12/29/13 - Departed Angelfish Creek at 9:06am and arrived in our slip at the Pilot House Marina in Key Largo at 12:48pm.
Our plans were to stay here for one week but the weather changed those 'notional plans' and we extended our stay through Wednesday morning.
When we first entered the channel to this marina we had no idea we would be travelling down a long canal to get to the docks. We were literally travelling behind people's houses and several residents came out to wave hello to us. Bob asked one homeowner if we were heading to the right place (no signs to direct us) and the response was "go till you get to the end". We also worried about the depth...........the water is so clear we could see the rocks on either side of the canal. We pulled up to the fuel dock and were assured that there is a good six feet of water underneath us! Yeah, but what about the rocks!
We tied up to our slip with help from the dockmaster - Darryl - a nice, quiet guy.

The slip is actually part of the restaurant and we have enjoyed music every night since we've been here. Good bands and a variety of music. The marina has lights in the water and at night you enjoy seeing the fish swimming around the boat. Pretty cool. We rented a car the next day and got a great deal from Enterprise. We checked out a couple of marinas in Marathon and Islamorada because they are next on our itinerary. The best thing was travelling through Islamorada, a place near and dear to our hearts, and saw that our favorite artist, Stacie Krupa, was in her studio so of course, we had to stop. We spent about twenty minutes catching up with Stacie and chatting about her paintings. We are considering commissioning her to paint a piece for our living room in Port Charlotte. So exciting!
We celebrated New Year's Eve at the Pilot House Restaurant and drinks at the Glass Bottom Bar. Dinner was terrific and we couldn't have asked for a more lively place on New Year's Eve. The next morning we received a surprise New Year's Day call from Ginny and Jan, who were roaming the streets of South Philly checking out the stringbands who were practicing for the parade. We got to listen to a snippet of Woodland's music and it brought all the stringband memories back for Bob. What we didn't miss was the 22 degree weather.

Bob's friend Bill joined us on Thursday and he and Bob got in a snorkeling trip out to the Molasses Reef. That night we had dinner at the infamous Fish House restaurant where Bob first fell in love with their Key Lime Pie with the 10 foot Meringue topping (at least that's how Bob describes it). We also checked out Mrs. Mac's Kitchen for breakfast which rated high in Trip Advisor. One thing we remembered about Key Largo is how laid back and fun it is. There is no such thing as formal here. We checked out the Sandal Factory and Diver Direct shops where Bob picked up a wet suit. Of course a new pair of sandals found their way into my bag too.
If you haven't visited the Keys, we highly recommend it. Especially when the weather is so crazy cold in the northeast! It is really the most laid back place to just kick back and chill out.

Key Largo was a great place to enjoy our 23rd wedding anniversary. What could be better than being with your best bud, enjoying good food, drinks, cool music and beautiful weather. Very cool, very happy, and very grateful. Experiencing the best in life has raised our spirits to a whole new level. And we're happy to share it with our family and friends.

Happy 2014 everyone!