Paps got a new ride :/

Paps took his first ride in a Mercedes Benz today.  Not too shabby for an 81 year old man.  I'm sure it wasn't the ride on his bucket list, however...

It must be a Keys thing for the ambulance service to be a Mercedes
Benz.  I assure you, I've never seen a Mercedes ambulance in Indiana!
Paps was admitted to the hospital, likely for the weekend.  It's nothing
to worry about- combination flu/fever/dehydration/sugar had him in
a sorry state this morning.  A few days in the hospital will get him
straightened out and feeling good as...almost new.  He was looking
and feeling better when we visited him this evening.

After Paps was admitted and settled in, I took Mamaw back home, and Donnie left to help Kenny install a new bilge pump in his boat.  I spent the afternoon doing three loads of laundry- Keys style.  That means I throw in a load, go to the pool.  Change a load, go back to the pool. Fold a load, go back to the pool.  Get a cold drink, go back to the pool.  Afterall, it was clear blue sky and 81 degrees today.  In my defense, I did a thorough bleaching, polishing, washing, and cleaning of the boat down below.  Even at that, a day's worth of housework on Marquesa takes me all of about 1 1/2 hours.  That's my kind of housework!  (That did not include putting away all of the clean laundry and making up the Vberth with the clean bedding- add another 45 minutes for that chore alone :)  Living in a much smaller space, with less "stuff" certainly has its perks, afterall.

After we checked in on Pop at the hospital at about 5:00pm, we met up with our friends for Friday Night Pizza Night.  Tonight we tried out a new place (new to us).  It's the Iguana Grill on Knights Key.

Kenny showed up with a shirt on from The
Chicken Store on Duvall Street in Key
West.  The man knows how much I
hate roosters...no, I really do.

Donnie had to make good on a bet with Fran from a few
weeks ago.  We had a new waitress at our last dinner at
Salty's. Let's just say, this sweet girl was on the struggle
bus with her new job as a server.  They had a bet that she
would not be working there in two weeks when we
returned. (We had a standing dinner date every other
Thursday at Salty's to hear Gary Bush and his band.)
Well, she wasn't there two weeks later- not because
she was fired, but because the restaurant burned to
the ground.  Technically, Fran won the bet by default.
She was happy to win, but sad that we lost our
favorite hangout.  Doesn't she look sad? No really,
where our we going to get our favorite Key Lime-y
grilled chicken sandwich served on a pretzel roll?
That's catastrophic in itself.

Happy faces all around- four years later and we finally found the best pizza
 in Marathon! We never even heard of the Iguana Grill until this past weekend.
It's reasonably priced (that, in itself is difficult to find in the Keys)
and the pizza was fabulous!  We'll be back next Friday for sure.
And the ice cream cones are only $2.25 :)

And Kenny was a happy man when she brought out her own special recipe
of pulled pork for the table to sample...after we already had dinner. Kenny
 did most of the sampling.  The man has a hollow leg, I swear.

Don't be alarmed if I am late in posting the next couple blogs.  Our dance card is beyond full.  We have the pre-party to the Superbowl Party tomorrow on the Pointe.  The band that Donnie plays in "Five Sheets to the Wind" will be playing for that one. The marina party with Larry's famous BBQ ribs will be in the afternoon of game day on Sunday.  Then we have two more parties after that for the Superbowl game itself.  Whew! We may all be a little too partied out in the coming days- Willis included.  I had better rest up now while I can.  G'nite, y'all!

Salty's Benefit concert

It has rained, and rained, and rained in the last 36 hours...and though the parking lot is flooded, there wasn't enough water in the Gulf for these folks.

When we left for the gym this morning, we were greeted by a fellow boater
from Banana Bay, "Waterfront Property".  They had run aground right near the
channel entrance to the marina.  Dave went out to offer his assistance to
pull them off with his boat, but they decided to wait it out until the tide
turned.  It did, and they are safely tucked back in to their slip.  We've
all been there.  In the Keys, there are those that have run aground,
and those that have lied about it!

