Anyway, the next stop was Marco Island. I am sure that Marco is a wonderful place to visit and that the marina where we stayed was very good. However, we stopped at Marco for two and only two reasons. First, we wanted to get a little “outside” experience before undertaking the long trip to Key West. By “outside,” we mean in the real Gulf of Mexico, not in one of the bays or sounds that serve as a barrier between the Gulf and the mainland. Second, we wanted to shorten the trip to Key West by a few miles. In that sense, our trip to Marco Island was very successful.
Today we arrived at Key West!! We had intended to leave the marina in Marco Island by 0615, when it would have been (barely) light enough to navigate out of the marina and back to the Gulf. We woke up at 0’dark thirty, got everything ready then had to wait for the windows to become un-steamed. We tried everything to see out of them. We wiped them with a squeegee several times and even used the windshield wipers (actually, we used two of the windshield wipers; when they replaced the middle wiper, they did not get it quite right so it hits the side of the window and damages the butyl around the window). Anyway, by about 0630 it looked like we would be able to depart in a few minutes. So, we started the engines, let them warm up then, we were off. I must admit that it was one of my better backing jobs and marina departures. Then it was around the telephone pole – actually a huge structure that carried some kind of cable structure, but it looked like a mammoth telephone pole – and out to sea.
The departure went well and by about 1100 we were out of sight of land. We had chosen our weather window well; the water was very smooth. Actually I would guess that the seas were between one and two feet, but the period (spacing between the waves) was such that we hardly felt any effect at all on the flybridge of Traveling Soul. So, since we weren’t being thrown from one side of the bridge to the other, the trip was long and … well … boring. It was punctuated by sightings of sea creatures that we hadn’t seen very often. There were, of course, pods of wild, frolicking dolphins (it looked to me like they were looking for something to eat, but Ann said they were frolicking—so they were frolicking damnit!) We also saw some kind of small fish the seemed to skip across the water for 100 meters or so. No, I am not kidding; they were really skipping. I know, I know, you think I’m wacky – fish can’t skip. Well, they were either skipping across the waves or they were walking on water. I’ll leave it to you to decide. (In so doing you might also want to consult your local priest or minister who might have something to say about who walks on water and who doesn’t.) We also saw a couple of bait balls (masses of small fish jumping into the air wishing the water column were just a little higher so they could escape the rapacious big fish coming after them), weird looking birds and thousands upon thousands of very tiny markers for crab pots.
Anyway, as I was saying, we finally arrived at Key West. It took us a while to find our very expensive marina. When we did, though, we successfully pulled in and secured the boat. So, what do you do in the late afternoon the day before Thanksgiving while in Key West?? You party!! Although both of us were a little tired from the trip, we decided to go find Duval Street and see what all the hubbub was about. Okay, okay, it was my idea. Being the cheapskate I am, I figured that if we were only going to be able to stay in this very expensive marina (have I mentioned the price of the marina before) for a couple of days, we should take advantage of every minute we were there.
We walked around for about a half hour, then settled on a restaurant/bar named Fogarty’s primarily because it seemed a little less raucous than most of the other places and we were more starved for food than for entertainment. Ann and I shared appetizers. She had shrimp quesadilla and I had, well of course I had to have conch fritters. After eating several of them I remembered why I normally did not seek out conch fritter restaurants – I don’t care for them very much. Still, when in Rome … and when in the Conch Republic … .
The next day, Thanksgiving, we went downtown early and bought tickets on the Old Town Trolley. It gives you a tour of Old Town Key West and allows you to get off and on the trolley as many times as you want. Ann and I got off at Hemingway’s House (which was also the site of the Key West Lighthouse), at the southernmost point in the US, which also has the southernmost Hotel, the southernmost house, the southernmost trinket shop – I think you get the idea. We then went to Sloppy Joe’s, supposedly Hemingway’s favorite bar, and had beer and pizza as a pre-Thanksgiving lunch. We then went back to the boat, relaxed a little and got a little homesick for an old fashioned Thanksgiving. It was then time for fried chicken and mashed potatoes which was our Thanksgiving meal! MMM MMM good!
Since we were paying for this very expensive slip in downtown Key West, we decided that we had to go downtown one more time. So, after dinner and after relaxing, ewe went to a place called the Whistle and Bull. Although neither Ann nor I are real hard rock fans, there was a woman who was a great entertainer. Yes, she sang Janis Joplin tunes – remarkably well, I might add – but she also dressed a young man from the audience in very skimpy women’s clothing and paraded him around the bar while he danced and received tips (dollar bills in his clothing) from the women. That and a couple of similar stunts made the evening very fun. Okay, I guess you had to be there.
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