What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?!

Yesterday after the Lady Vols lost in the NCAA (basketball is now dead to me for another 8 months), we took the dingy out Sister Creek and went to the Atlantic Ocean—it is vast, beautiful, open water! There are some huge homes on this Creek and they have a wonderful setting for them. When we leave Marathon we will go up the Gulf side of the Keys (because of the swing of the land, it is shorter) but about Key Largo or Dinner Key we will cut through and continue up the eastern seaboard. Today, we just got back from a 10 mile bike ride down to Pigeon Key. While my friend Nina and (of course) Fitz see nothing challenging with this venture it took me to limit of my fitness. This is across the old bridge that went into Marathon -- if you came to the keys before 1982 then you went across this bridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mile_Bridge It is barely wide enough to ride bikes across, I cannot imagine two cars passing on this bridge. I then took my first dock shower. All the Marinas we go to have bath houses available for boaters—we carry enough water that we have not taken advantage of this benefit. I decided to give it a try so that I could take a leisurely shower—rinse my hair thoroughly and shave legs without risk of cutting an artery. I felt like I was back at Girl Scout camp. Ok-- but glad I only have to do it when I want. Sending get well wishes to our Leeton who has a stomach bug. You need to get it out of your system before your Mama goes nuts (vomit, poop and continuous watching of Frozen). I fear her limit is coming soon.

Boot Key

Boot Key is in the heart of Marathon, it is the small dock and large (208) mooring ball field run by the city. Since my Vols lost in March Madness last night I thought I would lick my wounds and explain life in Boot Key. Every morning at 9am on channel 68 marine radio, various captains hold court for 45 minutes to an hour. They start with welcoming new arrivals and saying farewell to those leaving. Then comes announcements, then a flea market for buy/sale, trade or give away, and they end up with trivia. You announce the name of your boat the DJ/Captain acknowledges you and you say what you want to say. It is a nice way to start the day and you get lots of information. The day we took the bus to Key West someone came on and talked about the process—it helped. Several tips on future anchorages and happy hours are shared as well. In the dock is a big warehouse building with several bathrooms, the laundry, big garage-like work areas, 2 TV rooms and lending library plus a tiki hut where they have covered dish suppers and gatherings. On the balls are several interesting boats. I missed the one I really wanted pictures of—it was a lime green catamaran—except when the light changed and then it was a lemon yellow catamaran—special paint I guess—it was cool. Old Broad has the trumpet player-- there are several characters and a surprising number of families that seem to live here.

Mooring Field

Fitz coming out of the dingy dock

Old Broad

Mast work

Key West, Bus Ride, and Broke Boat

In Marathon we are on a mooring ball (one of over 200) in the middle of town grocery and restaurants galore within a couple of miles. The wind is really rolling but when the temps are 70-80 it is not so bad. We saw our first manatee and it was really cute. A boat in our bay had left a hose dripping and apparently manatee love fresh water. The first night a trumpet player played taps at sunset which is celebrated by every bar and boat on the Key. We rode the bus to Key West yesterday and we were trying to remember the last time we had ridden a bus—maybe to Michael’s Wedding and that was with friends and a case of beer on board for less than an hour. This bus took a couple of hours and had everything from people that were going to/coming from work, sailors from the Key West Naval Station and women with children—we flirted with a little 2 year old and missed our Holden. One guy got mad and called the driver an a**hole when the driver wouldn’t make a special stop for him—humanity. We got to Key West about noon and immediately hit Caroline’s for a beer. We shopped, grazed, and people watched until we caught the return bus at 8:30 –not sure whether we were more into the bus experience or Key West. We have been to Key West several times and not much has changed—they certainly know how to celebrate sunset on the pier with lots of vendors, old farts on guitars, and street magicians like Jackson Square in New Orleans. Three cruise ships were in and with the spring breakers Key West was pretty crowded. Something everyone should do at least once we got a week’s pass which was actually $15 each but still a great tour of the lower Keys--jury is out whether we will go again this trip. We got to the boat at about 10:30 and the inverter had kept the essential things going but we went to charge it up with the generator and it did not even start to crank. Fitz put on his work clothes and headed to the basement. He gave up about an hour later, went to bed and after a couple of hours work on it this morning, it cranked right up. Salt water—no other explanation –he took apart all the contacts, cleaned them off and put them back together and 2 hours in found the culprit. Thanks Heavens—no one is more unhappy than Fitz when his boat is broke.

