Looking for manatees

Beth is DYING to see manatees. Haven't seen any yet (since she and Rick joined). We originally were going to stay two days in St Augustine, but we headed north to reach the St Johns River because it's rumored that they are more plentiful there. We just learned that they are, but only 150 miles from here, and she is leaving the boat this Sunday. Boo. But there's a power plant about 10 miles from here, and maybe they'll be there since the water is warmer. We'll hope...

This picture is in St Augustine, just after we docked at the marina. We were headed toward their landmark Castillo de San Marcos, a 17th century fort/castle made from coquina, a local soft shellrock. It absorbed cannon balls instead of allowing them to damage the walls, so it withstood numerous attacks over the years.

We departed New Smyrna Beach late on Tuesday morning, into a fierce northerly wind. It hasn't stopped yet, although it has turned to an easterly. The scenery along the Waterway has varied, from natural, to high rises in Daytona Beach, to modest homes with private docks, to wide shallow bays. The wind got so strong and cold we had to navigate from downstairs inside the cabin.

Late that afternoon we arrived at one of the only anchorages along that section. It was a short channel off to the side. The book said there was a boat factory on the channel and that boats used it non-stop, so to not anchor right in the middle. Therefore, I did something I'd not done yet on this trip: After anchoring normally in the middle with the wind keeping me mid-channel, I tied a line from the stern of my boat to a tree on the shore! In that way, I could pull the boat to the side, out of the middle, and facing cross-channel and crosswind. I wasn't sure if the anchor would hold, or if the tree would stay put, since the wind was blowing so hard. Fortunately, they both held, and know what? Not one boat ever went by us!

This picture is from the Castillo, looking back toward the bridge. Breaking Away was docked just on the other side of the bridge. That's Rick in the side of the photo. We actually were here once before, in 1968, on a family vacation. All six Mercs drove from Los Angeles to Key West and back again in 15 days. I bought a brochure on the Castillo in 1968 and brought it along on this trip. Funny.

Oftentimes when the town was under siege, the entire population would take refuge inside the Castillo. In 1702, hundreds were jammed in there for 50 days while the British tried to take the fort, but could not.

Rick and Beth in front of one of the sentry towers. We later walked all over the old town and sampled the taverns. Old taverns. Old everything. It was founded in 1565, and they've got the oldest everything in the country.

This is Beth and me in front of Flagler College. Henry Flagler was the railroad baron in the late 19th century who built Florida up for weathly tourists from the north. You see Flagler this and Flagler that, everywhere in Florida. Anyway, in the late 1880s he built three luxurious hotels here. This one was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, the ritziest, but eventually it was converted into a college. I guess that was how Ponce de Leon could finally find his Fountain of Youth - a college!

We had dinner at a brewery, and then "retired' to the boat for Skyping with Janet, and watching Idol. We had plans to move the boat to a nearby anchorage and spend another day in St Augustine, but the manatees called and we headed north this morning.

I know this picture is blurry, but I had to include it to show you what we were treated to when we were about 10 miles north of St Augustine. A bi-plane was doing unbelievable stunts for about 15 minutes, just for us (so it seemed, since it was in the middle of nowhere). It went straight up, as in this picture, and then would just hang there. Then it would twist earthward at high speed and eventually come out of the dive and do more stunts that we could not believe. What a show!

As we cruised farther north, we eventually got to a 10-mile-long cut canal, most of which was lined with homes as seen in this picture. Every single one had its own dock with a boat lifted out of the water.

Not long before this photo, Rick learned how unforgiving the marked channels are in the Waterway. He was driving while I was calling potential marinas for the night, and gradually he drifted too far to the side and we hit bottom! Luckily, we quickly moved into deeper water and all was okay. But boy is it scary when you feel yourself hitting bottom!

It's a good thing we are in that marina in this picture because it continues to REALLY blow hard out there. Rick and I walked to a grocery store on the other side of this bridge in Jacksonville Beach for more supplies, and then we grilled pork chops for dinner!

Tomorrow we'll head 8 miles to the St Johns River in Jacksonville, and then southward on this river that is the longest north-flowing river in the country. There are supposed to be alligators and MAYBE manatees.

