It's expensive being 2 tourists in Key West!

We're camped @ MM 70 on US 1 so, to get to Key West @ MM Zero, it's a 70 mile drive one way. We left yesterday morning around 0830 and got back just before 8 pm. Here's what we did:

* visited two resorts on Pine Key listed in our RCI book that offer exchange vacations. The resorts were older but you can't beat the view anywhere in the Keys! I'm not sure we would EVER trade off if we owned at these locations.

* arrived in Key West and paid $20 to park right downtown in a private lot.

* took the "Old Town Trolley Tour" and toured the 12 hot spots in Key West. We took a simliar tour in Savannah and, while it sounds bit hokey, we enjoy it 'cause the trolley drivers are very informative, enthusiastic about their locales and interactive to say the least. With Key West only 2x4 miles in size, it was easy to go back to some of the places that sounded the most interesting to us!

* grabbed some lunch at the Hog's Breath Bar. John talked to his buddy Tom Robertson from Kingston and Tom logged on to their webcam to see us sitting right there at the bar. After a couple of Hog burgers, we picked up a few souvenir t-shirts from this famous location.



* visited the Mel Fisher Museum and store. This is the guy who, in the 1970's, discovered the Spanish galleon that sank in the Keys in 1770's. In the salvage, Mel and his crew also laid their hands on artifacts, dabloons and jewels worth an estimated $400M. The store sells the dabloons made into jewellry and emeralds, some in their original setting to the tune of $280K. If you're asking, the answer is "no, we didn't buy the emerald ring." But we did think about it for about a millionth of a second!

* went on a 1.5 hour jet-ski ride around the island of Key West. It was hardly a quiet ride as we raced acrss the Gulf side, toured a few bays, zoomed under one of the bridge links, hung out for awhile for a rest on a sand bar, braced the waves on the Atlantic side at the southern-most point of the US and returned to the starting point of the tour very wet.

Note: Estimated cost to be a tourist? $350. We felt we got off easy as a hotel room is easily $350/night!

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

How normal does this name sound, right? except for...

The Jagermeister bus pulled into Fiesta Keys KOA sometime on Easter Sunday afternoon. On arrival, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Pete and Kelly - not Brad and Angelina) de-boarded for a couple days of vaca along with Boomer, their 16 yr old black lab.


We soon came to learn that Pete and Kelly are reps for an importing company who promote Jagermeister and other special liquors at any number of sporting and entertainment events across the U.S. They were the first "Jagermeister couple" and have been in the biz and the bus now for nine years. They now manage the schedules of 5 other similar busses. We understand it is also 'normal' for the "Jager-ettes" to arrive at destination and, in scantily-clad costumes, support the promo event as well!

I hope they had a true vaca for the couple of days they were here. People were knocking on their bus door for photo opps, asking a zillion Qs about their lifestyle and, in return, received a warm welcome and friendly response. Kelly managed to get some reading done and Pete got a wee bit of fishing in off the end of our camp site. I am concluding they got a few hours of real vaca time. When the pulled out of Wednesday, they were headed back to their house in New England.

We thank Pete and Kelly for sharing their Grouper taco lunch with us... it was dee-lish. Also a sweet thanx to Pete for making up a pitcher of Mojito cocktails - my new 08 drink! Great people who are truly 'on the road'... m.

A Story: "Johnnie and the Teenager"

An old guy is sitting at his RV by the dock when a young father and his 3 boys come back from fishing off Fiesta Key. The father gives instructions out and, in no time, the boat is secured and the 4 or 5 small fish have been filleted. The last item to be pulled from the fish well is a live lobster and it is quickly removed to their campsite down the way. The old guy watches all of this as he drinks a Bud at his picnic table.

The older of the 3 boys (maybe 14) hangs out on the dock fiddling around with his gear probably waiting for his Mom to call him for his supper. The old guy was pretty impressed that they caught a lobster so much so that he told his wife who was standing near by. He then made eye contact with the kid and asked, "Hey, where did you catch that lobster?"

The kid answered, "Out there" and pointed out towards the bay offFiesta Key. The old guy, who was no farther ahead with that answer, asked another question, "How far out there?"

And the kid told the truth and said, "I dunno."

The old guy was wanting to know more about how to get himself a lobster or two. So he made another attempt to learn more and asked, "So... what did you use to catch it?"

The young fella said, "this" and held up a short orange spear with a loop on the end. You could almost hear the old guy thinking that the kid's Dad MUST have got it from Bass Pro or that local dive shop down the road. The old guy couldn't resist and said, "so you must have got that from someplace real special."

The kid stared back as if the old guy was from Mars and suddenly made his face twist up - a look quite common to 14-year olds when they're talking to adults. The kid then offered his worldly knowledge about his little plastic spear with the loop on the end and said, "At the Kamp store!", meaning, of course, the KOA camp store.

The old guy looked back and said, "Oh".

The kid's Mom then called him for their fresh fish and lobster dinner. And the old guy's wife, who had observed the entire scene, thought it was time they both had another drink.

and then there were "The Keys"

On Good Friday, we moved out of the condo in Ft. Lauderdale and re-packed the RV for our next round of adventures. We departed that day and went further south to the Florida Keys - a place we have been hoping to get to for some time. It was a surprisingly short trip and we arrived well before noon at the KOA at Mile Marker 70 on US 1.


Our RV is located on the north side of the park with the front window of the bus facing the ocean. If you have Google Earth, you can probably find the spot on Fiesta Key - sometimes called Long Key. It's a long, thin island with an isthmus on the west side. Marathon is just to the south. It's a great camp spot and we were set up in no time at all.

