My Happy Place

Sometimes things just fall into place so well that I truly believe in magic.

Social media is the magical wizard these days.  Like a GPS, you type in where you want to go and, all of a sudden, you hear from people in that area hoping to be able to spend some time with you and you with them.

Fredericksburg folks have really represented on this trip, which was totally unexpected.  I really didn't expect anything in the way of the number of great visits we've had with folks from back home.

But once again, friends from up north are vacation in the lovely south of Florida and said they'd love to see us. 

When we originally planned our stop in Marathon, we figured we'd find a mooring ball or anchorage in Boot Key Harbor and dinghy back and forth into town for provisioning and a possible hospital visit (my ribs still hurt pretty bad a week out, so I thought it was time to get an x-ray).

Our friend, Suzy, and her partner, Otis, rented a house for a whole month and had friends coming and going during that time culminating in a big tennis tournament at the end of the month.  Most of them are tennis players, but we thought we might be able to get along with them (ha).  There was a seawall at their property, but we weren't sure whether we might have the ability to tie up properly.  And they were up a creek (in a good way) that was quite shallow at the inlet.  But give Cappy a challenge and he'll jump on it.   We figured that we could at least stop by and say hello before possibly turning around and having to go out and come around the longer way to get into the harbor.

And I'm the kind of person who worries about infringing on peoples' planned things, you know?  Most folks like things to go as planned with no kinks in the line.

Making our way up the creek, we saw quite an array of shore birds, a nice beach at the entrance (Sombrero Beach), and the depth was great at high tide.  Some shoals, but we had a good lookout in Elliott.  As we crept close to the dock, there was our friend taking photos as we pulled in.  We had to shift a bit because closer up, the water was too skinny, so we pulled lines and adjusted until Nalani was sitting in comfortable water.  Now, not only were we warmly greeted by our friend Otis, but the wall was perfectly outfitted with cleats, electric, light, and water.  It could not have been more perfect.

Otis' partner had been called out of town for a sporting event, so we got to know her better and I'm so glad for it.  She's groovy and likes Downton Abbey--woot!  She took us out to a fun place for dinner and wherever we wanted to go, she was offering to make the ride easy for us.  So very kind.

The next day, we decided that I should get that week-old rib injury looked at, so we took a dinghy ride over to the marina we'd originally thought about using, and of course, they charged us more than it would have cost to even take a taxi to dock for a few hours.   The emergency room was pretty much empty at Fisherman's Hospital, so I got seen without the requisite three-hour wait.  I could hear the doctor talking on the phone, and heard, "You're the bomb!" quite a few times.  A hip doctor, just a little behind the times.

He came in, introduced himself, asked a lot of questions, glanced at my chest, called me "man" a few times (South Florida doctor lingo, I guess) and had me taken away to X-ray, where I was flat-screened three times.  No breaks, but a bad chest contusion.  The nurse gave me a Percocet to start my prescription out, but I had forgotten, and they didn't ask, about whether I had eaten that morning.  I had not and you KNOW that pill started making me loopy even before I walked out the sliding door of the hospital.

A restaurant that had been mentioned to us by another friend we'd met up with in Florida, The Stuffed Pig, was within walking distance, so we hoofed it there for get fueled up.  I broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't remember the name for pancakes.  Thankfully, as soon as the food starting making its way down my gullet, the effect of the narcotic lessened.  I decided not to fill the prescription right away; that drug is awesome, but scary.

So, the house we docked up to had a tennis court, a heated pool in which I practiced my limited snorkeling skills, and very comfortable accommodations.  Elliott stayed in the house until another group of friends came in to take over his room.

I had made a huge meatloaf the night before, so when folks started trickling in, we had dinner ready.  We ate out a few more times.  Cocomo's, the taco truck, was a huge win, and I would go there again and again, for sure.  When the other host, Suzy, returned from her trip, I laughed when I showed her the boat we bought instead of the house she had shown me (she's a realtor in real life and a damn good one--let me know if you want a reference).  We were treated to a visit to a chill seafood restaurant and dined on Stone Crab claws and fried fish.  The lobster Reuben is quite the rave there and Elliott got one because he loves lobster now.  At the house, special recipes for mixed drinks were tried and LOVED by yours truly.  Homemade chicken soup really hit the spot and I woke up the next day in notably less pain than the day before.

Otis loves the dolphins and manatees that come to visit and I shared in the evening routine of looking for them; occasionally, we were successful and it was a joy until we were chased inside by noseeums.

Gary, Elliott, and I visited Sombrero Beach, where I got to witness a young Brazilian guy doing a great job of talking up a stunningly beautiful woman who was visiting from Somerville, Mass.  Elliott overheard him talking about racing cars, so he got his attention and they had a long chat.  Very amiable guy named Daniel; if you see him there on the beach, say hello.  He and family were there for a week or so, and they all said hi to Elliott and when we left, Daniel came over and gave E a man hug; it was cute.

On the way to the beach, we were dinghying down the river and we noticed a sailboat anchored in a wide part of the creek.  We waved, even though we didn't know them, because that's what we do.  Well, they waved  and waved, and started talking to us, which we couldn't really hear over the motor, and it wasn't until we saw their stern that we realized it was Sea Monkey, the folks we had seen with Dred Pirate Tom in Stuart.  So we sidled over and chatted a bit and then we stopped on our way back from the beach for a drink and conversation in their cockpit.  Too much fun and we so love running into these folks.  Lovely family.

 

As a parting gift to everyone for their kindness and hospitality, we offered a sunset sail before we left to anchor by the bridge for the night.  The guys opted out to hit the bar, so the wonderful group of women came on board and we motored out of the creek and then sailed for a beautiful ending to a beautiful stay.  We had a great time.  The sunset was gloriously glowing, unlike any I'd seen so far on our travels; a good omen for that moment and the rest of our journey.

As we came back into the dock, I felt sad to be leaving, but thankful, so thankful, for meeting new friends and getting to know our friends even better.  So, you know, sometimes it is okay to be a little nervous about a new destination, but when welcomed with such open arms, it is easy to make it a home away from home for a short while.  Marathon was definitely a highlight of this trip.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.