Look clsely and you can see our first sighting of a manatee right of the engine

Terry at the Southermost point of the continental US

Keys Lighthouse

Mallory Station sculpture of an artist painting the sculpture

Sunset Entertainment

Marathon

We are headed to a couple of weeks at Marathon. The 6 hour cruise from Little Shark was uneventful –slightly overcast (we are getting spoiled) but pretty calm. We got cell/wifi reception about a mile out of Marathon so I could put the pictures up on the previous blogs and it brought the good news that March Madness had gone our way—we live to care next weekend. We arrived at Boot Key Mooring Field and an alternative universe. This is where hippies come to grow old. The senior discount for the bus system (Terry assured me I was BARELY considered a senior) allows us to ride for $3.50 each, unlimited for a week. This is the bus into Key West –a 2 hour ride- or just around Marathon and the closer Keys as well. It is dingy city and the various dingy docks are not necessarily welcome to all. You have to register and pay for parking in some places—I guess there are just so many of them. The various characters here will pepper the blog I am sure. Mail, boat parts, laundry, Publix and basic supplies will be replenished in the next couple of weeks before we head north.

The bridge through the Keys

Dressed up for our first sunset in Marathon

Rocky Start to a Beautiful Day

Sunday morning at 4am, the fishing boats left Everglades City and rolled by our anchorage like they were late for school. We rocked and rolled like we haven’t since crossing the Gulf a month ago. It was such a still, cool night that we were startled awake but when it settled down (after about 15 minutes) we went on back to sleep. Fitz brought me coffee at around 9am and announced we had a problem. We had crossed over our anchor rope and it appeared to be tied up in the props. We had been told that a mask and fins were good items to have aboard—they were right – but had we listened? Well let’s just put it this way, I heard the Captain cuss more this morning than the entire trip combined. An hour later and after a swim we were able to start engines. A mask and fins are on our shopping list for Marathon. After coming out of the grey/brown waters of the Everglades, we proceeded to the absolute calm Gulf waters where we were surrounded by gorgeous aquamarine water. For hours there was no land or people in sight—only the occasional crab pot. About 3pm, we headed to our anchorage at Little Shark River. There we were greeted by a school (pod?) of about a dozen dolphin swimming all around us. It was perfect. We are out of service of all cell reception which has not happened since the Tom-Bigbee (a little frustrating because March Madness is getting good with Kentucky taking on Wichita State and Tennessee taking on Mercer). Oh well, we will learn the scores when we get into Marathon tomorrow. The winds here are gently blowing inviting a nap before the celebration of sunset. War is hell.


If you look closely the dolphin are there to meet us at Little Shark River



Celebrating Sunset

We had company at Little Shark River

Leaving Friends Recharged

We enjoyed a wonderful sunset with Marsha, Bruce and Diann—greatly enjoyed seeing friends – a much needed dose of good cheer. This morning we got up and rolled and sailed the open water to the 10,000 Islands. These are the islands off the Everglades (I was assured no gators could possibly be seen there). We are anchored with a short dingy ride into Everglades City and the Rod and Gun Club. In 1864 this historic Restaurant and Lodge was built as a sportmans retreat and many famous people (Hemmingway, various movie stars and Presidents) have visited. The inside was gorgeous—lots of polished woodwork and stuffed and mounted wildlife. Loads of bars in the place leading Fitz to call it the Gun and Rum Club so we sat down to have a cocktail before returning to the boat for a little Lady Vols Basketball and a nap. March Madness when you are out of range for most radio and all TV has its challenges but I brought up I Heart Radio and settled my phone in to a nifty audio amplifier that Nick got me for Christmas and with some stretched of buffering managed to catch the Lady Vols win and was sad to hear about the Vandy girls season ending lose. As we head due south for the last few miles we bring out the bathing suits at last and lather on the sunscreen. Tomorrow we have an anchorage in Little Shark River and then on Monday we will pull into Marathon before stormy weather on Tuesday. Have some good pictures but we are so far out in the boonies for WIFi reception they will not upload--check back in the next few days and maybe we will have enough bandwidth to up load them.

