Key West by Bus

Blue Heaven Rendezvous #26

Al discovered that the single side-band might not be working top notch but we did get through to our Canadian friends, Jim and Jeannie, over in Belize. By way of email we set up a time and several frequencies in case one did not work. On the second frequency we got a good connection. We learned that they might not be back in the Keys while we are here, but we hope we can connect sometime on our return back to the Chesapeake.

We headed to Key West using the bus with Kathy and Randy Chamberlin. We took the 8:26 AM bus at a cost of a mere $3 per person or $1.50 for senior citizens. The hour ride gets you into the outskirts of Marathon at a shopping mall called Searstown. Then you pick up another bus for $2 to take you into the old town of Key West. We checked the waterfront to determine the anchoring situation which is questionable at best. They have a mooring field but it is awful in north winds which there have been many. Al is trying to determine whether we want to take the boat there. After visiting we decided not to do so.

We had lunch at a small place called Pepe’s which most people would walk right by. Kathy and Randy have eaten there before and liked it, so we went in. Once in, there was a cute courtyard where they served good oysters, burgers and grouper sandwiches.

After lunch we walked by a store where an artist was working on sea glass jewelry. Anybody who knows me knows I love jewelry, and so I stopped. I asked the artist where she finds her sea glass. She replied Greece. I told her how much I love Greece and that we had chartered in Greece three times. She said maybe we had her husband as captain and I said no we had another married couple. She asked “Who?” I said Kosta and Lynda and she squealed “I was there maid of honor at their wedding!” It is amazing how small the world can be sometimes. We had fun talking about our mutual friends which also made me want to go back again!

The men wanted to see some of the well known bars, so we passed Hog's Breath Bar where a lot of Harley motorcycles sat. After a lot of people watching, we went into Sloppy Joes to rest our weary feet, and refresh our dry mouths after walking to the southern most point of the United States and to see the famous lighthouse which you can see in the pictures at the beginning of the blog.
Both couples were craving pizza so we had a delicious pizza at Angelina’s before taking the bus back to Marathon. We got back to the boat around 9 PM exhausted.

The next day while I went to yoga Al helped someone who requested assistance on the Boot Key cruiser’s net with a battery problem. After solving there problem, we biked to West Marine to pick up the navigation light we ordered and the extra bulb. Of course, the bulb was incorrect, so they will get us back in their store next Friday again. Do you think they do these things on purpose!??

Susan and Bill from a boat names Osprey came over to introduce themselves. They know our Canadian friends, Jim and Jeannie, and we made plans to get together another day.
Kathy and Randy picked me up to go to the beach with them which was a perfect beach day.

The first day of March, and we were hoping to go snorkeling but unfortunately the winds picked up before they were predicted. So instead we went to do some laundry. Not quite in the same fun category but it has to get done. I got my loads in immediately but there was such a back up on the dryers. I got the sheets in but it took an hour before they were done, so I took the towels and tee shirts out to the boat to dry on the life lines.

Since it was cloudy and cool, winds up to 25 knots, Randy and Kathy came over for an afternoon of Dominoes. We don’t know if we will ask Randy back again since he slaughtered us!

That evening I made pesto with my homegrown basil which I have on the boat and had a delicious basil vegetable pasta dish for dinner. My boat garden has to be good for something!