We've been Monkeyed!

For starters, Willis drug is sorry self in after midnight, so all is well.  He is on house arrest for the time being, happily sleeping on our Vberth in the A/C.  I saw One Eyed Jack and Peg Leg lurking in the shadows of the parking lot, when Willis finally reappeared and came slinking back to the boat.  I thought his foolishness was done and over with, but apparently he had forgotten the boat rules.  I even hid my laundry money in a new spot, so as to not tempt him.  All of our children have heard us say time and again, "you are by the company you keep", and these two unsavory characters are not acceptable for our furry son.  Willis just needed a little reminding.  He's a boy, what can I say?

In the words of teenagers today, yesterday was an EPIC day in paradise. My honey and I started with a trip to the gym, then a trip to the grocery.  We had a date with six other guests on board to go for an afternoon sail at 11:00am.  I got up early and made a batch of salsa for the occasion, and we promptly cast our dock lines at 11:00, with Dan & Penny, Ken & Lucille, Kenny and Chuckie baby.  Frannie had to work (boo, hiss) and Big Ron had other plans for himself. 



As hard as the wind blew yesterday with Mamaw and Paps
on board, it was flat calm today.  We had to motor sail all day.

We sailed out to East Bahia Honda on the Gulf side.  It was beautiful.

The water was crystal clear.  We were never in more than 9-10 feet of water;
most of the time just 5-6 feet of water.  We saw all sorts of sponges, some
coral heads, three turtles, AND a 6' hammerhead shark!  EPIC.

 Dan has been a sailor from way back, and Chuckie baby is a former Navy man,
so I did nothing on the boat all day!  Not going to lie, it was pleasant change
to kick back and relax...Dan was loving trimming the sails.  I didn't want
to steal his fun, after all.  Several of us jumped in and attempted to swim
to shore.  I got close, but didn't have on my scuba booties.  I didn't like
putting my feet down, not knowing what was underneath me.
(This was before we saw the hammerhead shark, too)


We got back on dock by 4:00pm, bid our goodbyes and washed the topsides and cockpit down.  We had dinner reservations at 5:30pm.  Donnie went for a dip in the pool before his shower, and I just relished in taking my time getting ready. It was nice to feel like a girl again, rather than a boat rat!

Dinner was at Frank's Grill with Kenny & Fran, and Ken & Lucille.  It's an Italian place, and the food was amazing.  Donnie had chicken parmesan, and I had fettucini alfredo.  Both of our meals were ah-mazing!  The best Italian food I've had since I don't know when.  (Skeet, I thought of you with every bite I took- better than what we had in South Beach that one time!)  We had some time to kill before the play tonight, so my honey treated me to my favorite ice cream (dulce de leche) at Kandido's.

There were ten of us that went to see the musical 9-5 at the Marathon Community Theatre.  Bryan, (who plays lead guitar in the band Five Sheets to the Wind with Dan & Penny, Larry, Donnie & Len) played the lead role, Mr. Franklin Hart.  Having been in community theatre myself, and being the sponsor of the high school drama club for years, I have to say, the show was really, really well done.  Bryan was excellent!  He never broke character, never missed a line, and his solo's were fantastic.  I laughed all through the show, it was that much fun.  It was after 10:30pm by the time we all did our visiting after the show.

Out in the parking lot, somebody suggested that we all go to the Brass Monkey to finish off our most EPIC day in the Keys. Kenny had not yet turned into a pumpkin, so we decided, "Why not?!"  The Brass Monkey is a local establishment, right behind the bus stop where a lot of the homeless people hang out.  You get the drift, it's that kind of place- where the locals all know each other by name.  The same band has played there nightly for 28 years, but they are seriously good. The lead guitarist can play anything.  Momma K had her dancing shoes on!

The first round was to buy Bryan a drink for his performance on stage tonight.

Kenny loved that he was in a place where he
could drink and smoke (and if he had to go
pee in a corner, no one would probably
even notice!)

Donnie and Kenny were propositioning this local bar fly to go get
Big Ron out of bed to join us.  She wasn't biting.  She had already
called a cab and was waiting for a ride home. 

The funny thing was, when the whole gang walked
into the place, there was Chuckie baby sitting at the bar!
He took her out on the dance floor for one last trip
around before her cab arrived.  She was a shy
young flower (that didn't take to kindly to having
her picture taken, it seems- yikes!)

This bunch looks like trouble, to me...

It was Bad Lucille, Frannie, and mine's maiden voyage to the Brass Monkey.

We've made good memories with Ken and bad Lucille this year.  Too bad they
have to go home in a week!

We sure love these two; Kenny and Fran, Donnie's sister from another Mister.

This crazy old feller was just. too. much.  We used to
see him do his "Karate Kid" dance moves at Salty's.
Once dance with him around the dance floor was just. too.
much.  When the music ended, he said to me, "You
dance beautifully."  Ha!  I was just imitating him, lolllzzz!

I've loved getting to know this sweet girl better this
year, too.  We've had some fun together, and her
husband has been most helpful in sharing his knowledge
and experience in China with me.  We hope they will
join us on my dream train trip to Glacier National Park
and Seattle in the fall of 2015, after we return from China.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all- We've been Monkeyed!!!