decided to check it out. It was really good, not quite as large as the Des Moines Art Show but the quality was just as good. Just across from the show was the Banyan House which has a Banyan Tree that pretty much surrounds the entire house.



The temperature was great, mid 70's with a 10-15 mph Northeast wind. We needed to catch up on the rays so we hit the beach for a couple of hours.



The visit wouldn't be complete without a walk down Duval Street. It's loaded with shops, restaurants, and loads of bars with entertainment. We stopped at a little bar with a one man band and Barb and I felt compelled to put on a dance exhibition for the patrons.

Day 9: Key West Tour

This afternoon we toured the city on the Key West Trolley. It's really a pretty good way to see all the Key West highlights and hear a lot of interesting facts.



A tour of the city wouldn't be complete without a cheeseburger in paradise at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Barb and Al were overwhelmed by the size of the cheeseburgers. We should have ordered one for each couple.



The southern most point of the U.S. is also a favorite place for tourist to visit.



This evening we headed to the Green Paroit to meet up with Keith and Betty and catch some "Blues". Unfortunately the music didn't start until 10pm. That's too late for these oldies to get started so we stopped by B.O.'s where Betty heard their was music. The impromptu group was great. They played a wide variety of music, blues, jazz, country, and some great old standards.

Day 8: Arrival in Key West

Following breakfast this morning we discovered a little friend at the Jolly Roger Campground, an 18 inch Iguana. He didn't like all the attention and quickly scurried under the motorhome.



We arrived at Boyd's Campground in Key West around noon for the start of our 2 week stay. Our friends Keith and Betty Gordon winter in Florida each year and recently sailed their boat to Key West to meet up with us. Prior to departing on our trip we made a stop at the Drug Town in Ankeny to pickup a beer order for Keith. To those of you who don't know him, he is passionate about his love for Hamm's beer. We built a Hamm's tower to celebrate our meeting.



We learned during our last visit to Key West that drinks and food are rather expensive so we like to hit the restaurants before 7pm for the 1/2 price drinks.
This evening we headed to Schooner Wharf for dinner, cocktails and music. Kathy and Betty feasted on a Fish Tacos, Al the crab Cakes and the rest of us Fish n' Chips.



Following dinner Barb and I decided to burn off a couple of the calories we had taken in. It turns out our entertainer was from Lake Okoboji, Iowa. What a small world
.

Day 7: Marathon - 1/2 way to Key West

We headed out of Key Largo around noon for the 40 mile drive south to Marathon. We decide during our trip planning to take our time and explore more of the keys than just Key West. Today we checked out the Doplhin Research Center, several marina's with some beautiful sailboats and a couple of boating stores.

Taking Barb and Al along is like have our children with us when they were younger. They like to do some funny things and of course we have to save the moment for posterity.



During our walk around one of the marina's we ran into Hank & Ann Evans. What a small world, they're from Des Moines. Last August they retired, purchased a 42ft. trawler and began heading south. Hank is a former sailor and it turns out we had a number of similar friends on Saylorville Lake. They are going to meet up with a friend, the former mayor of W. Des Moines, in Key West. They plan on heading up the east coast, dropping down the St. Lawrence to the great lakes and over to Chicago before heading south on the Illinois River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. What a trip! Good Luck Hank & Ann!

Day 6: Ft. Lauderdale to Key Largo

This morning we got a little bit of exercise riding our bikes around the RV park. It didn't take us long to figure out that the vast majority of the winter time residents in this park we French Canadian. Very few of the people we spoke with answered in English. Almost every vehicle had a Quebec license plate.

Our friends Al & Barb Reiff arrived at the airport at 1:30pm. Last night we drove over to the airport to see if we could pick them up in the motorhome. It has an upper and lower level and we were concerned if it had enough clearance. The upper deck had the most clearance so we pulled up at 1:45 with the jeep in tow to pick up the white snowbirds for a week in paradise.


The drive down to Key Largo was horrendous. Somehow we took a wrong turn and ended up going through Miami. It probably only added a 1/2 hour to the drive but it was white knuckle driving all the way.



Following the cocktail hour we headed to an ocean side bar and grill for sunset and a hearty seafood dinner.

Day 5: Florida 2009

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around noon after a 2 hour drive on the Florida Turnpike. We are still trying to figure out the toll they charged us. The toll from Orlando was $24. The toll for the MH alone would have been $8 and the toll for the Jeep $8. Since the jeep was being towed by the MH there was an $8 surcharge, thus $24. Go figure!

We had a difficult time finding a campground that had an opening. We finally found one that had room in their overflow area, an open field. It was reasonable though, $60, ha!

After changing into shorts and a t-shirt we headed to the beach to catch some rays and a stroll in the sand.


There were several kite surfers taking advantage of the strong 20+ mph north winds.



After developing an appetite from the walk on the beach we asked a couple of police officers on horseback where the "Skyline Chili Parlor" was located. If you read our Key West blog 2 years ago you know that Kathy and I love Skyline Chili. Our home town of Cincinnati has well over 100 Chili Parlors and we love their 3-Ways!!! Well, Lauderdale has one about a mile off the beach.

Day 4: Florida 2009

We reached Florida about 1pm today. The temperature was about 65 degrees here which I hear is pretty normal for northern Florida this time of the year.



Florida has a beautiful welcome center where they serve free orange and grapefruit juice. As you can imagine they have tons of travel brochures so we picked up a couple on campgrounds.

This afternoon we stopped just south of Orlando at a very nice campground just outside of Kissimmee.


Across the street is the spring training facility for the Houston Astro's. Before grilling a couple of Iowa chops we toured the facility by bike. Tomorrow we are going to head to Ft. Lauderdale.

Day 3: Florida 2009

Boy are we glad we got out of town on Thursday. Here's a shot that a friend sent of the snow storm that hit Des Moines on Friday. The prediction was for 2-3 in and they got 7 in.

We headed out about 8am through the hills of Tennessee. The new braking system worked well as we encountered a couple of 6% grades. Traffic was fairly light until we hit Atlanta. Last time we came through here we learned that we qualify for the carpool lane since there are two of us in the MH. As you can see below the traffic through here, even on a Saturday, is terrible.

We stopped a little early (3:30)this afternoon so we could pick up a couple things at the store and find a nice restaurant to celebrate Valentines Day.

Day 2: Florida 2009

Following an uneventful night in the Wal Mart parking lot we drove over to Klaus's Service Center around 11am to see how Tim was coming with the installation of the air brake system on the jeep. The installation went faster than expected and he was just finishing up. Now he had to run the air lines from the MH. He also mentioned that their was a leak in the radiator on the jeep. I had noticed a minor leak earlier but it was getting worse. So his son picked one up at the parts store and proceeded to install it as his dad finished up the MH air lines. These guys do great work and they are very reasonable at $60/hr.



After going through the hookup procedure with Tim we headed south at 2:30. We drove until 7pm and stopped in Clarksville, Tennessee. No Wal Mart in sight but we found a big Sam's Club lot.

Kathy's great at driving the RV!