January 25- 31 Marathon, Florida Week 2

January 25-31 - Marathon Florida – Week 2

 

The week started out like it should with church attendance at Martin Luther Chapel church followed by a nice little breakfast.  Lutheran churches are the same in that they all try to feed you.  Upon returning to the boat, we had a lazy and relaxing day. 

We have been spending time with the Childs.  We often do grocery shopping together as we go to the grocery store at least twice a week depending what is on the dinner menu and what is on sale.  Sunday was windy and cool here so we made chili for dinner and enjoyed staying in the house and watching a double episode of Downton Abby, much to Jim’s dismay.   Or we have to stop at the Home Depot or the hardware stores, depending upon which projects need parts.  Tom’s projects this week included changing a valve on the water heater, changing the oil in the transmissions, caulking a window, installing rain gutters, and working on fishing rod storage.  We also continued our exploring by driving north of the airport and driving thru those neighborhoods.  Some very beautiful homes on the Gulf.

We continue to explore and experiment with culinary choices.  Besides making chili, we also made our own pizzas to enjoy after bocce ball.  Tom and I invited Jim and Pat over for dinner on Greeks Folly to experience cocktails on the back deck and eating in our small galley.  Tom made a new recipe of chicken picante and the evening was a complete success. Colletta also baked some banana bread and will experiment with our little oven on board.   We discovered that Wendy’s serves 49 cent cheeseburgers on Tuesdays and Sundays, so we ate lunch for $2.55 which included 2 senior drinks which are free.  I don’t know how they can make any money but we will probably take advantage of that again.  Found a new Happy hour at Nowhere bar.  It was OK – but not with the homey feeling of Nowhere bar in Indiana. Saturday night the new restaurant was Porky’s.  We missed Happy hour but enjoyed the pulled pork and fish tacos for dinner – and of course some beer and music.

New experiences for the week include getting into the Marathon Yacht club for cocktails to listen to Donnie (a musician from the marina) playing there with his band, and attending the sunset celebration at the park on Key Colony.  The celebration happens every night with music and song as the sun sets.  Tom also attended his first fishing seminar.  It is a popular event, over 100 men were there.  Tom’s favorite part was the free water and popcorn.    Saturday we attended a flea market on Pine Key.  Interesting but nothing out of the ordinary, expect for the heavy weekend traffic heading south to Key West. 

Tom and I also enjoyed catching up with another friend from Illinois.  John V. is down here in Marathon for a month and we enjoyed beers and conversation on his deck for an evening.  He also stocks chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which is delicious after a long bike ride for him and a short walk across the street for us.  Being a fellow boater and water lover, we anticipate more fun times with him.