Good Friends

Marsha had a great sunset from her balcony

Land of 10,000 Islands--Everglades

Everglade City Rod and Gun Club

Heading due south

Naple and Friends

Sally and sister, Kay came bearing gifts and joined us for Happy Hour Sunset and Dinner here at The Dock Restaurant. We have officially caught up with the crowd that is mainly our age or older. We thought most would have gone for the early birds special but at 8:30 last night we had a half hour wait for a table. The good cheer and people watching made it worth the wait. When we got back to the boat the tides had gone out making our boat sit almost 3 feet lower than we had left it. Quite the tides here—we stepped on the rails and climbed down to get on. The night was cool and breezy which made for great sleeping—the day started off hazy and then heated up so we got the bikes out and rode this morning. Tonight we are going with Diann and Bruce and Marsha and have pizza in the park for sunset. How nice it is to be in the land of friends. Tomorrow we take off for an anchorage at Everglades City, then Little Shark River and after that on to Marathon Key for a little while. Here we have found the Jon Tesh Radio Show which plays great Oldies and then inserts little words of wisdom that Tesh relates from various academic/medical/common sense studies different and clever radio.

Pelicans getting dinner as the fishermen clean their catch

Kay, Lola and Sally

Sally, Terry and Lola at the Dock Restaurant

Naples

The land of friends is Naples to us. The Gilliam’s, Tennyson’s and Ragsdale’s are all dear friends that have homes in Naples that we have visited. After 6 weeks on the water away from anyone we know, we are ready to see friends. We woke up to haze in Ft. Myers Beach but got away about 10am and got into the downtown docks at Naples around 1:30. The cruise over was in the open water of the Gulf which we had not experienced since crossing from Apalachicola to Dunedin—we again found the beautiful aquamarine water. It was a little bumpy and you can sure tell we are in high population of boating people. Because we waited and crossed when the seas had calmed down, it was fairly smooth ride. By 2:30 Marsha and Diann were here and full of news and good cheer. We will get together with them and Sally during the weekend –can’t wait. Sad news- I learned this morning that my dad’s lifelong best friend died—Morris Tisdale. Everyone should have a best friend like my dad –Morris and Daddy saw each other sparingly the last few years of Daddy’s life but when they “gathered the clans” there was a party like no other. If my math is right Morris was around 97 years old. He will be missed by his 6 children and their families and the Leeton families as well!

LARGE lizard down a canal in Ft. Myers Beach

Pirate Ship

Novelist Randy Wayne White's restaurant Doc Ford's



See the yard art --I say it is a serpent, Terry says it is a coconut tree--controversy



A very nice man--Morris Tisdale

Fort Myers Beach

We left Fort Myers about noon and moved down the Caloosahatchee River back toward the Gulf to Fort Myers Beach. This was the scene of the Grand Exodus last Saturday and we are going to let the Gulf settle down for a couple of days then head “outside” to Naples then the Keys. The ride was better on a Tuesday but still had plenty of boats. Another one of those pleasant surprises—we have never been to Ft. Myers Beach seeing as how we have such good friends in nearby Naples. We are on a ball in the bay behind Estero Island at Matanzas Pass—it is more protected than Sarasota and near the cut to the open water of the Gulf. The water here is still gray but more so because of the Sunday/Monday storm. Our mooring is a short dingy ride to a very busy beach town. There have to be at least 100 boats moored in this field and if you don’t have a dingy someone named Hutch has a Water Taxi for $5 to take you to/from the numerous bars and restaurants. A tour boat came by last night (during sunset happy hour) and leading the way were at least a half dozen dolphin jumping and performing—wonder what the tour people were doing to get the following. As I was beating Fitz at gin late last night (we are running neck and neck in the March Madness run of the gin game) a large ferry came under the bridge and quickly edged the moor field and literally slid into a small dock straight across from us. We were so impressed with such a large vessel weaving through that we suspended the game (I suspect Fitz was trying to divert my attention). We realized when a lot of people disembarked that this was the ferry to Key West—it left out early this morning with a return trip. A few years ago we took this service out of Marco Island with Sally and Steve and found it a great way to visit Key West without the slow ride in a car. You get on the ferry and ride down to Key West in about 4 hours and you can return any evening you want.

