Feb 12 – 19, 2014 We traveled 35 miles south from Fiesta Key to Bahia Honda State Park. We have reservations for a week. We have another awesome site, #16 in Buttonwood, right on the water. The week is spent walking, biking, snorkeling and kayaking. Our Sea Eagle inflatable is fantastic! We have one windy day and head into Key West on the bus. We have Half Pint, but the bus is the only way to travel in the Keys. You get to enjoy the views, not worry about traffic or parking and you get to meet the “locals”. We are creatures of habit and head to Fogarty’s for dinner. Mallory Square for sunset and The Bull for drinks and entertainment. Our favorite singer, Sallie, isn’t working tonight. If you close your eyes when Sallie is singing you’d think Janis Joplin was alive and belting out the tunes. In between all that, we walked to the Southern Most Point and passed Ernest Hemingway’s House. Key West is great fun. There is something for everyone there. I’m sure it gets crazy, but we’re home before midnight.
Valentines Day we go to a Luau at Fiesta Key with John and Nancy. We entered a dance contest and won consolation prizes. Everybody that was dancing did. They roasted a pig, which I’m told was delicious. I’m still vegetarian and stuck with the rice and fruit.
Sunday we go to Church at St. Paul’s. The priest should have been a comedian. He had the entire congregation’s attention from the minute he started speaking. He gave the best sermon I’ve heard in a long time. We go back to the flea market and No Name Pub, but this time for lunch. Gotta mix it up a bit.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to high winds and torrential downpours. I was ready to put on my lifejacket, but it was in the Volvo, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. It was still yicky this morning so we went for a walk around the marina. This gigantic manatee was hanging around the boats. As we approached, I saw all the propeller scars on her back and almost cried. She was trying to drink the fresh water run off from a boat. David turned on a water faucet and directed the flow toward her. She came over and was almost drinking out of his hand. She turned and rolled enjoying the treat.
We attend a Ranger led “Star Party”. We star gaze and listen to a talk on the “Sky”. We saw Orions belt, Beetlejuice, and Jupiter. National and Florida State Park Rangers are the best. I have started photographing and identifying water birds and a few spiders. I spend a lot of time in the Nature Center and the Rangers at the desk are so nice and helpful. If I were young and thinking of a career I’d want to be a Ranger.
February 19, 2014 We go back to Fiesta Key for another 10 days