Our stay in Marathon is rapidly coming to an end. It has been a great stay. This has been a really great winter. We are planning to leave here on Friday or Saturday morning, weather permitting. We will be making our way slowly toward home, expecting to be there sometime during the third week in April. Our gang of friends have almost all left us. Robert and Kay are still here, and we make new friends almost daily. We will be traveling with Robert and Kay as far as Stuart, Fl. They will be staying there for a week to attend the MTOA rendezvous. (MTOA, Marine Trawler Owners Association) So, how have we spent the last two months?? First, let me say that we have been blessed with a great group of friends. We find that most of us have a lot in common, other than our age. We have lots of time available to shop for whatever. The wives have really enjoyed having unlimited time to shop. We have spent lots of time on the bow of the boat, with wine glass in hand, watching the beautiful sunsets. That is a favorite activity for almost everyone. Traveling by dinghy to visit local restaurants, shopping locations, and other attractions is also a favorite pastime. We have lots of time to do almost anything or nothing. We have favorite restaurants, and we attend them regularly ($5 beef rib lunch at Hurricanes, Happy Hour at Lazy days , Pizza at NO Name Pub, dinner at Berdines on the balcony over looking the water to name a few) Our gatherings and cook outs at 1 palm tree court are really enjoyable. We cook dinner on the Grill, and chef Robert does a really great job on the grill. Robert, we really appreciate You and what You bring to the gathering. Our 7am morning walks serve to reduce the guilt over the calories we will absorb during the rest of the day. We walk at 7am will avoid the heat. We often spend evenings on the bow of the boat, comforted by a glass of wine, while listening to the live music coming from the bar and grill on the dock. The music sounds much better while sitting on the bow than it does in the bar. We have boat projects to complete. We try to spend an hour a day, occasionally, on cleaning and boat maintenance. The gestapho (wives) are the enforcers of this activity. The dirt mall (flea market) on Big Pine Key is a favorite place to visit on the weekends. They serve homemade ice cream, and have lots of interesting things for sale. We have purchased Florida fishing licenses, and the dinghies make good fishing boats for fishing in the harbor, mangroves and other protected areas. After looking over our lifestyle and most frequently occurring activities, we, as a group decided that we should take some corrective actions. We scheduled AA and weight watchers meetings at 1 palm tree court on the 6th Tuesday of each month at 6.00 PM. We made several trips to Key West to play tourist for the day. Lots of fun, and the chickens roaming the streets seemed to ignore us and continued on their way. Mallory park and the various performers are still the major attraction for me in Key West. It is amazing how many people You meet here from our home town area in NC. We have really enjoyed visiting with them. Two of our daughters, Shenna and Latonya, came down for a long weekend to check on their parents. I really enjoyed their visit, but I am not sure about how they felt. Shenna was surprised at how far we are from normal civilization, and how close to Cuba that we are. She commented that if she had known where we were coming here, she would not have let us make the trip. Bill and Kathy have visited with us on two occasions while we have been here. We are truly grateful to have friends like Bill and Kathy. They are in all of our future plans. Sadly, our stay in paradise is coming to an end. Today, we had the holding tank pumped to make ready for our voyage. We joined with 6 other boats and had a fuel truck bring fuel to top off the tanks. I have changed oil and filters, and Starrie and Portia are ready and anxious to get underway. I have verified charts and navigation equipment; all is ready. Lois is going to the grocery store to replenish our food stores adequate for our trip home. We have been watching the weather, and Saturday or Sunday seems to be our best departure dates. We have made reservations with this marina for the same time next year. I will call monthly to make sure that nothing happens to our reservations. This has been as close to heaven as I can get without going through the challenges of a funeral and probably a few other details.
We will make our departure this weekend, with a goal of attending the Saturday Farmers Market In Fort Pierce. No firm plans beyond that, except to keep mama happy.
