Key Largo - Day Eleven - January 26, 2017

Today was a lazy day, a day to recharge and pretty much do nothing.

breakfast view

We made breakfast in the cabin and ate out on the balcony.
I made eggs and bagels and a fruit bowl and coffee, always coffee. I spent the early hours writing and adjusting photos of the day before. Carol read and was in touch with friends through the magic of her phone.  By mid morning we took a drive further down the keys just to see what was there and ended up crossing a fe of the bridges that connect the islands. it was a fairly calm day so we found a good place to park and i flew the drone for a few minutes. On two of the flights I forgot to hit the record button... rookie mistake and there is no going back... Live and learn, practice makes perfect I guess -  so here is a very short video of the bridge where we stopped.

Like I said - a very short video.  We also saw several birds out here on this remote strip of land, and Carol got in a bit of a walk while I was fussing with my drone. Here are a few shots.

Great Blue Heron

Heron in flight

Heading away as they all do. . .

This was a fun stop and I am glad

Tourist in the Keys

that we took the time to get out and explore a bit even though I buggered the video we still had a good time. We decided to return to the cottage and spend the afternoon on the beach, and that is just what we did. Carol soaked up the sun and spent the time with my sketch pad and paint just trying to get the colors right. The color of the light down here is so different from that back home.

My afternoon sketch

While we were on the beach we also made a few trips up to the laundry and made some of our clothes fresh once again. Not a bad chore when you can wait sipping a drink on the beach.  Soon the sunset came around once again and people gathered down on the dock to watch and we are no different. Although the sunset was not a spectacular as the night before they all seem to be good and deserving of at least a couple of photos.

Another sunset.

Carol and I watched and the people around us all watched as another day ended and as the sun set somewhere nearby some one blew a salute on a conch. And so as darkness began to overtake us we scouted the area on foot for supper, deciding on an Italian restaurant nearby. I had the Sausage, Peppers and Pasta and Carol the Eggplant Parmesan and it was delicious.

At dinner

After dinner is was a short walk back to our little place in paradise. Another day draws to

Back home again

a close and we begin to make plans for tomorrow.

Key Largo - Day Ten - January 25, 2017

Calm Waters

We awoke this morning to a perfect day in paradise. The wind had dropped, the temperature was perfect and Florida Bay was dead calm. We had our coffee on the balcony and I got in a bit of drone time before we walked next door to Mrs. Macs Kitchen for breakfast. This is one of those charming places that you find as a

Mug shot!

treasure in the keys. The service and the food here was fantastic - we highly recommend this place for anyone traveling the keys. Payment should not be a problem because the menu says "We accept all major credit cards, gold watches and precious jewels." The walls here are covered in license plates from all across the country, but we did not see any Rhode Island plates. I am sure they must have one somewhere, but I didn't inquire fearing that ours would be snatched. After breakfast we headed back up the island to the Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park for a nice long hike - well not that long, we only got in a little under two miles as the path was flooded and we couldn't complete the loop. But we

At the park

did see lots of cool stuff including exotic butterflies, strange birds

Lizard on the rocks

and lots of little lizards running around just about everywhere. We chatted with a lady who was hiking and watching the birds, and passed many other people hiking the trails. Here are a few photos we took as we explored the Key Largo Hammock Botanical Park.

Black & Yellow Butterfly

Carol took some of these and I took some. It was really a joy to explore such an exotic

Mangrove roots

environment that is so different from out northern hikes in New England. The rest of the day was spent shopping and exploring the island. And we had some good 'sit on the beach time' as well, I got in a sketch and brought out the drone to try to capture the great sunset. Here is a short video recap of the day.

Cape Coral to Key Largo - Day Nine - January 24, 2017

Sue & Steve's Place

Carol and I got packed up and and said our good-byes, this is always a tough moment, it is so good to meet up with your friends but hard to let go. Sue was on the balcony waving good-by as we pulled out of their complex. We were off to find a quick breakfast and head toward route 41, the old 'Alligator Alley'. Well getting out of Cape Coral turned into a comedy as I thought I understood Steve's directions but I fully buggered them up and we were in very heavy traffic with strange turn lanes and a lot of old people

We did it again!

driving (we do not include ourselves in this group, by the way). Finally we settles on a Bob Evan's Restaurant. Now I know what you are thinking, I said I would never stop at a chain restaurant again after the Waffle House debacle. Yet, here we were at a Bob Evans. It lived up to all expectations with cold food, small portions, overpriced and so so service. It seemed almost as though they didn't want us to have that second cup of coffee. While we ate we went through all the different places we might want to stop - smart phones are so good for this sort of thing and we did have a good signal in the Bob Evans, maybe that is the one positive thing I can say about them. So, back on the road we headed south and to Route 41, down past Marco Island

We have an actual paper map! It helps.

