Visiting with friends
We took the shuttle in with Judy and friends, Corrine and Anna. They have been here for two nights and enjoyed their trip out to the reefs on Nemo. We all played mexican train last night on Nemo and listened to the stories about their trip. They are catching the ferry in Key West to Ft. Myers today and then drive home to North Carolina. We walked through the historic district and admired the old homes with their conch shell pink doors, blue porch ceilings, gingerbread trim and lush plantings that included air ferns and orchids attached to the trees. We walked to the cemetery where we met Perry, a colleague and friend of Corrine's, who has retired in Key West with his wife, Annette. We learned a lot of interesting historical, as well as amusing, facts on the cemetery tour with Perry. He then invited us to his house just up the street. I just fell in love with their house. It is one of three original houses in this block, estimated to have been built in the late 1800's. They bought it 17 years ago when they decided, on a whim, to retire to Key West from North Carolina. It is a small house with a living room, kitchen,bedroom and bath downstairs. There is a " half " upstairs with a bedroom,bath and library area. They have done a beautiful job of renovating the baths and kitchen. A wonderful covered deck on the back takes up most of the tiny yard and is surrounded by lush greenery, including bamboo and orchids, that feels like an oasis. It is a little gem.
Perry and Annette tell us all about Key West life and they seem to love it! Carl and Judy and I leave Corinne and Anna behind to visit longer as we search out a spot for a bite to eat. We realize,walking back,that we only have time to pick up something to take with us in order to meet the shuttle at the waterfront by 4:30. We stop in a little cafe and get mango smoothies to go. The shuttle arrives at 4:30. Corrine and Anna get their luggage out of the van and we say good bye. They walk down the waterfront to the ferry and we take the shuttle back to the marina.
Just can't get enough of Key West
We are becoming accustomed to the roosters crowing in the mornings. I am taking lots of pictures of roosters and guineas for future art inspirations. We have been busy these last two weeks, taking the shuttle in to Old Town every two or three days. The nice thing about staying a month is having the luxury of time to research everything here and find places off the beaten path. We walked to Higgs beach from Old Town and stopped to visit the tropical gardens of the Civil War era West Martello Tower, now the Key West Garden Club. We went to Mallory square for the sunset celebration and had dinner at Kelly's. The owner of the restaurant keeps his 56 Farr at Stock Island marina, next to us. He has owned the restaurant for 20 years. It is named for his first wife, Kelly McGillis, the actress that played in Top Gun with Tom Cruise, among other films. The building, which has been moved from its original location, housed the first office for Pan American airlines.
Carl and I returned to the oldest house in Key West for the 53rd annual conch blowing contest. We managed to get there early enough to get a seat. It was standing room only. They had hotdogs, hamburgers and a full bar. So... we had lunch and a margarita! The contest was very entertaining. We all hung out at Shrimp Road Grill one night for the Full Moon party with live music and open jam. Last night we rode our bikes to the Hurricaine Hole for dinner.
Marina life
There are many beautiful yachts coming and going in this marina. We have the 56 Farr, Banana Wind, on our starboard and a 57 Bristol on our port. Corsair, the Bristol, just finished the Carribean 1500 in 4th place. In addition, there was a brand new 55 Beneteau Oceannis, as well as beautiful trawlers and 60 foot motor yachts. We previously had the Dragon ocean racing team on their 54 foot yacht from Mystic, CT. on our port. They came by way of Cuba after competing in races down the east coast and in the Caribbean. I was surprised to discover that two of the shrimp boats in the fleet across the channel are from Mississippi!
The floating docks act like man made reefs. At night we look along the docks with our flashlights and are fascinated by the things we see. Reef fish such as sargeant majors and parrot fish, baracuda, sturgeon, needle fish, wierd looking sea hairs, something that looked like a lionfish and lobsters. Judy tried to catch a big lobster. She had a really long boat hook with a mop on the end and a net. She patiently waited for him to come out of hiding, but he was too quick and got away. One day while I was fishing, a manatee came up beside our boat. I put my pole down and laid down on the dock to touch him. He was munching on grasses floating on top of the water. This one was about 8 feet long and must have weighed 400 pounds. He just rolled around and then continued along the dock feeding on the "manmade reef". He slipped under the docks and along side another boat drinking the water discharged from the air conditioning. He hung around for an hour or so. The next day there were two together along the face dock. Their faces are so cute! They have a short "elephant trunk like"snout. Judy joined us for a walk past Hemmingway's house on our way to see the lighthouse. Then we decided to walk to the Eco Discovery center. This was the highlight of our day. The center is a wealth of information on the wildlife in the mangroves and the sea life on the reefs.
Home and gardens
The Old Island Restoration Foundation has a couple of house tours every year. I have enjoyed the Richmond home and garden tours with my mother and sister for many years. I decided to take this tour since I will miss the Richmond tour. What a treat that was! Carl went with me and he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. There were five homes on the tour. Some were beautiful restorations and some newer replications. The first was a "tiki hut" motif condo in the Truman Annex. Another was an oceanfront 1890's house owned by a famous "fan dancer", Sally Rand. There was a gothic cottage, built in 1983,that was awarded a ceramic star by the Historic Florida Keys Foundation. One house was a "conch cottage" and another was a cigar makers cottage. All of the houses were beautifully decorated and landscaped with tropical plants. The bougainvillea and other flowers are coming into full. bloom now. A few of the houses had small pools with hot tubs and waterfalls packed onto their small lots. Carl and I saw four of the homes the first day. Judy went with me the second day to the cigar makers cottage and then we had lunch down the street at El Siboney,named for one of the two Indian tribes to occupy Cuba before colonization. The restaurant has been featured in Southern Living magazine and the food was delicious. We had stuffed crabs, yuca frita , tamales and the best sangria I've ever had! I will be taking Carl back there.

This month has flown by. We have had a blast in Key West. Don and Judy are planning to leave on Monday. They are headed to Stuart where they will leave their boat and pick up their car at Judy's Dad's house and drive to Connecticut. Since they have sold their house, they will begin construction on an in-law suite at Judy's daughters house. Then, they are off to Cancun for another daughters wedding where they will enjoy 10 days thawing out from being up north. Then they will fly to Stuart at some point to pick up the boat and sail back to Urbanna for the summer. We have had a blast with them and will miss them for sure. Wishing Nemo safe travels and we hope to cross paths again soon. We have decided to stay here another month. We just can't seem to get enough of Key West!