FTJ 129: Christmas Eve, 83 Degrees and Sunny

Another beautiful day here in Key West, albeit a bit humid. The breeze is a lifesaver. 

We have a bit of an issue with the commode (okay, I confess that I sat on it wrong and broke it with my butt -- yeah, I know:  HAHAHAHA). 

We are hoping it gets resolved today.  Having a working toilet is muy importante.

Anyway, wishing you all a joyous holiday season with your families and friends. By the time you see this, all the hoopla will likely be behind you. Holiday hangovers all round?

Below, some more photos of Key West.

At Hog's Breath Saloon, down near Mallory Square.

This iguana in front of our site is totally ready for the holiday..

 The beauty and weirdness of the sunset celebration at Mallory Square.

The dog in the pants went around and collected dollar tips in his mouth, then deposited
them in the performer's bucket. Worth a buck just to see him do it.

Tanks, Panky

FTJ 128: Just Another Day in Paradise

December in Key West is delightfully different this year. We have yet to get a "bad" day, weather wise. And the past week has been nearly perfect, with temps in the high 70s and a light breeze. The week ahead is more of the same. No complaining from this household.

Not much to relate about our stay here, really. I am relaxing and Beau is waxing. Well, he finished waxing Harvey today. The RV looks great -- blindingly shiny.

We are now busy contemplating our navels...and other important things. For instance, every day we mull over the key question: What to do with our lives? Keep traveling? Settle down? Such stress.

Some photos from our first two weeks here in Key West:

As I said, Beau waxes...

... and Laura relaxes, on a nice strip of Smathers Beach, Key West.

(Note the "CRAP" label on Beau's T shirt, below his left shoulder. After he ruined one nice new T shirt after another after another, I threw a hissy fit. Our solution: Designate ruined shirts as CRAP and make sure he wears them while doing all his dirty jobs. People do look at him funny, but the CRAP system is saving our marriage.)

View off Smathers Beach.

Beau at Hogfish, a restaurant just a few blocks from our RV site.

 Love the conch weather report.

A fisherman attracts a flock of pelicans. Took this photo through the windshield of the RV.

An elegant egret posed for me.

This small hawk visited our site. Have no idea what he is. A larger hawk (a redtail) has been flying reconnaissance over the RV, hungrily eyeing little Buddy. He actually buzzed us one day, swooping through our site just a few feet off the ground. We have to be watchful.

Ah yes, Key West.

 

A sweet little Key Deer on Big Pine Key.

We found a marina near us that was mostly liveaboards. Like a floating rundown trailer park. Yuck. Tough to see the environs from this shot, but the place was pretty nasty.

Thought I would throw in this image of Marilyn outside a movie theatre downtown. I guess you could classify this as an oddity, albeit an attractive one for a lot of people.

Finally, here is Harvey, shiny and ready for the holidays:

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 37: Freezing in the Keys...brrrrr!

Sorry to report that 1. Beau and I have been sick with a hellish cold/respiratory infection, and 2. the arctic blast has reached as far as the southernmost city in the United States. We came here to get away from the cold, and we are now experiencing days in the high 50s/low 60s, nights in the 40s!  I know, I know, I should not complain, but temps in the 50s? ...really? Jeesh.

We did enjoy the few days of warmth here in the beginning. We walked for hours in downtown Key West and then headed to the Historic Seaport area, toward our favorite bar, Schooner Wharf. We could not believe that Michael McCloud, a singer we really enjoyed when we last visited six or seven years ago, is still performing. We have a number of his CDs. Love his music.

And of course, when we walked in, he was singing the World War II song that always makes Beau (and of course me) cry. I tried to load a video of the song, but for some reason it just would not work!

It is great fun hanging out down at the docks at the Schooner Wharf Bar, where the people are friendly and lively (in other words, drunk) and dogs are welcome. (McCloud has a song called Schooner Wharf Bar Dog, where he says he wants to come back as one.)  It's a noisy, yet very laid back place with live music most of the day and night -- reminding us a bit of Foxy's in the BVIs.

You can see that Buddy enjoyed it, too. The waitress even brought him two strips of bacon and a bowl of water.

Buddy in his carry bag atop the table at Schooner Wharf Bar.

Here are some shots of our walk through other parts of Key West on Sunday:

A beautiful section of Key West called the Truman Annex.
I had not realized Harry Truman loved Key West so much.

Beau at Sloppy Joe's, made famous by "Papa" Hemingway.

A dramatic statue in front of the museum.

