Week seven at Knights Key - Marathon, FL

Sunset between the 2 bridges

Sunset between the 2 bridges

Judy, Mike and Evin sunset between 2 bridges

Sunset with beautiful rays

Mike on sand bar at Bahia Honda State Park

Mike on sand bar at Bahia Honda State Park

Feb. 23 - Mar. 1    On Saturday we said good-bye to our friends, Peggy and Gordon.  We spent most of the day reading and working on the computer.  After supper' Steve and Evin called and invited us over to their RV for some Key Lime Pie; it was very good.  On Sunday we drove up to the airport to go see the Pigeon Key Art Festival.  There were some nice jewelry and photography.  After lunch we went to Sombrero Beach.  It was hot enough that I finally went in swimming, first time since we arrived.  At 5:30 we rode our bikes over to Steve and Evin's and then we all continued riding our bikes up to Old 7 Mile Bridge to watch the sun set between the bridges; so beautiful.  We also saw a shark sitting on the bottom of a shallow area near the bridge.  When we got back home we all went to dinner at the Island Fish Company.  On Monday we went to Bahia Honda State Park.  The beach is covered with a lot of seaweed but the water is crystal clear and shallow and the sand in the water is so white.  At low tide the sand bar appeared.  We took our chairs and sat in the water out by the sandbar; such a beautiful setting.  I also had brought a snorkel and mask and walked to the edge of the sand and floated on top of the water.  I saw fish and conch shells; one of them had a crab living in it.  There was a lot of coral too.  On Tuesday not much happened.  I did go and get a pedicure.  On Wednesday Mike and I finally went and had our hair cut; it had been 7 weeks.  We met Steve and Evin at Sparky's for lunch.  We all decided we wanted the deep fried key lime pie so we stopped at Porky's and each had a slice; oh so good.  When we got back home it was late afternoon but we wanted to go to Sombrero Beach one last time, so we did.  The ocean was like glass and just before we left, 2 hours later, we saw 4 dolphins playing out in the water.  We watched them for about 15 minutes.  On Thursday we took our last walk up on Old 7 Mile Bridge.  I got to see another sea turtle while I was walking on the bridge, Mike had turned back already.  When we got back to the RV we started to pack the outside stuff getting ready to leave tomorrow.  At dinner time we walked over to Steve and Erin's and they drove all us down the road to the Sunset Grill and Raw Bar for our last meal in the Keys.  There was no sunset because it was real cloudy all day.  Friday we were up by 8:00 and on the road by 11:00.  We arrived at John Prince Park Campground in Lake Worth, FL, just south of West Palm Beach.  We set up and then went out dinner.  We were going to Longhorn Steak House but it was an hour wait so we went next door to a Japanese Steak House and had a good meal.

