Ft. Myers to Marathon

A few days after Christmas we drove back to Ft. Myers with our cat, Schatze, who has become quite the traveler at 19 years of age. Our stay in Michigan wasn't quite what we had expected, in that Linda spent most of that visit in Harrisville, attending to her mom who suffered a severely broken arm the day we arrived home. Once in Florida, though, we began to relax by enjoying New Year's Eve with our friends Russ and Barb and common friends, the Slattons. Everyone's main topic of conversation over the next couple of weeks was the weather, in that Florida was experiencing a record cold spell that seemingly wouldn't break. The temperatures, which were for two weeks about 15-25 degrees below normal, caused a massive fish kill, where millions of fish died from shock in the shallow waters of Florida and its Keys. We saw thousands of dead reef fish as well as iguanas and other small reptiles floating dead in the waters around us.

Daughter, Jennifer, and grandkids, Courtney and Carter, visited us during this cold snap. Though they couldn't enjoy any beach time, we found lots to do. The kids enjoyed a 90 minute cruise on a pirate ship on which actors, one of whom showed a remarkable resemblance to Johnny Depp, put on quite a show. Another day, we bundled up with gloves and blankets and enjoyed the sunshine, flying around the Everglades on an airboat. The kids got a kick out of the pelicans who joined us on the boat for part of the ride, and out of the racoon they discovered in the mangroves. They were pretty excited when our guide even let them each drive the airboat when we reached an open area in the swamp. Since we saw no alligators on the boat ride, we went "alligator hunting" by car along a river in the nearby national park. We found several of the big creatures sunning themselves on the banks.

After a couple of weeks, Linda flew home to attend to her mom, and I stayed on to move the boat south to Marathon in the Keys. Along with friend, Russ, who agreed to crew on this leg, we made the 140 mile run in two days, stopping once in Marco Island. We motored slowly in our approach, dodging what seemed to be thousands of crab and lobster pots, and skirting the shallow reefs guarding the entrance to our destination at Harbour Cay Club. Russ stayed on for four days or so, and we enjoyed the laid back nature of our small twenty four slip marina, picking up a bit of the devil-may-care attitude called the "Keys Disease" while watching golden sunsets and visiting several of the many funky open-air establishments in the area.

When Linda returned, she flew into Miami with Jordan and Corey, our other two grandkids. Thankfully, the weather again had turned warm, and the kids could enjoy some quality beach time. In addition, we had a great time at the local Turtle Hospital where, after a general presentation on sea turtles, we saw a veterinarian actually perform surgery on a turtle patient, and then visited ponds and pools where other turtles were kept for recovery or observation. About a week before our visit thousands of sea turtles were brought to turtle sanctuaries for treatment for shock from the cold, with over 170 brought into this facility alone. Most had been released in good health a few days before our visit. We traveled to Key West one day, where we ate at Sloppy Joe's, a famous Hemingway hangout, rode a tour trolley-train, and saw street performers (sword swallowers, acrobats, musicians, escape artists, etc.) at Mallory Square at sunset. Key West is at the end of Highway 1 and is the last of the island chain. After a walk on the original old 7 mile bridge in Marathon, and after finishing up a week with the kids, we drove them back to Miami and put them on a plane solo--a new experience for them, for us, and for their parents.

We are now relaxing and enjoying the nice people at this "marina", which is actually an association of people who own their own slips. In addition to us there are two other looper couples renting slips at this place. Right now this little community of boaters are celebrating Superbowl week by holding a shuffleboard tournament (no one is any good), a kite flying contest, as well as a chili cookoff and Superbowl potluck. We have found a great place, indeed.