Great friends!

The photo below is Jerry and Dave on yesterday's bike ride from Dave and Sandy's in New Smyrna Beach to Haulover Canal, 25 miles away. Lee and I had cruised under this bridge on our way to Dave and Sandy's last Feb 16. Jerry is visiting Dave and Sandy now, having driven here from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We three rode across the country together in April-May, 2007. Good to see Jerry again...

...and so good to see Dave and Sandy again! I wish I had a photo here of Sandy and Dave together (and Abby). They have been such good friends along this Great Loop trip. They (and Abby) stopped by for the May 2 Bon Voyage party before I departed. Then Rick and I visited them at their incredible cottage in Ontario last Aug 3. Now they have been gracious hosts here at their new FL home, right on the Intracoastal Waterway. They have done airport runs for us, took us grocery shopping, provided scrumptious home-made dinners (and the post-ride lunch yesterday), Sandy made homemade Key Lime pie last night, they've helped at this marina...they are THE BEST! Looking forward to visiting them again and again.

I arrived on Sunday after a wonderful 10 days with Janet. The 5th graders were actually happy to see me back in the classroom! And Rylee, Janet's 6-yr-old granddaughter, was glad to have her Barbie playmate back when we had her for a weekend.

Yes, this was our turn-around point yesterday on our ride. The bridge we're on was the only time it wasn't completely flat. We did have a headwind for the first half, but then got the tailwind home. Still, my legs felt like jelly when we were done, since 50 miles was farther than I've gone for the past year. In this picture we're not all that far from Cape Canaveral where the shuttle departed last Thursday.

This picture I took last Feb 16 when we first arrived. Dave drove Lee and me on the wide, hard beach. They let you drive right on the beach! The Daytona car race originally was contested right here on the beach. By the way, when Lee and I arrived, it was "race week". The Daytona 500 was three days away, and the place is jammed with spectators for the entire week leading up to it. We barely made it through the crowds to the airport last Feb 17.

This is a picture of a campground along the Waterway, south of New Smyrna Beach when Lee and I arrived last Feb 16. I just wanted to show that not EVERY location along the Waterway in Florida is high-priced mansions and mega yachts. Mostly yes, but in a few spots, they have "regular" old homes and more modest boats.

Here's a picture of Jerry, Dave and me at the end of yesterday's ride, in front of Dave's home.

Then Rick and Beth arrived in the early afternoon. Dave took us to the grocery store and had to wait patiently while we took the cart down every aisle to provision the boat for the next month. We'll head out later this morning. It's been storming outside since 7 am, but now it's stopped raining. It'll be a great day as the adventure continues, toward St Augustine, the oldest town in the USA (founded 1565).

Florida's Treasure Coast

Lee and I have been having a marvelous time along this part of Florida they call the Treasure Coast. Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Cocoa Beach. And yesterday we toured the Kennedy Space Center, where they are preparing to send shuttle Discovery up next week (Feb 24) for its final flight.

When last I posted a blog, I had lost all the text I'd worked so hard on, and was so upset I just provided one-line picture captions. I plan to go back and re-do it later today.

We left that anchorage, in South Palm Beach, last Friday, Feb 11. It was a fairly routine day headed north, still seeing large waterfront estates and fancy yachts. I took this picture in a harbor at Jupiter Inlet (we pass various inlets where the Waterway opens to the ocean). I thought it was amazing to see such a huge boat shrink-wrapped. We guessed that this boat yard had outfitted a brand new yacht and they shrink-wrapped it for its transport to its new owner in another country. ?? Or maybe they were just fumigating an old rusty bucket. haha

Also near Jupiter we saw this cool lighthouse. I still am enchanted with lighthouses.

That afternoon we arrived at St Lucie Inlet, which is where a canal leads to Lake Okeechobee in the center of FL and then on to Ft Myers on the west coast. Many boaters doing the Great Loop cross here from Ft Myers and do not go to South Florida and Key West the way I did.
We anchored in a side bay called Manatee Pocket, but we didn't see any manatees other than this big painting of one. We walked around the harbor past waterfront restaurants having their Friday Happy Hours, and settled on a small local hangout called the Whistle Stop (which, shockingly, did not serve alcohol!). We soon learned how it got its name when a freight train rumbled by and it sounded like it was going to run right over the top of us.

