THURSDAY, PART II

A bunch of the pictures we took Tues/Wed didn't show up in Tim's email until after the previous post.  Not much narrative to add, other than I forgot to mention we toured the Mel Fisher Shipwreck Museum. (I keep calling it the Mel Gibson Museum.....)  Anyway, it's a very interesting museum and contains lots of information about artifact rescue and reclamation.  Worth the trip/$$.
FYI-Captions are underneath pics below.

Took this panoramic photo the first morning here. Drinking my coffee and looking around. We are blessed.

Outside West Marine. They have moved to a newer/bigger location since the last time we were here. Very nice store and full of so many items, a trip up and down each aisle is often required.

Me and my sponge-bob buddy, near Mallory Square.

An empty Mallory Square.

Sitting on the waterfront watching a local fisherman.  This little fish put up a good fight and bent the fisherman's fishing pole enough that we thought it would be much bigger.  He threw it back in.

The guys.

The Captain and his sponge buddy.

Mel Fisher Museum

A before and after on the helmet.

More before and after items.

This guy was just hanging out about half way through the tour.

Again, really worth the trip. Read more.
http://www.melfisher.com/default.html

One of the locals.

Pretty foliage.

Joe's buddy(ess).

Tim saw this. Thought it was funny. Enough said.

Hand feeding beautiful rooster.

Pretty blossoms.

And, back home. Our little buddy, enjoying the warm grass while Papa tills the garden.

Thursday.....still here.....

We were going to leave this morning and head to Marathon, but the weather forecast calls for 3' seas so the Captain said we would stay one more day.  We came down in 1'-2' seas, and we could probably handle 3', but the forecast for tomorrow is more calm....
We have spent the last 2 days touring and walking and eating and site seeing, etc.  Below are just a few of the sites we have seen. The weather the day we arrived was 82+.  A rain and WIND storm blew through the Tuesday and cooled things down considerably.  Yesterday and today the high's around 73.  Mostly sunny.  Beautiful!!
Below is a picture Joe took when Tim said we had just entered the everglades.

Yesterday we walked most of the way down Duvall Street.  Some of the pretty architecture.

An old cathedral. "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1323)

All around the city there are placards describing various historical events/places.  This placard recalls the great fire that destroyed the island.

As you can see, we were not the only people out on this day.  This is taken looking down Duvall Street.

All of these roots belong to one tree.  There are SO many amazing horticultural displays here.

When we were here last year we viewed the sunset from this pier.  It was also the first (and last) time that Tim tried conch fritters. :)  On this day, it was very windy.  Most of the commercial ships stayed in port as a result.

A view of Maggie Mae from the 'tourist' perspective.  See if you can find her.  It's been pretty funny to see people's expressions when they read our port city (PERRY, KS) on the back of our boat.  A few have even snapped photos.

Last night we decided to go view Mallory Square.  We arrived early enough to get a seat on a bench.  We sat for quite awhile and watched as the local vendors and street performers set up their wares/acts.  We ate popcorn and did some people watching.  Always fun.  I spent at least 10 minutes hand feeding popcorn to a male rooster, a hen and a few doves.

 It took awhile for the 2 popcorn carts to get ready and Joe was first in line.  I think this photo should be his new FB profile pic, don't you?

 This performer had an audience of 1, while getting his act set up.  He joked with the crowd (you will see below) about getting fired from Cirque du Soleil.

 His first act was to fit his muscular body though a tennis racquet.  It looked rather painful to me. :(

 Then the balancing act.  He started on 1 board and worked his way up to 3 boards separated by wooden blocks.  All the while, talking up the audience (that continued to grow).  In the end he juggled 3 sharp items while the crowd gave their applause.  In the end he held out his black bag asking for a meager donation of $5.  Joe paid. I carried. Amazing the number of donations he received.  Not bad for 30 minutes of performing.  We returned to the boat, had supper and watched a little TV.  I failed to mention that the cold I had has migrated to the Captain.  He lost his voice yesterday and generally felt miserable most of the day.

 Tim was giving us some type of instruction on the boat this morning.  Joe and I were paying very close attention, I'm sure.

Returning from a day downtown.

 On our walk past the city marina this morning, I spotted this 'fruit'(?) tree.  Joe thinks it may be a pomegranate.  Aletha?

 Spotted this ceramic lizard clinging to a tree downtown.  A few blocks later we found a little bakery and had breakfast blueberry and raspberry cheese danishes. Yum!!

 Heading back to the boat we spied this beauty.  Tim and I tried to convince Joe to have a seat for a photo opportunity, but he was reluctant to do so.  As we walked away there was discussion about whether or not we should lave lifted the lid....I won't go any further....

 My favorite palm (the bismark) shown here with what appear to be dates hanging from it. Joe said he had never seen any before on this type of palm.  They looked good enough to eat.

 So....you never know who you are going to run into.  Pictured below, on the left, with his arms raised high in the air is Joe Williams.  Both Tim and I worked with him in the KS Nat'l Guard.  He was getting ready to depart for a day of snorkeling.  Nice to see you having a good time, buddy.

There is a local restaurant (BO) where the guys said they would take me for lunch.  We had grouper sandwiches there Tuesday and a patron sitting next to us said they had the 'best cheeseburgers on the planet', so we're headed back there today.  We hope to get underway again tomorrow morning.  You see, we have a friend flying in to Ft Lauderdale to meet up with us on the 14th, so we need to be making way... Until then.