Punta Rassa--a neat looking resort between Ft. Myers and Ft. Myers Beach

Busy mooring field at Ft. Myers Beach

Lots of commerce and this is where the ferry slid to dock

Downtown Fort Myers

Stormy blustery weather is moving in so we moved to the Ft. Myers Yacht Basin—we will plug in, visit a grocery, do laundry, and do a little site seeing. Fort Myers is about 15 miles up the Caloosahatchee River and the water has turned to a gray color—not so pretty. The docent at the Edison/Ford said the Caloosa were a vicious Indian tribe that died out from disease in the 1700’s. The Edison Ford Complex was awesome. How smart was Henry Ford that he had a mentor like Thomas Edison? We went early and stayed late and wore ourselves out but it was a beautiful day. We came back to the boat and broke out the blender for the first time. I never thought that the day would come when I wanted a frozen drink. It actually got hot yesterday. I only tell you Nashvillians this because I hear the weather is getting better up there. Kept a little in touch with March-Madness and was pretty proud of the way the Vols ended the season but am not sure they like their NCAA placement. The Lady Vols will see tonight where they end up in the NCAA—some are saying a No. 1 seed at least they are no longer the last No. 2 seed. Vanderbilt sorta fell apart there at the end but I think the men only had about 7 or 8 people dressed out. Meeting more and more Loopers in these docks and they are giving really good advice. Boca Chita and Little Shark River are definite stops as we round Florida (thanks to Tom Lanum for great tips!) Notes: good radio here BUT they have the most annoying ads—may have to go to our music but did hear Ebony and Ivory and Dan Fogelberg –Leader of the Band—every station has their own definition of Oldies.The 103 ft. Mathis Trumpy came into our marina and it is fabulously restored.


The Pier at Thomas Edison/Henry Ford Winter Home



Freedom out of RI



103 ft Mathis Trumpy--nice little boat



Thomas Edison and the street lined palms

Anchorage at Useppa Island

Terry came in close to sunset (a very important event to be celebrated daily) and asked the question, “Why are the other boats anchored with us rocking and we aren’t?” We were just outside the ICW with 6 other boats—we had dragged our anchor and were sitting in mud/sand. Good call by the captain because in an hour the tide would have left us high and dry. Not a good thing. So we re-anchored farther out, poured a cocktail and happily rocked with the others—all facing the same way into the wind. We had anchored near a fabulous home and one of the fellas came out in a kayak and we talked—a bunch of guys on Spring Break from Auburn, down to enjoy the Grandparents home—we should all be so lucky. At 8:30 that night there were only 2 TV’s on in the whole house. I got up at 1:30am and every light in the house was on—they were partying hard. We left out of Useppa Island/Cabbage Key the next morning after an absolutely perfect night at anchor. We headed down stream past Captiva Island where the owners of the huge homes lining the waterway must pay the dolphin because they were out in force. As we got past the power lines taking electricity to Sanibel Island we turned down the Caloosahatchee River toward Fort Myers. This was Saturday between noon and 1 pm and it looked like they had had a fire alarm in Ft. Myers. We have never seen so many boats in a skinny channel all going the same way. We were going upstream and they down so at least we could set our slow steady pace but it was remarkable the number of boats. We got into Ft. Myers and anchored out in the bay downtown. It was a great night to be anchored out and the lights of Fort Myers are picturesque. This is the land of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford –we plan on visiting the museum, home, gardens and labs tomorrow.

