Work and Play, Part II 2-12-09

Bob and I are doing a 2 day work week of 2 days working on the boat and 6 days off. This week, we have disconnected the macerator pump and attached the new one. For non-boaters, the macerator is like a boat Cuissinart for sewage that then gets discharged into the ocean, at least 3 miles off shore. We have never used one as they are illegal on the Great Lakes but the Bahamas do not have many pump-out facililities so this is necessary. Notice the photo of Bob complete with Kleenex nose plugs—it worked and got a dirty job done.

Thursday was not all work and no play as we met Tom and Debbie from “Catrina” for dinner at Key Fisheries. They are staying on a mooring ball in Boot Key and we had a great time catching up with them. Key Fisheries has a great menu, is reasonably priced and has great outside seating. We biked there from our marina—check out our really cool “headlamp” gear for night time travel. Are we really cool or what? It completes the whole ensemble of zip-off plastic pants and fanny packs. Our mission now is to embarass our kids--did we succeed Katie and Brian?

Everglades 2-14-09

Bob and I could not leave FL without finding an alligator, so for Valentine’s Day, we headed off to the Shark Valley entrance to Everglades National Park. I admit that valentines and gators are not your usual pairing but it is memorable and no shopping is required. I did wonder though when Bob increased my life insurance policy and asked me to move closer to one gator to get a “really incredible picture.”

We thought that we would see gators along the Tenn-Tom Rivers but they were hiding in the mud, and at our anchorage in the Shark River, they were probably watching us with their beady little eyes but we could not see them. Today, we brought our camera and were not going to leave without a picture. We were not disappointed.

The Everglades are 60 miles wide and 100 miles long and is actually a shallow river that moves ¼ mile a day and is not a swamp. It is an intricate ecological system that supplies the water collection for the Miami area as the base is limestone and it is filled with aquifers. It provides fresh water habitat for hundreds of migratory birds as well as hardwoods, grasses, small and large animals and fish. It has 2 seasons—wet and dry; hot and hotter; or mosquito and non-mosquito. We were there luckily during the non-mosquito.

We recommend taking the 2 hour tram ride through the park on a 15 mile loop. We had considered walking but look at the alligator that was lying across our path. That was too close and personal for us! Our tram ride narrator assured us that Everglades gators are not Hollywood ones that thrash around and want to eat people but he did note that bikers have been described as “Meals on Wheels” for gators.

The skies are filled with cormorants, egrets, ibis and herons but the star of the show is the gator. There are 50,000 in the park and 2,000,000 in FL although we haven’t seen any and maybe they are shy. Alligators have an extended courtship period of 2 weeks in the spring when the air is filled with full-throated bellows to locate each other which leads to an extended nesting period leading to the depositing of 20-40 eggs. However, although most hatch, only 1 in 20 survive to age 5 when they are 5 feet long and are then the “king of the glades” for their 40 year life span.

This is such a special place.

Another Day in Key West 2-11-09

We are still planning on going to the Bahamas and needed to get a Local Boaters Option clearance card which will expedite our return back to the US. Key West is the closest Customs office so we were “forced” to go back there. After a few hours of complying with government rigmarole, we passed so we were free for a day of fun.

We met Wayne and Jill at Margaritaville for lunch. They have moved their RV down here to Boyd’s in Key West. They are eagerly awaiting the return of warmer weather as their pool aqua aerobics class was cancelled for the past week as the morning temps were below 60. We all had the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” which was good and very filling.

We whiled away the afternoon touring the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. “The Old Man and the Sea” is one of my favorite books and it was a thrill to visit his home and breathe that rarified air and see pictures of his boat “Pilar” and his friend and captain, Gregorio Fuentes, who is said to be the model for his Old Man character, Santiago. Fuentes lived until 104 and started the day with rum and a cigar, a practice that Hemingway adopted also.

Our tour guide, Loren, is to the left of Bob in the house picture—he looks like a statue there, but on tour, he channels Hemingway himself complete with a flask and stories…so many stories. Hemingway the man was larger than life and more complicated than any of his characters largely due to his bipolar disorder. He had 4 wives and had a very tempestuous relationship in this home with wife #2, Pauline. She got wind that he was having another affair, and while he was away on an extended assignment, she had a $20,000 pool installed. Ernest was enraged at this as his finances were depleted and threw his “last penny” at her. Pauline, never one to miss a chance for drama, had the penny encased in a stone walkway by the pool and told everyone, “Of the 4 Hemingway wives, I was the only one to get his last red cent.” Hemingway retaliated by bringing home the urinal from his favorite bar, Sloppy Joe’s, and installing it in the garden area adjoining the pool hoping to embarrass her with her friends. Not to be outdone, Pauline added a beautiful stone urn fountain that emptied into the urinal so it became art.

Did I mention that this is a cat house? Hemingway loved cats especially the six-toed variety. There are 44 cats now on the property, and if I get to be reincarnated, I want to come back here as a cat. Notice in the master bedroom, the bed is cordoned off for humans but the cat gets to lie down. What a life!

We finished up the day with another sunset at Mallory Square and on our way back to Marathon, stopped at Mangrove Mama’s (Milepost 20) for key lime pie. Jill and friends have tasted their way through many versions but this is their #1 taste pick and I have to agree. Yum…..

Another Side of the Miami Area 2-8-09

Since my wardrobe consists mostly of REI zip-off pants and breathable shirts and I did not pack any “bling,” sightseeing in the glitz and glam part of Miami is definitely not for us. We did find some interesting things to do in the Miami area thanks to suggestions from my good friend, Isabel.

Bob and I enjoy opera and we were able to see an HD Live Metropolitan Opera presentation of "Lucia Di Lammermoor" on Saturday at a movie theatre in Miami. The opera is 4 hours long, packed with intrigue and great arias, and the only thing that I would change is barring popcorn chomping during the duets.

On Sunday, we toured the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden which is an incredibly lush 83 acre site with 11 lakes, 32,000 plants and trees from all over the world, a butterfly garden, rainforest, great lunch café, sculpture and glass works by artists Mark di Suvero and Dale Chihuly and a tram ride to orientate you. The colors and artful landscaping make this a tropical paradise. It is tucked into a beautiful neighborhood in Coral Gables and is worth a visit.

We went over to Key Biscayne and toured Bill Baggs State Park with the restored Cape Florida lighthouse. The park has a great beach, picnic pavilions filled with families enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon, and fishing piers. We topped off this great day with dinner overlooking Miami from Biscayne Bay at the Rusty Pelican restaurant.

My camera battery died and we tried to do these pictures with our cell phone with mixed results. Technology can be a complicated thing.......