The next morning I awoke to find we'd dragged anchor back across the bay, nearing the homes and docks behind us. I quickly fired up the engine and we re-anchored back where we'd started. We held fast this time as Lee stayed on the boat while I dinghied my bike to shore and rode a couple miles to a marine store to buy four new zinc fittings for the engine. These fittings are meant to dissolve to protect the metals in the engine from the salt water, and need to be replaced regularly. Mine were past due. When I completed that task and we filled the fuel tanks at a local marina, we continued northward. We were glad we waited to fill the tanks until we could escape the high prices in Miami and Ft Lauderdale, $3.35/gal vs $4.19 in the waters of wealthy yacht owners.

Actually, before continuing north, we headed westward first. We intended to travel about 12 miles to the first lock in the canal so that Lee could experience going up and then down a lock. However, after traveling about 5 miles and battling a VERY strong north wind, I phoned ahead to the lockmaster to inquire how the weather was impacting his lock. He advised me to NOT go there unless I absolutely needed to due to the winds and the fact that they opened only every two hours because of Florida's low-water drought conditions. Once I would ascend the lock, I'd have to wait 2 hrs to descend. I made an immediate U-turn.

Two quick stories to tell, one cool and one nasty: Cool: Three boats passing me heading south slowed down and the lead boat radioed me to say the president of Mainship was in the 2nd boat, and they were headed to the Miami Boat Show. I radioed that I loved my Mainship, and he replied he was pleased to hear that. Nasty: A HUGE yacht came flying past me only about 50 feet to my right, and I never saw him until he was there creating a monster wake. Those waves would be hitting me broadside in a matter of seconds, knocking us silly and probably causing damage as everything would fly sideways inside my boat. I immediately swung the wheel into his wake to minimize its effect on us, and luckily I was able to do it soon enough even though we still rocked violently. We could not believe a boat would be so insensitive like that. Normally a passing boat notifies you of his approach and slows way down for the passing.

Look at this incredible sunset in Vero Beach! It was even more superlative in person!

Lee and I docked at the Vero Beach City Marina, in one of the prettiest settings of my entire trip. We then walked about a mile to the main ocean street, past huge gnarly live oak trees draped with Spanish Moss that graced all the homes. We arrived to a street fair with live music and vendor booths with enticing food. And beer, which is what we bought, and then witnessed this stunning sunset. Everyone was marveling at it, so we realized it wasn't a usual sighting here.

The next morning we rode our bikes about 6 miles to where the Los Angeles Dodgers had their spring training for about 40 years before moving (to Arizona?) just a few years ago. It is an expansive facility of bungalows where the players stayed, numerous practice fields, and streets named for famous players like Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Drysdale, Lasorda and Alston. The entire grounds were behind locked gates, but Lee and I decided to go around the gates and look at it anyway. We never saw a soul.

Here's their little stadium where all those Grapefruit League games were played and the kids got to see their heroes in action.

Lee and I then rode back to the ocean beach highway and split up. I did a hard 20-mile ride and Lee rode many miles and explored.

We departed Monday morning after two days in this beautiful spot. It was finally a calm day after a week of northerly winds. We had scenic beauty most of the way, but it eventually opened out into wide bays and we had to stay within our marked channel. Late in the afternoon we arrived at our anchorage at the town of Cocoa, west of Cape Canaveral (which is on the ocean about 10 miles east). We dinghied in to shore and walked around the delightful village. We even succumbed to temptation and had dessert first at an ice cream parlor. That was our Valentine's Day treat, actually wishing ever so longingly that Kathy and Janet could be there with us.

I will never tire of the incredible sunrises and sunsets we are fortunate to admire on this boating adventure.

Not long after sunrise, we pulled anchor and cruised all of one mile to the Cocoa Village Marina, docking right next to a sailboat from Ventura, Calif! But we were not there long; we rented a car and drove the 20 miles to the Kennedy Space Center and stayed the entire day!