and and Everglades City and then east on Alligator Alley. This is one long straight two lane highway that crosses through the Everglades east to west, west to east. Our first stop was at a State Park, the Collier-Seminole State Park, where we walked around a bit hoping to catch a glimpse of an alligator or a Panther - yeah, there are Panthers down here, who knew. The highway had a lot

CAUTION!!!

of 'Panther Crossing ' signs, like we have deer crossing signs back home in Rhode Island. We did not see any panthers though, and no alligators either, but we did have a good time just hanging out and stretching for a while. Shortly we were back on the road heading east at 60 miles per hour trying to spot some 'gators along the roadside. Everyone told us we would see some. We did find a National Park Service area which I can't remember the name of but we did see alligators there and had another good

Saw several of these guys!

stretch. In the gift shop they had all sorts of good things that we didn't need. The next couple of hours brought on a lot of road construction, long lines and traffic, but then it opened up to the Keys. Over the bridge and onto Key Largo we went stopping at the Visitor Center where we got a recommendation for several places to spend the

The bridge to Key Largo

night. We chose the first one we came to, Sunset Cove on the bay side, and got an apartment on the beach with a balcony overlooking

First night sunset

Florida Bay. We arrived just at sunset and missed the show but spent the evening on the balcony eating and watching the activity down on the beach. The wind was still blowing and the water looked angry, this was the last time we say anything but dead calm water. We made it an early evening and got to bed by about 9:30, I think we were both just exhausted from all the excitement and the driving that the past few days had brought. We chose this place and elected to stay here for three nights just to recharge and hang out together.

Cape Coral - Day Eight - January 23, 2017

I was up early this morning trying to create this blog, at least get a good start. The house was quiet and it was just me, my coffee and my computer, and Steve and Sue had a great wifi connection. I got some work done and then one by one everyone else woke up and soon we were all fed and dressed and on the road to explore the area. We ended up in Matlacha, a quaint little area full of shops and

The Blue Dog 

eateries. We had our lunch at the Blue Dog Bar and Grille. This is a great little place with a fantastic menu. Carol tried a flight of local beers and I think each one was better than the last. Carol kept saying Mmmmm try this one, this is the best, until she tried

Carol's beers

the next one. . . The food was great, Carol had Conch and I had a 'Hippie Chick' sandwich..with fries of course. Not only did we eat here but the ladies found lots of t-shirts to buy. Carol and Sue are very fashionable now, and this was yet another place that does not carry anything in size. From her we wandered up and down the street and found lots of little shops and galleries. Some of the art was

Lots of brightly colored shops

outstanding, some designed especially for the tourist audience but all appreciated.  Some of the art was very unique and no one down here seems to be shy in their use of color. We found one

Lawn Airstream

spot that specialized in sculpture from found items (junk) and they had a lot of very cool stuff, even a small Airstream for the lawn. After we all had our fill of brilliant color and interesting shapes we moved on to Pine Island and drove out to an old resort, the Tarpon Lodge, for a couple of drinks. This is one of those old south Florida places that is reminiscent of someplace where Hemingway would had hung out.

What a great old place to end a day of scouting around. The service at the Tarpon Lodge was spectacular and the company of our friends was even better. It is such great fun hanging out with Sue and Steve. That evening we ordered pizza at a local place and sat around retelling old cruising stories and ended the evening with a new card game called 'Nines' -this is genuinely a fun game and I am sure that this will not be the last time we play...and by the way I really suck at Nines...

The gang of old cruisers

On to Cape Coral - Day Seven - January 22, 2017

A leisurely morning today, no rush and few plans other than a short drive down to Cape Coral to visit our friends Steve and Sue. We decided to try a Waffle House for breakfast. Now you should know

Waffle House

that this breaks all of our rules, we ALWAYS eat in a local diner, but being on the road and seeing Waffle Houses everywhere we decided we needed to try as they seem very popular. We got right in with little wait and immediately were struck as to just how somber or serious all of the staff was..no humor here. Our waitress, named Eva, never once cracked a smile or even made eye contact and as many of you may know I like to crack jokes and make people smile...nothing... To top it off, the food was just OK, it had a passing score but was not at the head of the class. This was also our last stop at any Waffle House. From here we headed off into Bradenton and found a carwash as the little Subaru was covered with road dirt and a layer of bugs. Back on the road it was an easy ride down to Cape Coral and we arrived at our friends condo in the early afternoon. What a beautiful place they have. We took a ride to a local favorite place of theirs and had drink on the deck overlooking a marina fill with yachts...nice! The drinks were all 2 for 1 and delivered two at a time...interesting.