Donnie and I started our day with a hard workout- nearly made myself sick. bleh. We then hurried on over to Mamaw and Paps as more family arrived from up north; Mamaw's oldest sister, Cora, and her baby sister Aunt Linda and her husband Uncle Louie.  We haven't seen them in quite some time, so it was good to share some laughs. We jumped right in to a game of chickenfoot, and naturally, Mamaw won.  No Adolph, though, as Fran is the present caretaker of the bird.  He's probably getting a foot massage, or a new hat as we speak.

No, it's not Adolph, but anytime you see a rooster high up in a tree,
it's just funny.  He was a proud rooster, too. Crowing his fool head off.
I. Hate. Roosters. (and Kenny's rooster ringtone)

After the family visit, we came back to Banana Bay and enjoyed a smoothie and a hot tub- you guessed it; in the pouring rain. I gotta say, it felt good, though.  And my hair is so soft from the rain shower :)

Tonight was the Salty's Benefit from 5-10pm at the Kirk of
the Keys Presbyterian Church.  The community really
banded together and went all out for all of those
effected by the fire.  The music this evening
was incredible!

The place was packed, and there was hardly a place to sit for the spaghetti
dinner.  There were so many businesses that donated items for the auctions
that occurred between bands changing out.  We scored on three $25
gift cards for Brutus', Sunset Grill, and a bait and tackle place.

I got my hair trimmed by Trisha; she made $500 that
she donated to the cause.  The 50/50 raffle took in
another $1100.  With all of the items auctioned off,
they had to have made at least $15,000-
and did I say the music was incredible?!

Listen for yourself....this is Ray West, who we've heard
before from Big Pine Key.  He is stinkin' ah-mazing on the
flute.  He was triple tonguing it, beat boxin' in it, all
kinds of crazy sounds- with his guitar pick tucked in
his cheek!  Check him out on You Tube- you won't
be disappointed.  I swear, he could kick Jethro Tull's a$$.

Next up was Misery Loves Company, who are a group of kids from
Marathon High School.  They are crazy talented, too- and they play
rock out songs from the 70's; stuff their parents listened to!
Getting a gig at Salty's was their first break a few years ago.

After the kids played, it was Gary Bush and his band, "Just Practicin'".
Gary held the open mic night on Thursdays at Salty's, and Donnie
would often join him on the second set.  We would go every
other Thursday to hear these guys- also crazy talented.  Doug Allen
just cooks the bass!  I sure am going to miss my key limey chicken
sandwich on a pretzel roll from Salty's.  Damn good sammich.

We can't listen to Just Practicing, without getting
up to dance a song or two :)

We weren't the only ones dancing by the alter!
The preacher was the MC/Host/Auctioneer, and their
praise band, "Solid Ground" performed later in the
night- so dancing was allowed ;) No alcohol involved.

Eric Stone and his band played, too.  He's a bit of a legend in the sailing
community.  We heard him play years ago at the Strictly Sail Show
in Chicago.  Do any of you MSYC members remember hearing him?
He's got a ton of CD's of his original island-vibe music.

No evening is complete without the Blues Brothers performing. 
They had everybody up on their feet dancing.  It was a blast!
You can't read it, but Elwood was holding a paper plate that
read "Collection Plate", that they passed amongst the pews.
People just kept giving money, all. night. long.
The community really banded together.  We stayed
until the very end- it was an incredible night of music,
fellowship, food, dancing, and fun :)

Salty's, you may be gone, but you'll never be forgotten...

G'nite, y'all!

just a day in the life...

Just my boys, sleeping hard. Daddy's spoonin' the bottom half.  Aren't they cute?!



And then Daddy got up to make coffee, and Willis took over his spot. for good.

So, there's this Jersey family, about 20 of them in all, that are staying at the
resort.  They've been hanging out at Paradise Pointe during the day. The
men are fishing, the ladies are sunbathing, and there's lots of food, music,
and laughter.  I'm doing dishes in the galley and I hear this girl yell,
"Dad! There's a raccoon that just went in that sailboat- I SWEAR!!!"
No coon, just a Willis- trying to figure out how to make a great
escape on the clown bike.  The boy has received about 100 belly rubs
and had his picture taken 50 times in the last two days. He knows how to
really work a crowd....I would call him The Biebs, but that would be an insult-
to Willis.