We went to Islamorada just about 10 miles north to a Full Moon Party where they had 3 bands, several bars, tricksters on stilts and fire-throwers and bonfires - all of the beach! This idea of a Full Moon Party must be fairly common cause Jimmy and Amanda (now sailing in the BVI's) went to a similar soiree close to where they are anchored. Whatever the history of the name, it's sure a good reason (to us anyway) to have a party!

Yesterday, we explored Key West for the first time going to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and Hog's Breath Bars. The Jeep has turned out to be 'just the best' for running around in - easy to park and pretty good on fuel. It was a full day trip to Key West but we wanted to be back for the KOA champagne served at sunset!

There are times I still think I'm dreaming. I miss so many of the super people I worked with over the years. The page is turning though - there's just so much to see and do out here! Getting out on (and in) the water is one of them and we're already checking out some sea-dooing and snorkelling options for this coming week.

Today is Easter Sunday and we have a mini-Butterball turkey to celebrate! Enjoy the day wherever you are and we'll catch up with you in about 10 days... m.

Let us introduce you to...

Fred...

We met him at Sawgrass Mills Recreational Park in the Everglades - no zoom lens on this one thank you very much! Naturally, I was the one who ended up closest to Fred with Johnnie and Mary at a much safer distance behind me in the airboat!

Mary's visit with us for the week took us to Ft. Lauderdale Beach and South Beach in Miami - two VERY different experiences: the first was about college kids on school break in small bikinis and hulky guys; and the second was all about Art Deco architecture and a fab lobster lunch! We also visited Lee and Miriam Maguire, our boating friends from Toronto who winter "Peace VI", their 57' Hatteras, at Lighthouse Point. Lee and Miriam treated us to a terrific lunch at their yacht club. It's always great to see them and we hope to see them in the St. Lawrence this summer.

Oh yes... one more thing... Johnnie gave Mary and I two solid hours(no more - no less) at Sawgrass Mills that purports to be the largest outlet mall in the world! Mary and I made excellent use of our time: new shoes, summer tops, a skirt and a new bathing suit for me!

Sunday, March 9/08, we moved out of the RV and into the condo at Weston – a 20 minute drive to Lauderdale. Our one-bedroom apt. is great and overlooks the pool. My 45 minute walks in the morning are easy and completely safe in their beautiful neighbourhoods. And, as long-time water-babies, John and I LOVE the pool - trust you can see why!

Golf courses are everywhere here in Florida! Our challenge is finding one where we can get more practice. We golfed every other day in Coca Beach and, to continue improving, we are now on the hunt for a course suitable to our skills!

Tomorrow, my long-time buddy Mary Lamb arrives for a week. She lives in Orillia, the snow-belt and hardest hit area for storms in Ontario - especially this winter! We look forward to seeing her and letting her shed those worries about snow shovelling behind her for a few days!

More next week… m.

Land Sharks, Sweatshirts and Family

Saturday, March 8/08, we left Cocoa Beach and traveled south 3 hours to Ft. Lauderdale. We met Stef and Greg Hamre (John’s nephew) and shared dinner and laughs at Greg’s fav place in Ft. “Liquordale” – Bahia Cabana – the tiki bar at the Days Inn right near the beach. The view of the marina was fantastic with boats /ships arriving back into port after the day on the ocean.















After a few Land Sharks (lager made in Margaritaville), it chilled up so Johnnie made sure the 4 of us were warmer - we now have matching sweatshirts!


The next day, Greg, Stef and their kids Chelsea and Nicholas, left on their cruise to the Caribbean. En route this week, they’ll stop at St. Maarten. Here, they’ll meet up with Amanda and Jimmy (John’s son) who have been sailing on Adventure Bound in that area over the past 18 months - yet another adventure to share for the Grant/Hamre family!

Great Friends and Places for Chow

We thought we should share some of the great places we've been in the past few weeks to eat and share some time with great friends:

* when we first arrived in the Melbourne/Cocoa Beach area, Jimmy and Judi Kirkpatrick took us to Carrabas - here, we ate the best mussels I've ever enjoyed - I was in heaven! Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar (trust the name brings a picture to mind) is also a super place to spend the afternoon on a Sunday at Port Canaveral. From the deck area, you can have a fantastic margarita or Bloody Mary, watch the cruise ships depart and the fishing boats arrive after their day at sea - the captains of both small and huge vessels were excellent skippers in the quite narrow channel!

* when we connected with Ross and Liz Nolan, what a treat!
Ross should change careers and be a restaurant reviewer and both Ross and Liz are wine connoisseurs. Together, we enjoyed The Fat Snook (eclectic) and Silvestros (authentic Italian). As to the latter, I especially LOVED the Valpolicella Ripasso! Both places were on Atlantic Avenue in Cocoa Beach.

* thinking of Chinese? Jerry and Nancy Burkhardt are a couple from Iowa we have met in the RV park. It didn't take me long to say "yes" to joining them for (real) Chinese at the Lucky Garden 2. John's dinner selection of the "Happy Family" and my choice of (my fav) Cantonese Chow Mein were right up there and supported their advertisement of being assessed as within the Top 100 Chinese restaurants in the US - considering the number of Chinese restaurants, this is pretty impressive!

* and ne'er forget the Cocoa Beach Pier . Their lunches are just the right size and the Land Shark beer is ever-flowing. The beach is beautiful and entertaining - men in pink lamay thongs accompanying their wives for a stroll on the beach in the afternoon and, in the evening, gals in flashing sunglasses, sequinned shirts and short, short skirts and feathery boas dancing to the live music. Friday nights offer 'peel n' eat shrimp and ribs at happy hour! And don't forget the Land Shark beer! Oh...

and, did I mention the weather is 85 degrees?