This photo shows the bottom half of the Saturn V rocket that was used to send our Apollo astronauts into space. It is so huge and figured so prominently in our space program to the moon in 1969-1972, that they have a whole museum dedicated to it. It is 350 feet long, with three stages, and above that was where the lunar landing module was kept and the tiny capsule at the top where the three astronauts lay during liftoff and re-entry.

Notice two of the five huge engines needed to blast this 6-million-pound skyscraper into space. Sadly, of this entire ship, only the tiny 10-foot-tall capsule was all that finally came back to earth intact. The three rocket stages fell into the sea, and everything else remained floating in space or on the moon surface.

This is a picture of Discovery on the launch pad for its Feb 24th trip to deliver goods to the International Space Station. After that voyage, there will be only two more shuttle trips, in March and June, before the entire Shuttle Program ends after 30 yrs and 135 trips. The entire facility will revert to private use for space voyages, and 4500 govt employees will be laid off.

In this picture, the actual shuttle faces the ocean, so all you can see are the tops of the external fuel tank and one of the two booster rockets (they put it all into place 30 days before launch). Overall, Lee and I had a fascinating day there, watching IMAX films and being reminded of the landmark events in our youth. I had forgotten that Neil Armstrong had to land the lunar module manually since the computer failed during his approach. It had overshot the intended landing spot by quite a distance, and then Armstrong had to maneuver around rock fields to a suitable new location. When he finally set down, he had only about 17 seconds of fuel left. What a hero!

When Lee and I left the Space Center as it was closing, we traveled east to the ocean and Cocoa Beach. There, Lee was in heaven when we stopped to shop at a massive Ron Jon's Surf Shop (Lee and his son are big surfers). Isn't this little woody cute?

Today we are traveling to New Smyrna Beach, where we will visit Dave and Sandy Thompson; I met Dave on my cross-country bike trip in 2007, and we have been buddies ever since. This will be my third visit with them on this adventure. They stopped by for my Bon Voyage party on May 2, and then Rick and I visited their home near Sudbury, Ontario, on August 2. Smyrna Beach is their Florida home. They also will take Lee and me to the Daytona Airport tomorrow. We are anxious to return to the women we miss so much.

I will return on Feb 27, then Rick and Beth arrive the next day from New Orleans and we will head north to St. Augustine and other ports northward. The adventure will continue!

The rich and the filthy rich

I am going back to this posting on Wed, Feb 16 to elaborate. I had spent two hours that morning writing my usual wonderful blog (hahaha) and it got completely lost. My connection to the server had vanished, and nothing I typed in could be saved. Therefore, I initially just typed a few captions and was done with it, until now.

This is approaching the Miami skyline last Tuesday morning, Feb 8. I was pretty impressive, similar to when we'd approached New York City and Chicago. In this case, I was ina wide bay but had to stay within the channel markers. It still is remarkable to be in broad "ocean" waters and it being only a couple feet deep except for the dredged channel.

We entered the Miami Harbor amid tall shiny sky scrapers, massive cruise ships, and ocean freighters. We had to wait 20 minutes for a bridge to open, so I shut off the engine and we lollygagged on a perfect, windless morning. Once thru the bridge, we turned east (right) to move to an anchorage near South Beach, the famous touristy strip that is stereotypical Miami Beach.

This picture is one of the many channels lined with expensive homes, each with a swimming pool. At the end of this channel was our anchorage along with five sailboats, in a spot called Sunset Lake. It was only 11:30, and immediately Lee and I dropped the dinghy, loaded the bikes, and took off for the afternoon. We actually had to dinghy about three or four miles, a long way, down little canals until we reached a place to tie up and unload.

Then we rode south to South Beach along the ocean pathway, teeming with eye candy that of course we didn't look at. Young and old, from all over the world it seemed from the accents (in addition to Spanish), all enjoying a sunny, hot day where the beautiful people sunbathe. And cruise up and down in their muscle cars and imported sports cars to show off and see who wants to catch a ride.

