We hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Ours was nice and quiet with an occasional rain shower. It was also 75 degrees, so we aren't complaining. One of the bars/cafes in town hosted a Christmas dinner potluck, with the bar providing the turkey, ham, garlic potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The guests were to bring a dish to share and $5.00 per person. We considered going, but, on Christmas eve, reality set in and we headed down to the grocery store to pick up makings for dinner on board. There are 220 mooring balls, 99% filled, and another 50 or so boats anchored in the harbor. If half the boats went to the potluck and had two people per boat, we figured the line would be long and there wouldn't be any leftovers to enjoy later. We enjoyed our turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, orange-ginger sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. We also had pumpkin pie and, in keeping with Keys tradition, homemade key lime pie. Delish! For Christmas, Morgan gave me the gift of making breakfast! He made a very nice dish of Eggs Lorraine. Thank you, Morgan!

The Lower Keys bus system offered free rides on Monday and Tuesday, so, on Monday, the three of us hopped on the bus and headed to Key West for the day. We walked around and explored for a couple of hours before heading home. We would have stayed longer, but, the bus ride was 2 1/2 hours each way! And, there were two cruise ships in town, with passengers filling the streets. Morgan met a local, possible a rastafarian, and talked with him about his dreadlocks. Morgan now thinks he would like to try having them. There were a lot of chickens and roosters running around. Morgan thought it would be fun to take one back to the boat and have for dinner. On Tuesday, Scott and I had work to do, so, once again, Morgan hopped the bus to Key West. The Coast Guard has a station down there with a cutter that can be toured.
Morgan was hoping to go on a tour, but, they were closed Christmas eve. We'll try it again later, before he goes home.

Harbor life consists of taking the dinghy ashore for showers, email and social activities. There is a cruisers' net on the VHF radio every morning at 0900, with announcements, requests for assistance with projects, and buy/sell/trade of items. We have two small dolphin that like to swim around, as well as a spotted ray that visits us every morning. The body of the ray is only about 12-18 inches, but, the stinger/tail is 3-4 feet! There are also supposed to be manatee and turtles, but, we have yet to see them.

We hope each of you are safe and warm and enjoying your time. We'll check in later. All is well.