On the way to Key West, Elliott began singing show
tunes in his beautiful baritone.
That got Gary motivated to find and start playing his
showtunes song list and we sang and danced for a good portion of that
sail. We motored most of the way, but
had enough wind to sail into the harbor at sunset (I wonder how many photos
have us in the frame!)
Gary was freaking out a little because we had come
from the Marquesas, uninhabited except for animals and the occasional
cruiser. Maybe this was considered
civilization, but if you want to really find life, you have to go where there
seems to be none.
We were able to finally communicate with loved ones
after more than a week of not being able to raise a signal. It was interesting, though, as soon as we
delved back into electronics land, our emotions and tempers flared. Whether it was news from the outside world or
an e-mail that got our hackles up, we saw an immediate change in
atmosphere. Interesting social study,
there.
We anchored out for a few nights, then decided to
spend a few days at a marina to get water and fuel. Very expensive here, stupidly so, especially
as we were really just on the end of the fuel dock. The noise from the floating dock was crazy
the first night and a nearby boat with a canvas awning made crackly noises even
in light wind.
And, stupid us, we did not know it was Spring Break
here. What a mess! The marina boasted a nice pool and adjoining
restaurant and I dreamed of cool water and relaxation after our hot
journey. But it was not to be; when we
disembarked, we found hundreds of Spring Breakers taking up all available real
estate in and out of the pool. When we
walked by later after they had closed, we noticed numerous beer bottles and
white party cups at the bottom of the pool.
Some clever kids had made a beer bottle monument on the pool's
fountain. We shuddered at the thought of
the liquids we knew assumed were in the pool and knew we wouldn't be going in.
We did use the laundry one night; that worked out
well enough. Gary had helped me carry
the bags to the laundry room and then went back to the boat to hang out with
Elliott. As he reached the gate for the
marina dock, a group of guys were chasing another and a brawl had erupted. He struck up a conversation with one of the
guys involved (who was on a fishing boat on our dock), who said he had jumped
in the water to help a woman retrieve her cell phone, but then some other guys
got mad at him, and blah blah blah. Gary
was being nice by listening, but then the guy asked him what he was doing on
the dock. Gary replied that we were just
passing through. "Well then, you shouldn't be on this dock," the guy
snapped back, and then went on a tirade about those people who anchor out and
don't pay taxes, etc. Gary barely
acknowledged it because as I mentioned before, we were paying through the nose
to stay there, and said goodbye. That
made the guy mad. "Oh, so now
you're acting all high and mighty, eh?"
When Gary got back to the laundry room to tell me
this, I worried for Elliott on the boat in case the guy was really stupid and
wanted a fight. Alcohol must have turned
the stupid switch in this guy's head.
Elliott sent me a text showing him holding a rigging knife at ready;
whew, I could relax, kind of.
Key West itself is just an enjoyable town, even with
the guy who goes around telling the banana and vibrator joke to anyone who
would listen. Or the crackhead who wants
to sell you a joke for $1. No thanks.
Of course, we walked down Duval Street and we
stopped in some galleries and stores. We
got some blessed ice cream, too; nice.
We had breakfast at Pepe's, recommended to us by a friend. Long wait during a rain shower, but we enjoyed
it and loved being surrounded by history.
Our favorite dining experience in that fair city was
at The Cafe, a mostly vegetarian stopping point with excellent juices that
refreshed us so much we went back again the next day. It was our anniversary and we celebrated with
a fresh watermelon-cucumber-lime juice with mint that reached every thirsty
molecule in my body; so good. That
accompanied a big bowl of steamed edamame (lightly seasoned with sesame oil)
and I had a beet salad and the guys had mozzarella, tomato, and pesto
sandwiches. Highly recommended if you
stop there during your own travels.
Gary and I traveled on to the graveyard to pay our
respects; it was interesting to see the different sections of the graveyard and
how old some of the headstones were.
We stopped in at the Green Parrot (also recommended
by a friend), but it was so crowded that we decided to stop another day, which
we did, and at which point, we could sit and enjoy our frosty Margaritas with
ease.
While we continued traipsing around town on our
anniversary, Elliott was skate-boarding around town for some away-from-parents
time. Just as we passed by an organic
market, I looked over and debated going in and also saw a guy there with a
backpack just like Elliott's. Turns out,
it WAS Elliott. He was perusing a
menu. We said hello and he went on his
way.
Other touristy things were visits to the Hemingway
House and the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum.
We love seeing the six-toed cats and, even though Hemingway did not live
there a long time, just to soak up some of that atmosphere is so heady. A couple Elliott met and fell into
conversation with (imagine that!) had been to Cuba and told a bit of their
experience there. Supposedly, a surgeon
can make an equivalent of $30 dollars American for a month of work. The tourists are welcomed as the folks
showing them even just where the bathrooms are can make more money in a week
than the surgeon does in several months.
But, considering the communist government, who is really getting this
money? (I will discuss this more in the
post on the Marquesas--coming soon.)
After the marina disaster, we decided to head off to
a mooring field for the duration of our stay (the staff was great at the marina, just to clarify; I had no quarrel with any of them).
A friend of ours, the Dred Pirate Tom, whom I adore, was over there and
we were all excited to get reacquainted with him.
We went over to his boat for sundowners; we brought
rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice.
He had ICE! Match made in
heaven. The drinks were awesome and we
really enjoyed our visit. He and Elliott
made a date to do some lobstering the next day at the edge of the mooring
field.
While they were doing their lobster trip, Gary and I
dinghied over to the mooring field office and checked in. I waited in the dinghy and watched the
activity at the docks. One fisherman, a
scraggly rat-faced guy with a cigarette hanging from his lips, was cleaning his
fishing rods and boat and obviously hated the pelicans. He yelled at them constantly and fired off
barrages of water from the hose to unseat them from their perches.
Another boat came in while I was there and while the
guy was filleting the fishes, he threw the dregs into the water and into the
mouths of waiting pelicans; they were happy.
There were very large fish (or shark) also in the harbor and the charter
captain helped a little boy hang a carcass over the boat while one of these
fish (?) jumped out of the water to get it.
I would be scared to death!
We tied up over at the dinghy docks, locked up, and
hopped on a bus to go downtown. This was
our walkabout day and our revisit to The Cafe.
Again, deliciousness. Took the
bus back and then, by coincidence, met Tom on the docks. Found out he and Elliott did get some lobster
and that we had two waiting on board to cook up for dinner. Wow; I did not expect that! He was going to meet some friends for dinner,
so we said our goodbyes there as we were leaving in the morning. Again, another great person we've met on our
travels and one whom we hope to see again at some point down the water.
Elliott was so excited about his two hours
lobstering with Tom; Gary and I had said that as much as we enjoy Elliott's
company, he gets so much from being and learning from other people. He was proud to show us his catch! A lot of cruisers fish regularly for their
meals, but we've not yet had the heart to kill anything. This was a first time and even though it was
a little hard for me, too, I helped Elliott steam the tails and make it in to a
salad for lobster rolls. The guys liked
them, but Elliott says the next one, he's just eating it steamed with
butter. Already a connoisseur!
We set sail right off the mooring ball and headed
for our next stop, Big Pine Key.
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