catching up with chums

 

It has been a crazy busy week, the time has just flown.  We have been busy working on the boat, catching up with friends, playing and listening to lots of live music, and squeezing in the last bit of fun before we set sail in the next week for Marco Island and points beyond.  This will be several days lumped together.

 

I think we last left off with my awesome photo of the queen angelfish and the
lionfish in the water next to the boat.  The following day, the lionfish met his
demise.  Donnie popped him with his spear gun while standing on the dock-
that was a first!  I was in the middle of fixing chicken marsala for dinner,
but several of our new neighbors had not had lionfish before, and it doesn't
get any fresher than this.  I sautéed him with some olive oil, spices,
peppers and onion for them all to try a bite.  It was a big hit.  You honestly
cannot tell a lionfish from a hogfish, just be careful to cut his "mane"
away before you clean him.  My Cap'n is a pro :)
 

Our neighbors, Pat and George, brought over the flyer for the band's
last gig of the season.  The boat gets hauled on the 21st., then we have
to rent a car back down to the Keys by Friday, April 25th.  We are both
really going to miss the band, the good music, and all of the good fun when
we are in China next year.  What a great (and talented) bunch of people!

After dinner, we walked down to Paradise Pointe (we
miss our boat slip out on the wall) to catch the sunset.
This was Suphia, our friend Richard's dog.  She was
enjoying the sunset, too- I swear she's smiling...

Seeing this view everyday, and ending another day in paradise with a
gorgeous sunset on the Gulf of Mexico makes me smile, too :)

On Weds. evening, Donnie and the band members (minus Larry and Bryan)
were invited to play a set at open mic night at the Marathon Grill and Ale
House.  I reconnected with an old friend from high school, who was
staying in Marathon for the week with his wife and daughter and the
daughter's friend who were on spring break.  It was almost surreal
reconnecting with someone from Concord High School in Elkhart, IN,
down in the Florida Keys.  Though it's been 33 years, we picked up
where we had left off and had a great time getting reacquainted :)

Though it's a bit difficult to see, Len was on lead, and Spice (the emcee)
jumped in to cover lead in place of Bryan.  Len has the voice for this one.
 

They ended up playing about 10 songs, as the crowd was really enjoying them.
Len did one that he wrote, a fishing song about the Keys called
"Don't Set Your Drag Too Tight"  I love this one of his; I'm sorry I
only caught the ending.

 

We didn't get in until after 1:30am that night.  On Thursday morning,
Willis just could not bring himself to get up.  So very, very tired.

I ran to Islamorada on Thursday, to visit with Marcia Pavey and to do some shopping.  I stopped in at Len's place in Conch Key on the way home.  I love the Conch Key community.  If I were to ever sell
out back home, I could live in a place like Conch Key.  More on that later...

 



By the time I got home late in the afternoon, Willis was STILL
passed out in the bed.  He must have taken it tough Wednesday
night, too.  Dern cat.

After dinner, we did our usual trek to the Pointe to watch the sun set.

...and to visit with our marina pets, like Sue-sea here.
We miss our Simon buddy back home :/

Friday morning I met up with Tom and his family again to take them
to the Dolphin Research Center.  This momma and baby were really
playing and having a bawl.  The baby reminded me of a toddler
who had his string pulled- he was really flipping and frolicking
in the water.  After about 20 shots, I finally caught the baby in mid-air.
His belly was pink with glee, as if he were saying "Wheeeeee!!!!". 

The girls chose to swim with the dolphins, so I decided to stay and watch.
Their encounter was with Santini and her baby, who is now learning behaviors, too.

Maddy got in a SPLASH FIGHT!!!!

This was an awesome pic of Sidney and Santini :) They're both smiling!

The girls gave a command together for Santini to do
a barrel roll- perfect!

Cap'n and I took an hour or so in the afternoon to simply relax at the pool.
We then met Martina and Rupert and Kenny and Fran at the Hurricane
for Friday Night Pizza night.  I highly recommend the Tuscan pizza
on the left with meatballs, fresh spinach, and sun dried tomatoes.  Delish!

In lieu of movie night, we walked to the point at Black Fin Marina which
is behind the restaurant and resort property.  It is where our friends,
Dan and Biddi, now stay on their boat, Biddi and the Beast.
Though there was no green flash, it was a beautiful view of
the sunset and Pretty Joe Rock which is in front of Banana Bay.

We heard music coming from the Pointe at Banana Bay, so after sundown, we went over to hear Spice, Al, and Bud take turns entertaining those of us that gathered.  I stayed to listen to music until
about 10:30pm, while Cap'n decided he wanted to get back to Marquesa to finish beefing up the fiberglass in the bow.  (Why, for the love, was he doing this late at night?!)  Needless to say, it meant a late night trip to the laundry to wash all of our bed linens for the epoxy mishap that was bound to happen.  The good news is when we return to Marquesa in 19 months, the wish list will consist of two very important items...

1) a new Agnes (auto pilot- about $3-4k) and
2) a new set of Vberth sheets and memory foam pad (which costs about $450.00 total)  As soon as we haul the boat out in The Glades on 4/21/14, both our sheets and memory foam are going in the trash! 

The bad news is that it was after 1am, before the bed and it's 'good enough for two more weeks' sheets were somewhat made up, and we crashed for the night.

G'nite, y'all!