Week six at Knights Key - Marathon, FL

A white pelican at Sunset Beach

Judy and Mike at sunset, very cold and windy

Beautiful Rainbow

there is a double rainbow, hard to see

2 manatees

3 manatees

Mike, Peggy and Gordon at Sunset Grill

So close to this pelican I could touch him

Feb. 16 - 22   On Saturday it was a cloudy and cold day, didn't get above 70 degrees.  We stayed at the RV most of the day.  I did ride my bike around the park a couple of times.  In the evening one of the couples we have gotten to know, Chris and Wayne, came over to our RV and we played Phase 10.  The wind blew really really hard all night long.  On Sunday we woke up to sun but only 53 degrees and still very windy.  We decided to go to the movies to see Argo but when we got there the line was way out the door and after waiting in line for awhile, we were told the movie was sold out so we drove to The Panda House and had Chinese buffet for lunch because we were going to have popcorn for our lunch.  After sunset, the sunset gang went out to dinner at The Island Fish Company.  It was Walt and Diane's choice because they were leaving the next day.  Monday we got up early to say good-bye to Walt & Diane - they are from Fort Wayne, IN and Chris and Wayne - they are from Hammondsport, NY.  After lunch Mike and I drove up to Mile Marker 77.5 to Robbie's Marina.  We were told we could see and feed 4 to 5 foot Tarpon fish.  They weren't feeding them because the water was too cold, but we did see them - huge fish.  Also I got to be real close to a pelican who was on the dock and didn't fly away when we walked by them.  We came back home and tried to go to the movies again.  This time we got in.  Their theater is real different.  They have seats and also tables and chairs in a big room.  We loved the movie and it did win Best Picture at the Oscars.  Tuesday was a rainy day.  In the afternoon it just poured, then the sun came out and it was still raining and we had the most gorgeous double rainbow.  We spent the evening watching Hawaii-Five-0 and Chicago Fire on my computer on Hulu.com.  Wednesday our friends from Waterloo, NY were arriving. Before they got here, we rode our bikes around and when we went by the docks, there were a bunch of people looking at the water.  We went over to see what they were watching.  There were 8 manatee in the harbor.  Mike & I saw 4 and watched as they swam out of the harbor.  Our friends arrived and we showed them around the park then drove to Key Fisheries for lunch.  We went to see the sunset and the clouds were the prettiest we had ever seen - all pink and orange.  We took them to Island Fish Company for dinner.  The four of us always play cards when we get together so when we got home, we played Hand and Foot and Peggy and I won.  Thursday the four of us drove to Key West - they had never been.  We were there all day.  Saw 2 cruise ships in port, Mallory Square and we walked down Duaval Street and ate lunch in one of the many outdoor bars.    When we got home we put our bathing suits on and drove over to Sunset Grill, right down the road from our campground.  They have a nice pool with outdoor dining so we swam and had cocktails, then had dinner and watched the sun set.  When we got home we played cards again.  The guys beat us in Hand and Foot but Peggy and I won in Euchre.  Friday Peggy and Gordon wanted to go on the Turtle Hospital Tour.  They thoroughly enjoyed it and our tour guide told us some things we hadn't heard about even though this was our third tour.  We spent the afternoon at Sombrero Beach.  We saw something at the beach you usually don't see - a man with no shirt on had a beautiful blue and yellow parrot on his shoulder and was walking the beach.  When we got home we were too full from lunch - we had stopped at the Chinese buffet again - so we just had sandwiches for supper.  We played cards again and the guys beat us.  Peggy and Gordon are leaving early Sat. morning.  We had a great visit.

Week five at Knights Key - Marathon, FL

Valentine's Lunch at Sparky's Landing with the gang

Dinner at Porky's with the gang

Judy's fried keylime pie, delicious

Feb. 9 - 15    On Saturday we rode our bikes up to the bridge and out to Pigeon Key and back - 5 miles.  While on the bridge we saw two big sea turtles come up for air and go back down.  In the afternoon we went to Sombrero Beach.   Sunday there was an Art Festival down in the K-Mart shopping center so we went down and checked it out.  They had some different glass art and there was a lady who did art with fabric that was beautiful.  I spent the afternoon cleaning up from the kids visit and doing some laundry.   Monday afternoon Walt, he and his wife Diane we met 2 years ago and kept in touch, came down and showed Mike and I how to winterize our RV so we don't have to spend money having someone else do it.  After sunset Walt and Diane, Tim and Diane, Mike and I all went out to dinner because it was Tim and Diane's last night.   Tuesday Mike and I went to Sombrero Beach again, it was so warm I went into the ocean up to my waist.  I usually just get me feet wet because it is cold.  We made a pitcher of margaritas and took them down to the sunset.  They were so good.   Wednesday we went to the beach again.  At night we played Bingo but did not win.  The weather has been sunny, blue sky and in the low 80's.  Thursday was Valentine's Day.  We had decided to do a Valentine's lunch instead of dinner.  We went to Sparky's Landing, right next to a boat marina. Very pretty setting right on one of the boat canals.  We had gone there 2 yrs. ago and I had a lobster taco which was delicious. We had mentioned we were going to Sparky's the night before at sunset and the whole gang joined us (10 of us).  We all had a good meal and my taco was delicious.  When we got home I took a ride around the campground several times, I was too lazy to ride all the way up to the bridge.  After sunset we watched our first movie in the RV.  It took me a little while to figure the system out but finally got it to work.  We don't watch TV here because we only have an antenna and there is no cable reception.   Friday was the first day we woke up to a completely cloudy sky, it had rained the night before.  We drove up to the bridge and walked for a while then came home.  It rained on and off all afternoon so Mike took a nap and I worked on the computer and read.  Seeing it was cloudy and there was no sunset we were invited down to Walt and Diane's for Bloody Marys under their awning.  Steve and Evin and Wayne and Chris joined us too.  We all went out to dinner to another seafood restaurant, The Castaways and had a good meal.  That is one thing they are not short of, seafood restaurants around here, which is fine by us. 

