Back In Key Largo

Today we traveled another 30 miles north to Key Largo. 

Before we took off Corp took a photo of the front window.  Looks like rain, but no its salt from the salt water splashing up on our trip yesterday from Marathon to Islamorada.  It's crazy!  We never appreciated our freshwater lakes until visiting Florida.

Since the winds were calmer today and there were fewer crab pots, I drove about 20 of the 30 miles.  We traveled about 29 mph most of the way.  It was really enjoyable..... great day for boating!

We are anchored tonight outside of Sundowners in Blackwater Sound.  We have anchored here many times before.  The winds are low tonight, so no chop.... at least we hope so.

We took the dinghy to shore because there is a nice restaurant (Sundowner) and a few bars, Caribbean Club, Cactus Jacks, Senor Frijoles all within walking distance.  Corp was happy because he got his street vendor corn at Senor Frijoles.  He loves that corn on the cob! 

Here are a few boat photos from today.  I wished I had my DSLR camera, but forgot to include it in our trip to shore. 

Another beautiful sunset!

 

Tomorrow we are back in Miami..... welcome to Miami!  Kent and Holly arrive very early Thursday morning so we will be prepping the boat tomorrow for their arrival!  We are super excited for visitors! 

Dancing With Santa

We left Marathon and traveled about 30 miles north back to Islamorada today.

Below are some videos of the ride north.  We were traveling about 30 mph with 15 mph winds from the NE.  Not a terrible ride, but pretty choppy.

Just click the links below and you can view them in Vimeo.

Big Waves

Big Waves 2

Big Waves - Slow Motion

We had to keep our eyes open for crab pots.  At one point it was like a mind field.  I seriously don't want to have crab when in FL.  We hate those crab pots and the damage they could do to our motors if we ran one over!

We are back on the hook (anchored) outside Lorelei's restaurant.  I think its one of my favorite  bars/restaurants in the Keys.

I got to dance with an inflatable dancing Santa.  Check out the video below.  He was a great lead..lol!

Dancing With Santa

And found a City Hall table..... boy I wish I could work from this table then my office any day..... lol

 

Corp found an interesting boat in the marina.....a car boat.

 

 

Finally had another beautiful sunset.  The last few days have had overcast sunsets.

 

 

 





More Manatee Spotting and Met Our Keys Mom

We are still in a slip at Banana Bay so there isn't a lot to share.

The past few days were rainy one morning and a bit cloudy.  Today looks like full sun so I am going to be out enjoying it for sure.

We saw another manatee in the marina... this time right at the bow of our boat.  They love the fresh water that drips from the hose.  Next time I am going to try to get a video.  They are truly gentle giants.

We also met a great lady, Karen Just and her son Mike and friends Mike and Teresa.  We met her and her son at the Overseas bar.  Had a great time with them!  The next night she invited us to Sparky's in Key Colony and she took us to a few of her favorite bars Castaways and the Brass Monkey.  We now refer to her a our Key's mom.  Hopefully, our paths cross again!

We also went to see the Xmas light display at the power company office.

 

Today we will spend most of the morning preparing for tomorrow's departure.  

The Dock Life Is Nice

We are still enjoying the dock life at Banana Bay Marina in Marathon.

 

Most of the morning was spent doing boat maintenance, laundry, etc.  One of the thermostats was stuck open again, so Corps had to fix that.  We think it got debris in it when we were following another boat in such shallow water.  Overall, the water in the ICW is only about 6 feet deep.

 

Here are a few marina photos.

 

We are the second boat from the left with the tan canvas.

We biked to Sombrero Beach in the afternoon.  When we were walking on the beach Corp stepped down and felt a sharp pain in his foot and calf.  Turns out he was stung by a Portuguese man o war.  Pain subsided for the most part by the end of the day.

 

 

A few beach photos.

 

 

Hard to get a nice photo of the two of us when traveling.  We met a couple from Boston at the beach who took some great photos.  They are docked at Burdines for 6 months.... retired.... lucky!

 









Back in Marathon

Today we wanted some new scenery so we headed further south to Marathon which is about 30 miles from Islamorada.