Steve and Sue on the deck

I had fish and chips and beers while Carol had a salmon BLT and margaritas -- I am getting spoiled..and may a bit fatter, even though I am trying very hard to eat right. (well, maybe not that hard) Back at the condo watched the last half of the Green Bay- Falcons game, and were shocked at Green Bay's performance, or lack of it. And the the main event, the Patriots, who never disappoint. We are die hard Patriot fans and try to never miss a game and we had been looking forward to this one as we are definitely not Steelers fans. Expecting a very close game we were very surprised to see such poor performance from the Steelers. Even though we are not fans I have always viewed them as a great team. Then again, I am quite

Go Tommy!

happy with the result. What a great evening with friends, watching the Pats kick but, snacking and chatting. You just can't ask for much better than this. I should mention here that Steve and Sue are long time boating friends of ours. We have shared many many adventures on the water and otherwise over the past 25 years.

St Augustine to Tampa - Day Six - January 21

 Up early the next day I was out before sunrise with my drone once again and the beach was fairly active. I seems that a lot of people spent the night on the beach and this is one of those beaches that you can drive on.

Carol joined me on the beach with her coffee and we watched the sunrise and had fun flying the drone. These little things certainly give you a different perspective on things. Back in the room we packed up, loaded the car and went to the complementary breakfast, which was fine and were on the road and headed toward Tampa and the Florida RV Show at the State Fairgrounds.

A poor use of Airstreams

As we were approaching the turn to get to the fairgrounds we saw a string of Airstreams stuck in the ground, this is just not right. The calm voice of our GPS took us right to the entrance of the fairgrounds, which, of course, was not the right entrance and we were turned away. Finding our way to the right entrance was a small adventure in itself, but ultimately we arrived at the right gate, got the car parked and were soon headed for the correct entrance. So with fees paid we entered the strange world of RVs. There is certainly a lot of stuff you need to go RVing...there was almost as much stuff as at a boat show, maybe more. There seemed to be a big focus on waste disposal and cutesy decorations. We saw trailers small enough to tow with a motorcycle and busses so big and fancy they would make the Donald blush.

Motorcycle trailer1

It was overload for sure. After touring some Airstreams, we found a sandwich and a picnic table on a pond and tried to make sense out of what we had been seeing.

Pipers at the show

Carol and I then headed over to a seminar about extended  travel in an RV. Lots of good advice here. Sell the house, get a cat not a dog, it's not going to be fun everyday and figure out how you are going to get your mail... hmmm, again a lot like boating. The other piece of advice he gave was, try it first, this is not for everyone. We have had a lot of discussion since. . . .  The weather deserves a mention here, it is beautiful down here at this time of year, sunny and 80º. It is good to be away from the cold New England weather and into the sunshine.

Returning to the car at the show

After the show we headed on down the road a ways and found a stop for the night just off the highway near Bradenton. We got unpacked and went to supper at a local place, where the food and the service was just great. I kind of like this traveling life. . .

View of a river from the room

I was able to spend some time here editing some photos and video, starting to get caught up. The days have been even busier that I thought they would be which makes getting the blog out in a timely fashion near impossible but I am settling into an early morning routine and hopefully at some point I will be recording the current activity. As I am writing this I am still about four days behind. . . .

On to St. Augustine - Day Five - January 20, 2017

Packing Up.

Inauguration Day. We debated whether to stay at Tom and Debbie's house to watch the Inauguration, but the road was calling and we wanted to arrive in St. Augustine before sunset, so around 10 in the morning we packed the little Subaru and hit the road.  Saying good-bye was a sad moment but we know we will see these guys again soon as we enjoy their company immensely. Once on the road we settled into the routine, and soon found the Inauguration broadcast on the XM radio. In a burst of clear thinking (which seem to be rare these days) I found a live video feed the Inaugural ceremonies on my phone so Carol was able to watch as we rolled down the highway, and again we stopped at a roadside Walmart and watched our new President's speech. . . and then of course a bit of shopping - we seemed to be one new blouse short. Moving again with the road slipping away behind us we continued to watch and listen (Carol watched - I listened) to the speeches, parades and festivities back in Washington, all the while marveling at the technology that gives us this ability. The hours melted away and soon we were through Georgia and into Florida and we watched the temperature rise on the dash thermometer. It was 84º when we rolled onto St. Augustine and the clam voice of the GPS took us right to the door of the the beach side motel. Ah, first floor with a balcony overlooking the the Atlantic and miles of sandy beach. After checking in I headed right out the door with my drone in hand to see if I could

View from the room

capture the sunset. Carol got settled and snapped the picture you see here on the left. If you look closely you can see the old guy in the parking lot fiddling with his drone. I had a couple of good flights, but as I mentioned in the last post I am still learning. The footage I took that evening was not nearly as good as the footage I got the next morning.

Patriot Fans Here

After the drone flight, Carol and I took a walk to explore and saw some of the local nightlife and some pretty nice homes, and as it happens ended up at a Publix (Florida grocery store) which not only sold ice cream but had spoons too! We ate our treats as we wandered back to the room.