We stopped to walk out onto the beach, and look how crowded it was! I had to close my eyes because of all the cute.... Anyway, we weren't dressed to join the bathers, so we headed to find lunch along the happinin ocean avenue. Somewhere in there, walking my bike down the sidewalk, I "lost" my wallet, or someone lost it for me. What a pain that turned out to be, losing my wallet. Lee has had to pay for every single thing, and I will write him a check tomorrow (Feb 17) when we depart for the airport.

We eventually rode back to where the dinghy was, and continued on a big loop trip around other homes and channels until we found our way back to the boat. We saw a manatee, but only for an instant. We passed huge yachts, one with a "regular" speed-boat dinghy in addition to an amphibian car/boat. Another had its "garage door" open at its stern to reveal two jet skis and other toys. These were the rich. The next day we would discover the filthy rich.

We left early the next morning and headed up to Ft. Lauderdale. Before we reached the main yachting haven, it is a port for ocean freighters. There was this Chiquita Banana freighter being pushed by a tug up to a dock to unload as we passed by.

It was windy when I docked the boat at our marina, and I was pushed sideways into the huge yacht next to me. I scratched his hull, but we could not tell how serious it was. The owner took all my insurance info and called in a repair man. Luckily it turned out to be only a blemish, and the guy waxed it away in 10 seconds. I gave him some bills for his trouble.

Lee and I then went sightseeing. We bought all-day tickets on the water taxi, which travels up and down among the massive estates and mega yachts to 13 different stops. We had a captain and narrator who told stories of whose homes or yachts we were seeing, and their shtick was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time. I would love to repeat some of them, but...Suffice to say, the FILTHY rich live in Ft Lauderdale and the city from our vantage was way too opulent.

this is just one of hundreds of mega yachts. When we first arrived and had not yet docked, I was stunned at how huge the "ships" were and they were everywhere. One like this, visiting at a marina, had to pay close to #1500/day to tie up there (we paid $72). I was gawking at all the ships so intently that I passed up our marina and had to circle back to it. One yacht was $81 million.

One of thousands of opulent mansions there. The water taxi narrator said one paid $44,000 per month in property taxes. The stories of their lavishness were endless. One had its swimming pool on the roof (every single one had a swimming pool).

We eventually got off the water taxi to have dinner, then got back on it for the ride home, getting to see the mansions and yachts all lit up for show. The next morning we did chores like laundry and washing down the boat, and then departed at noon.
Under the second bridge were these iguana. Aren't they cool?

A little farther along we came to Joe Namath's home back when he was his most famous, in the late 60s and early 70s. We knew this only because our water taxi host had told us about it. We also saw right about there our best view of manatees since Crystal River weeks earlier. A mom and her calf swam slowly along with us as I put the boat into neutral so we could extend our view of these massive creatures.

As we continued north, we went under dozens of bridges and continued to see opulent and fabulous homes/yachts. No bridge, however, was as fancy as this one. We ended that day in South Palm Beach, anchored up in a little bay, 33 miles north of Ft Lauderdale.

Gator, iguana, tarpon, man-o-war sightings!

Yesiree, we've seen it all now. Bert will be so jealous since he was shut out on seeing a gator, which he was so desperate for. And then we heard about the giant 6-ft iguanas on Bahia Honda Key, and we saw an iguana there.

Uhhhhh.....they were both about 3 inches long. Vicious beasts! The gator was on the dock next to Breaking Away. The guy living on his boat next to us confirmed it was a gator, and then the cute little guy scampered off. When Lee and I departed Key West, our first night was an anchorage at Bahia Honda State Park. A biologist was trying to catch something in the shrubbery and he told us they were trying to eradicate the iguana, which are non-native and wrecking the environment. He said they were up to 6 ft and all over the place, and that we'd see them for sure. We looked and walked and searched, and finally we saw one...a tiny baby one, and he scooted away too. The Great White Hunters we are!