Look who came for a visit in the afternoon :)  The sea grass has been piled
up in the marina, from three weeks of a north wind blowing it in from
across the Gulf.  It has started to ferment, and it SMELLS FOUL.
Thankfully, the wind has turned out of the south the last two days,
which is helping to blow the nasty stuff back out to sea.  And then you
have the manatees- that do their fair share of grazing on sea grass.

For the Jersey girl who thought she saw a raccoon, I went back to the boat
and got some lettuce for her to hand feed the manatee.  The look on her
face, with her momma snapping pictures; the highlight of her vacation :)

It was getting late in the day, and Donnie and I decided
to take a ride on the blue piglet out to the Seven Mile
Bridge to see the sunset.  We've been here a month, and
we haven't seen the sun set on the water yet- that's just sad.
Willis bolted to the mangroves when I tried to call
him in, he clearly had more belly rubs to squeeze
out of the resort guests. Dern cat.

As we were walking out on the bridge, the momma lobster boat was
towing the baby lobster boat....somebody was having a bad day.

The lobstermen were still sorting through the day's catch.  The next
beautiful (and calm) day, I am going to hang out at the fisheries to
see if I can hitch a ride to pull pots for a day.  It's a bucket list thing :)

There's my handsome Cap'n...and a beautiful sunset :)

I made chicken burritos for dinner and we called it a night- we didn't accomplish a whole heckuva lot on Tuesday.  As beautiful, and still as the evening was, it was a restless night of sleep.  We had three big thunderstorms roll through last night. The good news is I didn't find any leaks and it flat poured.  The bad news is that it blew more of the stinkin' sea grass back into the marina. Ugh.

So we started our Wednesday with better intentions... it's time to get some business taken care of.  I worked on the computer much of the day.  I updated the registration on our EPIRB, completed the profiles on Willis and Simon's microchip registrations, sent for our 'official' marriage certificate back in Indiana, and completed the paperwork thus far to apply for my work Visa for China, among other things.

Naturally, Willis was his usual helpful self- any time there's paperwork
involved, he's smack in the middle of it all.

While I worked down below, Cap'n kept himself busy with his own projects.
He cleaned and reinstalled the carburetor on the dinghy motor.  He
put the battery back in the piglet (it was left to supercharge at
Napa last evening). He also put some covers on the lifelines,
and worked on a fishing reel that was giving him trouble.
All in a day's work in the Florida Keys.

We enjoyed an hour of sunshine at the pool before the next front moved in this evening.  We then took the piglet to get groceries, and Donnie grilled some ribeye steaks and baked potatoes for dinner.
They tasted delicious, but within hours I was reminded that my one kidney cannot tolerate much red meat anymore :/ 

Well, once again, the wind has picked up and it's beginning to rain.  The radar looks ugly out through the Florida Straits; lots of red coming through the Keys tonight.  At least the wind is blowing out of the N/NE.  The bad news is that it will bring in even more sea grass, the good news is that the wind is blowing us OFF the dock, which should make for a more comfortable, restful night.  Time to retire with a good book.  G'nite, y'all.

adolph goes fishing

Willis is a little testy today....he saw the pics of Adolph, and is lamenting that he's being replaced. I assured him that he was not- no one could replace Willis T. Cat-Cat.  Just to make a point, Willis hung out at Paradise Pointe most of the day, joining a big family gathering/party. Not his own family, mind you, but some Jersey folks who are guests at Banana Bay. He got belly rubs galore- from mere strangers.  Pimping himself out. Just like that. Over a few little pictures.  His eyes were green with envy over the bird....

Adolph, however, was all googley-eyed with anticipation- his
first big fishing adventure on the open ocean!  Uncle Kenny even
 bought him his very own fishing pole.  He even got new
"fishing pants" for his big day.  Adolph loves Uncle Kenny.



