Marathon, Fl. Feb. 8-15, 2015: Week 4

 

The stars shine bright in the night sky.  It is amazing how many stars appear in the sky here in the keys.  The Big Dipper is not always as visible as it is up north but we can always see Orion’s belt and thousands of other stars.  Some are bright, some twinkle and others are just really bright.  Soon we will be looking for the Southern Cross which will appear here for about 10 days.  Star gazing in Marathon – a wonderful pastime.

This week we did some new things.  We attended an Art fair which is a fund raiser for Pigeon Key which is a state park.  It used to be one of Flaglers work camps for the railroad.  Tom got a haircut at a local place called Easy Does It barber shop.  It was windy that day and the barber was busy because the men could not fish and did not want to complete their “Honey Do List” so instead they got a haircut.  Colletta did yoga on the pool deck of the resort at Hawks Cay.  It was a peaceful setting with the water close by and very relaxing while staring up at the beautiful blue sky – Namaste. We also used the dingy often this week.  One day Tom and I went for a ride and went around Key Colony Beach – which is an island, which included a ride on the ocean.  We stayed close to shore and out of other boats paths and enjoyed looking at the island from another angle.  We also took the dingy out with John and Craig (another friend visiting from the frigid cold around Chicago).  That ride consisted of going up and down the canals and inspecting all the houses and boats – until our beer ran out.  We also enjoyed lunch at Burdines which is right on the water at Boot Key harbor.  We also drove to Pine Key and Springers. Once a week, on the deck at Springers about 10-12 musicians gather and have an informal “jam” session.  Songs are randomly chosen and everyone just plays, improvises, and sings along – and we get to listen.  This week there were 3 banjos, a mandolin, a keyboard, a bass, a harmonica, and 4-5 guitars.  It was wonderful listening to these people play.  It made Tom want to buy a guitar.

The group at Springer's on Big Pine Key

more of the Tuesday nite group

 

Tom continues to cook dinners with his assistant, Jim.  This week they prepared a steak dinner, a scallop, shrimp and pasta dinner and a fish dinner with rice, black beans and pineapple salsa.  Tom enjoys the cooking and sharing prep tips with Jim and Jim enjoys experimenting and trying something new. We all enjoy the eating!!

this is from Island Grill Restaurant

This is Chef James interpretation at Bistro 570

 

Boats also continue to be in the weeks adventures.  The transducer for the depth finder broke on Jim’s boat.  The boat was pulled out of the water and the guys worked on fixing the bracket and rewiring the transducer.  A new one was found on Ebay and should be delivered and installed in the next week.  On our boat, Tom changed salon light bulbs to LED bulbs to reduce heat and conserve electricity. 

The coldest weather in the Keys arrived on Saturday.  In the morning it was in the 50s and never got higher than mid-60s.  Socks on our feet and soup for dinner kept us warm and comfy.

Happy Valentine’s Day.  Hope you shared it with your loved ones.­­­

 

The end to another day in paradise from Sunset Beach, Key Colony Beach

 

This is the dinghy dock south of us in Boot Key harbor at the mooring field. There is another set of dinghy docks just as large as this for all 220 mooring balls.