Change of subject! These bras. Back in Key West, Lee arrived late on Feb 3. I spent the entire day cleaning the boat, changing oil, doing laundry, and tons of other maintenance things I'd put off. It was Janet's birthday, so I visited quite a bit with her too. The next day Lee and I rode around the island and later stopped in at the various watering holes the way Bert and I had. This picture of the bras is at Capt Tony's, where Ernest Hemingway used to drink (altho then it was called Sloppy Joe's). Apparently girls like to leave these autographed decorations, perhaps when it gets too hot or something. haha

Anyway, Lee and I sampled some of the bars I hadn't been in yet, searching for my lost shaker of salt. We had a good time last Friday.

Here's where we had lunch, at Kelly's -- "The Southernmost Brewery". As you can see, the weather was gorgeous. The foliage was immense and lush. The handcrafted beer was exquisite. Later, we had dinner at a vegetarian cafe.

Back at the dock on Saturday morning before we left, this huge tarpon was lying there behind my boat, not moving. If only the gator and iguana had been that large!

We were going to take the short route from Key West to Bahia Honda Key, on the Atlantic Side (south side of the Keys), but when we got out there, the swells were large and hitting us broadside. So we did a U-turn and went out the way Bert and I had come in, and took the Gulf route. When we got there, we were anchored between two bridges, Hwy 1 and the old original railroad bridge. Wasn't it a pretty setting for us? Yes, pretty, but also uncomfortable because the ocean swell coming in rocked us the entire night and next morning. Luckily neither Lee nor I get sea sick.

While walking along the sandy beaches on the Atlantic side, we saw little jellyfish thingys washed up on the shore. The park ranger told us they were baby Portuguese Man O Wars, and NOT to touch them. Later during the entire day's cruise, we saw 100s of them floating on the water as we passed by. Another vicious hazard if you want to go swimming here!

The railroad bridge dates from 1905 to 1912, when Henry Flagler built tracks and bridges all the way to Key West. However, on my mom's 15th birthday, a huge hurricane damaged the rails beyond repair, and rail service ceased. This bridge stands to this day, and they had to cut out this section so that tall boats could enter the bay.

Yesterday, on Super Bowl Sunday, we cruised all the way to the little town of Islamorada, on Motecumba Key. We anchored way out in a bay with about 30 other boats, and dinghied in to find a restaurant or bar to watch the game. Not long after we landed, Janet sent a text making sure we would not forget to take flashlights to be able to see when we returned to the boat late at night. Well heck yes we needed those, so we went back out to the boat to get them and returned a second time.

We chose a Mexican restaurant for the game, and spent four hours there. These margaritas were THE BEST, better than any I'd had in Key West (and not just because they were larger!!). The first was so good, we had a second. And that was only the beginning...for me anyway (Lee knew when to stop). We look happy, no? It was not crowded at all in there, so we became friends with the staff and we all enjoyed watching the game. Somehow I could even continue to text Janet coherently, and start and operate the dinghy, and find Breaking Away in the pitch black night.

After nursing a bit of a hangover this morning, we took a swim in the warm, clear water, and then departed on a 55-mile trek through narrow marked channels and open sounds, in and around Keys and Everglades, to tonight's gem. Isn't this spot cool?

It's one of the final Keys before Miami, and it used to belong to Mark Honeywell of the Honeywell electronics fame. He bought it in 1937 and developed it into his private estate by 1939. But then he halted work because his wife died, he sold it in 1945, and it became part of Biscayne National Park in 1985. It has a completely sheltered harbor, so we are protected from tonight's strong winds. He built this lighthouse as a decoration (the Coast Guard would not let him put a light in it). It and the other six or seven buildings here still look like the day they were built, all out of coral stone.

It's one of the best "discovery" spots of the trip, similar to when Rick and I happened upon the Fayette State Park in Michigan. Only the mosquitoes marred perfection. Tomorrow we plan to reach and explore Ft. Lauderdale.

Lee has been a super boat mate, and I look forward to our next 9 days...almost as much I look forward to seeing Janet again on that day. I miss her so much.

Margaritaville!

We are in Key West, and boy does it live up to its reputation as a drunken party town! We arrived yesterday evening, and walked to the "hot" street, Duval St. So many open-air bars with live music, T-shirt shops, bars, souvenir shops, bars, and yes, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville bar (and T-shirt shop).