 





WELL, HELLO KEY WEST :)

Monday morning we got up at 6:00 and were underway by 7:00.  'Seas be damned!'  Well, almost.  We were just about to the Gulf when the starboard engine 'appeared' to be heating up.  You know, the engine that the guys just put a new temperature gage in?  The Captain decided we better turn around and check it out. And, oh by the way, we might as well top off the gas tanks while we're at it, hmmmm? Around we go. Engine cools on the way back. The place we want to stop for fuel doesn't have any, so we go a little further out of the way to Rose Marine.  Now that's an interesting story.  On our way into the marina we stayed Sunday, both Joe and I say 'Wow, this looks familiar. Isn't this the place where we took dolphin video last year?, etc..'. Tim says 'Nope! (he says this alot) I've never been here'. So, Joe and I shut up and we forget it for the evening.  Advance to Monday morning/Rose Marine.  As we take a 95 degree turn to get into Rose Marine, I think to myself, I know I've been here before. This looks too familiar.  We tie up to the gas dock and start fueling up.  Both Joe and I look around and Joe says 'I know we were here last year. I recognize the buildings and I know the bathrooms are right behind there.' To which, the dock hand says 'Yeah, you're right. They're right there.' We finish fueling and get underway and again Tim swears he's never been here.  In his mind, there is another place that has the exact same layout with the exact same shaped marina store (it's octagon shaped, btw). Ok, Tim, we'll play along.... Advance to last night, after dinner. Tim decides to go through his receipt folder and sure enough, last April 26th we purchased 3 fuel filters at Rose Marine. Now, back to the Gulf.
The picture below is supposed to be a 28 second snapshot of our 11 hours on the Gulf.  I guess I either don't know how to make it work or blogspot doesn't support video. Anyway, I think it gives you a good 'feel' for our day.  All in all, it was a VERY pleasant day.  The seas were between 1'-2' most of the day and the winds were off our port bow.  Maggie Mae got a good dose of salt, which should have removed any brown mustache that might have been lingering.  We were out of cellphone range for a good portion of the day, so calling ahead for reservations was delayed.  Fortunately Tim was able to get through roughly 1 hour before the A&B Marina closed for the day and secure us a spot for the next several days.  The waters down here are absolutely gorgeous.  Everyone should see them firsthand.

 We saw several turtles and I actually took several pictures of this particular fellow who happened to be right off the bow.  He stayed up until we were almost 20' away.  Hard to see, but he's at about 10:00 just off the bow light.  He dove right after this was taken. Amazing.

 A little update from KS.  Jessica and Jeremiah did some cooking/baking together yesterday.  She's posted pictures of her pretzels several times. Each time I am taken back to Oskaloosa High School basketball games of her and her brothers.  Very fond memories, indeed.  I've never tasted one of hers, but I'm guessing they're yummy.... (Pam, need some Elisha pictures, please :))

 This is a picture of Fort Zachary Taylor.  Read more :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Zachary_Taylor_Historic_State_Park

 Since we arrived about an hour before sunset there were quite a few tour boats either out or on their way out to view it.  We passed this old sail boat and I couldn't resist taking a picture, specifically with Jeremiah in mind.  One of his favorite Veggie Tales songs is "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything", so I send a picture to his mama for him.  His reply was "Is it really, Grandma!?!"

 They guys are currently in the engine compartment.  I think they're changing the impeller on the startboard water pump. You know... Preventive maintenance, it's a good thing.  Once they're done, I'm guessing we're going to hit the town.  Hopefully more pictures to follow.  A special shout out to Pidge. Love you!

BACK IN FLORIDA (PART II)

Some time has passed since I last posted.  We left Ft Myers about 3 weeks ago, having left the reduction gear from the starboard engine with a repairman in Palmetto.  It was repaired a couple of days after we returned and Tim and Joe successfully reinstalled it.  Before we left last time we went out to dinner one last time with Dave and Patt.  This was our view from the restaurant.

 I had a sore throat when we got back on Wednesday and it turned into a full blown head/chest cold by Friday, and put me in bed.  The original plan was to head out on Saturday, but Tim delayed our departure, giving me a chance to get better. Thank you, dear.  Thanks to brother Dave, we had his car and the guys did all the shopping on Friday, so we were able to get underway this morning.  This was our view as we departed Marinatown.  Our boat was in a slip down in front of the big condos on the left. 

 Look who came to visit!! Yep.  Jeremiah says 'My Jessie'.  It's adorable!!  Unfortunately, she came 2 days after we left :( She and her little buddy were 'hanging out' on Miah's farm with Grandpa's tractor and disc.  They are such good buddies!

 Another view of the restaurants at Marinatown.

The distance from the marina to the Gulf is 15 miles, all on the Caloosahatchee river.  Right before we arrived at the gulf, there was a narrow passage FULL of boats.  Guess it IS the weekend.  The river was calm and nothing compared to the Gulf.  It was pretty rough for the 4+ hours we were out there.  Tim decided to head back to the ICW from Naples to Marco Island.  The waters calmed immediately, and the depths were shallow.  We either passed or were overtaken by 168 boats (they made me say it). 

 Back on the ICW and our first eagle of this leg.  We spotted 2 turtles out in the Gulf, but they are so elusive it is impossible to get a photo of them.

SO many big, fancy homes near Naples.  These people and their money.  Beautiful green water most of the day.

 Even though the seas are supposed to be rough tomorrow, the Captain says we're going to continue on. The destination is Key West. If it's too rough, we'll head to Marathon, also in the keys, but closer to land. We depart at first light.  See you tomorrow!!