All rocking together at Useppa

Gran exodus from Fort Myers--never heard why

Power to Sanibel

Looked like a boat full of ants

Cheeseburger in Paradise

We left out of Cape Haze bright and early this morning. Next stop—Cabbage Key—home of the famous Cheeseburger in Paradise. As we crossed open water at Gasparilla Sound and Charlotte Harbor we rocked and rolled from white caps hitting our beam. These were probably the roughest seas we have had so far beacause they hit us from the side. It did not last long and by noon we were dropping anchor at Useppa Island across from Cabbage Key Restaurant, Marina and Inn. Cabbage Key is a historic home built in 1929 by the Rinehart family and made a resort area about 30 years ago. Jimmy Buffett is said to have been inspired by their cheeseburger—they definitely have paradise going here. Useppa Island is a popular anchorage in the back of a really nice neighborhood and a short dingy ride to Cabbage Key. A tradition is for everyone to sign a dollar and tape it to the wall in the dining room and bar. After a lunch and really good key lime pie we took a stroll of the grounds where the signs told you about the wildlife,mangrove trees and the various snakes-ick! People watching was superior and watching the boats and ferries come in and dock was fun.

Anchored at Useppa Island

Our dollars--I don't even think they promise good luck--just add them up

Awesome site

Waitstaff where these T-Shirts with answers to oft asked questions.

Go fast boats added some spice to the busy dock

Rock and Roll

Last night we had the rain come in in the afternoon but the gusting winds came in the evening and lasted all night. We are in a protected marina and still the rock and roll challenged our fender boards (you take a 2x6 boards, run lines in each end, put fenders down and the boards in front of the fenders—keeps you off the pilings that are the dock and lets you adjust to the tides). We are on vacation so we were able to sleep late—glad of it. Earlier yesterday we had a great day and a car so we did some site seeing. At the end of the Cape Haze/Boca Grande peninsula is an area called the Fishery. It reminds you of a little Hawaiian art village and some great little houses with different art, plants and novelties. Anheuser Busch bought a little airport across from it a few years ago and now it is a fabulous small jet airport for the Boca Grande patrons to fly their jets in and out. I am staying a little in touch with things at Vanderbilt. I am amazed that human resources can make time to send out a notice on how to adjust to Daylight Savings Time but when I try to get them to tell me how much I need to send to Benefits Express to continue my insurance –I can’t get an answer. Way of the world I guess and I will keep trying. The Oldies Station down here is playing for the older than we have had: this morning we woke to Frank Sinatra and “My Way”, Dionne Warwick going to San Jose and Sammy Davis, Jr : “I Gotta Be Free”.

Fender Boards

Cute little house at the Fishery

Cape Haze

The cousins in Cape Haze are just lovely people. They have been snow birds for the last 15 years and we try to visit whenever we come to Florida. Cousin Duncan is a waiter in a very fine restaurant in Englewood –La Strata—and all of us went there last night for a fabulous dinner—blackened Yellowtail Tuna—best meal so far on the trip. Cousin Sara is a masseuse and has a very brisk business here in the land of the fit elderly. Mary Jane (their mother) and Kay are my mother’s first cousins and have great stories from her childhood. She died in 1980-- I hang onto every word. We caught up on news of the family in Michigan and I learned my grandfather had a girlfriend named Carmen (after Grandmother died in 1946). He lived with us for a time before he passed away in the mid 50’s but I do not remember him well. Apparently this girlfriend caused a stir amongst the family—I never heard my mother mention her. Kay thinks she has some letters from her to share. It is fun to find family mysteries. Kay’s husband Mike and Fitz enjoy talking cars and fitness. A great day was had by all. Today, my mission was to get a rental car so we could go get our mail. NOT SO FAST. We are in the little town of Cape Haze, near the bigger town of Englewood near the exclusive resort of Boca Grande. The go-to rental car place is Enterprise. They thought we were nuts. It is spring break lady we have no cars. Oh my. They are thinking they might have a car Wed., Hertz may have one later today. Heck we are on vacation, in a nice marina—we are not in a hurry. Duncan has offered to take us to Sarasota but so far the mail isn’t there yet and it is his only day off we don’t want to ask him to do that.  We may just squat here in Cape Haze for a while. Notes: We caught back up with WDUV here and heard a little Eagles and Commodores plus the obligatory “Betty Davis Eyes”—I think Kim Karnes owns part of the station. Good sports day too-- We watched some of the Lady Vols victory over Kentucky in the SEC championship and saw Little E get his 3rd top 2 finish in NASCAR.

Kay and Mike Wunderlin

Mary Jane, Duncan and Sara Henry



Paddleboard class in front of a victim of the Real Estate Problems in Florida

Fitz dressed up at Cape Haze Marina