We quickly discovered the busy season has started in Marathon.  Last year we had no issues getting a mooring ball at the City Marina.  Not the case this year.  Several day wait.  So we started to call around and finally got a slip at the Banana Bay for a few nights.

 

The trip down included a mine field of crab pots, but not at many to dodge as last year.

We got set up in our slip pretty quickly.  We met a few of our neighboring boaters pretty quickly.  Looking forward to getting to chat with them more in the next few days.

Then we were off on our bikes to explore.  We went to the Keys Fisheries for my first pina colada of the trip..... super yummy.  What a beautiful view to enjoy a drink!

Then off to the Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House for the best key lime pie ever!

When Corp was in the parking lot he met Cheech from Cheech and Chong.  He was really bummed he didn't have his phone for a photo.  He shook his hand and said he was very nice.

I think tomorrow we will bike to Sombrero Beach for a beach day!

We feel like we are living like kings with electricity and fresh water... life is good!

Still In Islamorada

We are still in Islamorada.

Winds are pretty high gusting up to upper 20 mph so we decided to stay anchored where we are.  Better to be safe than sorry.

We just hung out on the boat in the morning and caught up on some needed sleep. 

We took the dingy into shore and biked north of the OV this time.  Yesterday we biked south.  Not as much to see going north. 

At the dinghy dock there were at least 500+ little jelly fish. They were about 3 inches in diameter.

 

I should have taken a video so you can see all the movement from these tiny jelly fish.  It was pretty mesmerizing. 

We stopped at Founders park that we visited last year. Nothing changed from last year.

Then we stopped for a drink at Hog Heaven bar. The photo shows our "bikes" in the motorcycle parking area. Lol

 

On the way back to boat we stopped at OV for drinks and buffalo shrimp.  Very tasty, but not as good as Fletcher on Lake Minnetonka.

I finally had a chance to take a video of Corps putting together our folding bikes. 

https://vimeo.com/193642525

They are kind of cumbersome to load and unload in the dinghy, but have been great on for exploring on land.

When he viewed the video he was surprised at the spot on the back of his head that is thinning.  He said its time to start wearing a hat. Dam Campion genes!!!

A lady was nice enough to take a photo of both of us.

 

Our boat is the third boat in the right in the way, way, way background. The dinghy dock is quite a distance from the boat.



Corp also wanted to show a photo of the tides we always have to keep in mind.  About a two feet change with the charge in tide today.

 

We turned on the platform lights and tried to cum in some fish in. We just got little ones tonight.  You can see them at the beginning of the video. 

 https://vimeo.com/193642454

Dolphin and Manitee Spotting Day

In the morning, we said our goodbyes to Derrick and his guests.

 

He took this great photo of us when we were leaving.

 

We traveled about 20 miles south and anchored outside the OV on Windley Key.



Our boat is the third from the right.

 

The located provided great protection from the waves since the winds are 20 mph from the east.  

While I was making lunch we saw three dolphins playing off our starboard side.  I told Corp they were welcoming us when one jumped out of the water.  Again, I couldn't get the camera fast enough.

We threw the bikes in the dinghy and explored south of the Oceanview Bar most of the day.   I estimate we biked about 15 miles.

We stopped at the OV for a drink and photo opportunity with the fish chair.

I love the crab pot Christmas trees they display here.

Stopped at a beach location for a rest.

 

Also, stopped at a neighborhood park and found this orchid growing out of a palm tree.

 

We went to Loreleis for dinner/drinks and to see the Michael Trix show.  Corp tried alligator for the first time.  His description... it tasted like chewy chicken.  LOL

Corps took a short video clip of the band playing when the sun was setting.

We saw the Michael Trix magic show last year and it’s pretty good.  We had a front row table this time and his show was great again!

 

While we were waiting we saw three manatees come up the channel.  I am always amazed how large and graceful they are.

We rode our bikes back and dinghied out to the boat in the dark which went pretty well for the first time.

Tomorrow our liveaboard life will take us 20 miles further south to Marathon and Boot Key Harbor.  My favorite place for key lime pie!