We left Rodriquez Key about 6:20. We snuck out just before sunrise. The earlier we leave, the earlier we get to Marathon! It was another hot trip with the sun beating down on us as we headed down the keys. I don't think there were as many crab pots as the last time we came down, but there was still a lot. We all we on duty to watch out for them. We do not want to get one of those around a prop or stabilizer.
We got to Marathon about 2 pm. We were glad to be here. We have been away too long.
We came in thru Sister's Creek. That's a cut that takes you from Hawk's Channel into Boot Key Harbor. We had never gone thru it before. It is shallow and we had some skinny water, but we made it.
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| Looking toward Sombrero Beach |
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| Heading into Sister's Creek. Skinny water! |
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| Private island! Wow! |
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| Sombrero Beach |
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| Well, we made it! |
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| Let's see how many kayakers we can take out! |
We tried to get our old mooring ball U7, but someone already had it so we went to another.
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| Looking toward the Tiki Hut. |
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| Here we are. |
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| You can see our track in thru Sister's Creek. |
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| View from our mooring. |
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| The bridge to No Where |
We took George and Pam on a dinghy tour to Sombrero Beach and the canals off Sister's Creek. We all enjoyed the beautiful beach and houses. The iguana we note so great. Shay kept trying to get us too close to the iguana. We didn't need to get that close to get a good picture. We both had zoom on our cameras!
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| George and Pam on the beach at Sombrero |
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| They are ugly things! |
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| Beautiful homes in the canals |
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| We have had some beautiful sunsets. |
George and Pam had to rent a car to drive back to theirs in Vero. So we decided to take a daytrip to Key West. George and Pam had been their on a cruise ship but not by car. We stopped by Deer Key on the way down. Of course, we kept an eye out for the famous small deer.
We showed George and Pam the famous No Named Pub and told them about the thousands of dollars stapled to the walls and ceiling. We were there too early to go inside, so we saved our money.
We stopped by the Key West Pier for pictures. We think the pelican was the same one as the one we saw 2 years ago. We stopped by the botanical gardens and walked thru the gardens.
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| I didn't realize he was so close! |
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| I don't think Pam and George liked it at all! |
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| Huge tree |
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| Really strange tree! Thorny! |
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| Lovely view |
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| Looks like rain. |
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| Lots of beautiful flowers |
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| Another strange looking tree, it looks like it has an octopus growing out of it. |
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| Huge catus |
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| Strange bird |
We walked along the waterfront and stopped at the museum to see the new additions to the statues. They are so real looking.
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| Hello or good-bye? |
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| Artist |
We enjoyed a meal at Caroline's and of course had our free Key Lime Pie. Yum.
We rode to Miami with George and Pam looking for a car. The one we left back home burned up in a garage fire. We were very disappointed in the cars we saw. Shay had asked the dealers how the cars looked and what was wrong with them and explained that we were driving several hours to look at these car. Of course they told him they looked great and had no problems. Wrong! Back to Marathon without a car!
There were several Thanksgiving meals around the harbor and we decided to go to the one at the marina. We had great attendance and lots of food. Two turkeys, ham, and lots and lots of sides and desserts.
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| ...and someone brought his bird |
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| Getting the food ready! |
Some of the sailboats have "Sail away Thursday". Any sailboats that want to take their boats out-- to practice and clean the gunk off their bottoms--of the boats! Eric and Carol on Willet invited us to go, so we took off for a sail. The first part was ok but once we got out into the Gulfstream, I started feeling bad. I didn't throw up, but I told Shay I came very close to it. I don't know why I didn't take my shocker bracelet with me. You wear it on our wrist and it gives you a little shock to keep you from getting sick. We got it just before we left the Bahamas in 2013 and haven't needed it since then. I sure could have used it on this sail!
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| Looking toward the Seven Mile Bridge |
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| The crew |
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| Shay relaxing |
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Sombrero Lighthouse. Florida has some ugly lighthouses.
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But there are some beautiful sunsets!
Our plans for the near future are heading home for Christmas, see family and friends, and eat too much. We'll let you know how it goes!