Today Bert and I took a bike ride all around not only Key West, but also Stock Island. You should know that Bert's last name is Stock, and "his" island is the very next island on your way back toward Miami. Then we came back and rode around the entire key and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day and wide beaches and homes and history.

At the end of the day, we walked along the wide pier near the cruise ships, and there were lots of performers working for tips. This fellow was interesting, mostly because with all that hardware, he was gently singing the Beatles' I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

We toured Ernest Hemingway's home, and seemingly the most interesting part for our guide and the group were the 44 cats who live there. They are all descendants of a six-toed cat from 60 yrs ago that the family brought in, and let them propagate. About half are born with the six toes. Anyway, the owners cater to those felines, and they can sleep anywhere and do anything. They all have movie-star names, or other famous people.

And here are their ancestors, in the Cat Cemetery. We saw Frank Sinatra's grave, Marilyn Monroe's, Merna Loy's, Bette Davis', ...you get the idea.

We also toured the lighthouse, first built in 1847. We climbed the 88 steps and took pictures in all directions including the next one...

This picture shows the two cruise ships in the distance. The main party street is off to the right a bit, and runs right to those ships. Today there were two different ships in port from the two when we arrived yesterday. Man, does this place get a ton of tourists from those huge ships! They are by far the tallest structures on any horizon.

Here's the sign post at the end of Hwy 1. It was quite an achievement to build first a railroad and then a highway across the Keys to Key West.

This marker was a popular photo stop for tourists. There was a long line to be able to have your photo taken next to it. Cuba, at 90 miles away, is closer than Miami!

I was shocked to see chickens running around the Key everywhere. Ya hear cock-a-doodling all over the place, any neighborhood, any beach.

Here I am posing on the wide sandy beaches on the Atlantic side. The Gulf side has the marinas and harbors, while the Atlantic side has the beaches. Regardless which side, there are shallow reefs stretching way out to sea, and a boater has only a few marked channels where you can get into the islands.

We rode to the airport too, and this mural was painted on the wall there. They are proud of their feelings of independence, as the Conch Republic. They have a Conch Rep flag too. I saw a funny bumper sticker saying, "We seceded where all others failed."

Here's a picture of our Gulf nemesis, the cherry bomb. It's what we call the endless crab and lobster trap buoys that we must constantly avoid hitting when we have cruised in the Gulf. We traveled about 80 miles from Shark River to Key West, out where we could see nothing but water in all directions, yet the entire way we were dodging these cherry bombs. Janet joked that they are dinner waiting to happen, but no, we didn't pull one up and swipe the catch.

Here's a picture of the sunset from our anchorage in Little Shark River in the Everglades National Park. Later that night, I could hear manatees passing by the boat because I could hear their breathing. Cool! And the stars were spectacular.

On Sunday morning I did some maintenance in the bilge. We then headed out into the open Gulf after another one of Bert's signature breakfasts. He makes egg scrambles, omelets, pancakes, hot cereal, and other tasty creations.

It was a 50-mile jaunt to Little Shark River. There is NO civilization anywhere near it, so it was special...even if we had zero cell phone and Internet service for 28 hours. I really do not like being out of communication...with certain friends...with a certain friend...

As soon as we anchored, Bert and I launched the dinghy and took a long adventure into the park. It was a maze of waterways, and one could easily get lost. We kept hoping we'd see a gator, but didn't. What we did see were hundreds of birds, a raccoon, and swampy little offshoots to explore. This is a picture of one of those inlets.

Another one. It was sorta spooky, being miles from anyone. We shut off the engine and it was peaceful, with various bird calls and the sound of their poop hitting the water (from their perches in the trees).

See how it truly looks like a swamp? Branches coming down and everything. We explored about five of these inlets. No gators. Bert said the only Gators in Florida must be those at the university in Gainesville.

Here we are speeding on back to our anchorage, with swamp all around. Fun.

Now, Bert and I have one more day here in Key West. Then he departs and Lee Smith arrives. We will need to reach Daytona Beach by February 17.