 

It was hard fishing today, but Adolph seemed to do all
right for himself.  When he wasn't catching fish, it was his
job to keep an eye on the live well so the shrimp didn't
try to make a great escape.   None did.

There was all sorts of excitement when he hooked this one!
He was so worn out from reeling him in, he nearly
busted a wing.  He also said his eyes hurt from the
glare off of the ocean.  And he got a fever blister on his
beak from too much sun.  And he got sunburnt because
they only had SPF 30, and he was missing his feathers
for additional protection.  And he got a little seasick
(from eating too much bait, truth be told)
Ok., so really the excitement wore off and he was
mostly a whiney butt and bored with fishing.
He only liked the catching part, and there wasn't much of that.

Meanwhile, Momma K spent the morning getting a "Number two toe job",
running errands, oiling all of the teaks topside on Marquesa, then spending
 a leisurely afternoon at the pool with a good book.  It was sunny and 77
today and it felt absolutely wonderful  :)

After dinner, Adolph tried to worm his way into a game of chickenfoot.
This is where I draw the line.  He's not allowed to play. ever. again.
He is an obnoxious, sore loser. And mouthy as all get out.

Frannie beat us all fair and square.  Adolph could have
kissed her.  He's so excited to go back to Uncle
Kenny's house.  He can hardly wait to see what new
adventures (or clothes) that Kenny has for him.
Lord only knows.  Just another crazy day in the Keys.
G'nite, y'all!

A picture perfect day in the Keys :)

We started our Sunday with a really inspiring message at church.
As we stepped out after the service, it was a gorgeous, sunny,
WARM day like we have not really had in the nearly four weeks
we've been here.  We decided it was a perfect day for a dink ride.

We were not off to the best of starts....the motor would not stay running. We
had a picnic on Marquesa, and Donnie spent the next hour or so working
on the motor.  We finally got off the dock in the dink.  As we left Banana
Bay, the sky was filled with "mare's tails"- a sign that weather is coming
within the next 48 hours.  Uh-oh, here we go again.

Sadly, in our attempt to pass these kayakers, our dink motor died for the
umpteenth time.  They were traveling faster than us with their chutes.

After pull starting the dang motor no less than 20 times, Cap'n figured out
that we could go at least 100 yards with the throttle only half open. 
With only a 3.5 Mercury, today we were NOT EVEN traveling slightly
faster than the speed of smell.  Oh no, as we passed Gull Island,
we were right smack in the smell for what seemed like daaaaayyyzzzzz.

We had a birthday party to get to at the Sunset Grille.  Finally, the seven
mile bridge came into view.  It was a slow uphill climb as we crossed
under the bridge- naturally the tide was running against us.

Today was Kenny's sister, Nancy's 70th birthday party.  Sunset Grille
is the perfect place to party- swimming pool, cornhole in the sand,
music, a BBQ poolside, yummy cold drinks, and of course....

Birthday cake for the birthday girl!
Nancy is seven perfect 10's- this whole year through :)



At Sunset you can party and dance in the pool!

Or you can have a mango daiquiri and twist and shout :)

 

Or, if you're Cap'n, you pause mid-twist for a snack...

Only to leave your wife twisting alone....

At least he caught me before I expired!

Kenny and Fran, our bestest NJ/NC/FL buddies :)

When it came time to sign for the bill, Fran had trouble seeing the check...

So everybody offered their glasses to help her out!

Late in the afternoon, we decided we had better start back to Banana Bay.
We wanted to make it back before dark- we didn't have a flashlight on board!

We putt-putted by Salty's for a view of the fire damage from the water.
It's sad.  It's reported that there are no plans to rebuild in the near future.
It will take six months before the property is even cleared- island time,
I guess.  They are holding a benefit for all of the servers, managers,
and musicians who performed there this coming Thursday at Kirk
of the Keys Presbyterian Church from 5-10pm.  We all plan to attend.



Nothing like finishing a picture perfect day with a trip to the hot tub :)

 

Many thanks to Danny (of Biddi and the Beast) for sending this pic of
the sunset from Sunset Grille.  If I were a bettin' woman, he's still
there partying- long after the sun went down.  G'Nite, y'all!