Key West's idea of Xmas decor??

You may (or may not) have noticed I am getting lax about my hair. Who cares?! I'm retired.

Buddy goes everywhere with us, of course, including the restaurant on Duval where we had brunch. That's him in the black bag, as usual.

On Sunday, there was a Pirate Festival, so of course we had to check it out. But first Beau took a tour of a 1934 Coast Guard cutter that was on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic during WWII. Can you imagine this small craft in the 20-30 foot waves up there? He said the quarters were tiny and would have made mere mortals very claustrophobic. But as we all know, the Greatest Generation were not mere mortals.

Ye olde WWII ship...

...next to ye olde pirate ship.

Ye olde pirate -- with his pet rats. Surprisingly, they were very cute. But we kept Buddy away from them. Yorkies were bred as ratters!

Ye olde pirate band.

The Pirate Festival was actually a bit of a bust, but entertaining nonetheless.

Nothing much to report for Monday, primarily because we were under the weather and had no energy to do anything. Tuesday, which was freaking cold once again, was spent cleaning. (I am not thrilled about having to do housework again after all the years of a cleaning service, I can tell you.)

We did get some sun today, although the weather is still very chilly. Beau spent most of the day cleaning and waxing Harvey the Mar-V RV, while I did...not much.  I made sure Buddy's eyes were protected from the sun, though, while we relaxed at the dock.

Doesn't he look like Jack Nicholson?

What a cool canine

Here's hoping the cold snap fizzles soon!

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 36: Spelling Shame...and the Trip to Key West

First, I have to say that Beau is not happy that I am writing about this. But I am mortified, so an explanation is absolutely crucial.

I went to our latest blog entry and OMG - I saw there were spelling errors. OH NOOOOO! The horror!

My fault, in that I did not proofread Beau's additions to the blog last night. (I have a nasty cold/sinus infection and other ailments at present -- my excuse.) I am mortified -- mortified, I say!! -- to see that there is a misspelled word: it's instead of its. Good lord.  Please know, dear friends, that Laura knows all too well the difference between the two. 

There are also issues with subject/verb agreement, that again, I must emphasize, do not emanate from moi. 

(Actually, Beau rarely makes such errors. He is quite a competent writer most of the time.)

Enough with the histrionics from the Drama Queen. Now that I am here blogging again -- without the hubby -- might as well add some more photos of the Everglades, Miami, and our trip to Key West. (It would be ironic -- and perhaps fitting --  if I, too, made a bunch of typos!)

Beau and Buddy at Mahogany Point, Everglades

Big gator!! And that's in the wild -- no alligator farm.

Laura and Buddy, Mahogany Point, Everglades

Miami

Yesterday, we took a ride to Miami Beach (which we never really saw due to all the traffic and my having to find a bathroom), and decided instead to check out Key Biscayne. Above, the view of Miami from the bridge connecting the mainland to Key Biscayne. Too bad we did not get any photos of Key Biscayne, in that it is quite lovely.

On to Key West

Today we left the Miami Everglades campground around 10 am and headed south, for Key West. The weather was beautiful and we could not believe how tranquil the waters around the Keys were...at first.

Look at that color!!

Note the turquoise Jersey barriers. Miles and miles of them! (Beau did add this caption, in that I have no idea what these dividers are actually called.)

 

But soon the wind started picking up, and we saw a distinct chop developing. 

The wind increased in velocity to the point that Beau had to pull over, get a ladder, and secure our awning -- the wind was trying to pull it free from the side of the rig!

Soon the clouds rolled in, along with more and more wind. Oh well, we cannot complain, in that we have had simply fabulous weather on this trip 95% of the time.

Forgot to mention one exciting thing! We saw a Key Deer! The photo is blurry, but here it is:

We also saw an osprey right on one of the bridges between the Keys. I snapped this as we whipped by, so it, too, is not the greatest photo:

The cloudy and windy weather did not dampen our enthusiasm for our new locale, Bluewater Key Resort (though it is further -- about 12 minutes or so -- from Key West than we thought). 

Note Buddy's obvious excitement upon arrival.

We are staying here until January 2nd. We have our own dock with a swim ladder, and a Tiki hut.

Har-V the Mar-V RV ensconced at Bluewater Key.

Not bad, eh? The week ahead is supposed to be a bit cooler -- mid 70s -- but sunny most days. Unfortunately, Beau now seems to be getting my respiratory infection. Oh joy. We will have to take turns pissing and moaning. 

Until next time!

Tanks, Panky