Week four at Knights Key - Marathon, FL

Will & Witney at Dolphin Research Center

An iguana at the Dolphin Research Center

Witney, Bill, Will at DRC

Bike ride to Pigeon Key (Witney is sleeping)

Dinner at Upper Crust Pizza - Terry & Mike's last night

Feb. 2 - 8     On Sat. morning the bikes were delivered for Katie and family.  They flew into Miami around 7:00PM.  By the time they got their luggage and rented the car and found out how to get to the Keys, they arrived here at 11:30PM.  Sun. Will was so excited to have a bike here so he could ride all over, with an adult with him.  Bill wanted to go over to the Flea Market that we went to last Sat. so we all piled into their rented mini-van and drove over the 7 Mile Bridge and went to the Flea Market.  In the afternoon we drove over the 7 Mile Bridge again to a small beach on the other side of the bridge.  It is nice and sandy and shallow so the kids had fun playing in the water. We had been invited to attend a Super Bowl Party and watch the Super Bowl outside 2 RV's down from ours.  We all went over and ate then the guys stayed to watch the game and Katie and I and the kids came back to our RV and we put the kids to bed then she and I played cards.  Monday we had reservations to go see the Turtle Hospital Tour.  It is such a good tour and so informative.  In the afternoon we went to Sombrero Beach and the kids had fun there too playing in the water.  There is also a playground and the kids enjoyed that too.  Tuesday we went to the Dolphin Research Center.  We saw a lot of dolphins, even a mom and her 2 month old baby.  In the afternoon we all biked the Old 7 Mile Bridge.  We put Will's and my bikes in the mini-van and I drove Will and I up to the bridge.  The others rode their bikes from the RV to the bridge.  We all rode out to Pigeon Key, 2 miles, even Will made it.  Witney fell asleep while riding behind her mother.  When we got back to the RV we decided to go swimming at a restaurant which is just down the private drive from the campground.  As long as you order something you can swim in their heated pool.  We swam for about 2 hours.  Wednesday after breakfast we decided to go walk the Old 7 Mile Bridge.  We took the double stroller and both Witney and Will rode for a while.  We walked out to the 1 mile marker and back.  We had reservations at Crane Point Nature Museum for 11:30 so we headed to that.  It was interesting, we learned about native plants and we saw a Bird Hospital which had a lot of pelicans that had been hurt or injured.  After lunch we drove back to the restaurant and swam in the pool, ate dinner and saw the sunset, which was very pretty again.   Thursday Katie and Bill packed and we drove to Key West.  We parked right in the downtown area and walked around, saw a cruise ship that had just docked and did some souvenir shopping.  We ate lunch at the Hogs Breath Saloon, Mike just loves the name.  We went to the motel and swam in the pool.  We ate dinner at Benihanna's Japanese Steak House and had a very good meal.  Katie and family flew out of Key West on Friday morning at 6:30.  They ran into some delays because of the big winter storm but made it home safely at 6:30 at night.  We drove back to Marathon and relaxed the rest of the day.  That night after sunset we all went to Upper Crust Pizza (14 of us) because it was Terry and Mike's last night.