FLORIDA

That's how fast our time went in Key West. We enjoyed the city, sights and sounds but most important... the people, so, we'll be back.Prior to departure for the days cruise to Marathon I checked the weather and the waves inside the reef were forecasted for two-footers with a light chop close to shore. WRONG, more like four to five-footers on the beam with no light chop in sight. Forty-five miles of rocking and rolling and Lisa, who often gets…

Our first day here we met the Foster family. Dave, Vickie and kids Gunnar, Maxwell, Trey and Christopher. They welcomed us to the marina with a big plate of homemade cookies. During our stay they have provided local knowledge, given us directions, lent us their bike, shared a movie on the history of Key West with us and had us over for dinner on their 58' Gulfstar sailboat. This is an adventurous young family who intend to do some traveling…

Last summer before we left our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan we made plans with a few of our friends to meet in Key West near the mid to end of January. Last time we did the Loop we all planned to meet in the Abacos and it was so much fun we had to plan to meet again this year. We were pretty busy our last week in Key West while our friends from home flew in within days of…

We’ve been in Key West long enough (three weeks) now and we’re beginning to recognize some of the locals. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not!I (Jim) visited Floyd’s Barber shop last week. This little shop has been in operation for over fifty years and my barber’s family is a fourth generation family having been here 110 years. The only reason I mention this is to let everyone know that the locals are not 5-year transplants.Key…

Key West has so many colorful restaurants and bars. As we said before we like to visit places that are off the beaten track. The more local the better. The Seafood and Cuban restaurants have been tops on our list and we just can’t get enough.Jim and I both wish this ENTRANCE sign (left) was real.We went to dinner with Rick and Elene last week to try Hogfish Bar and Grille, a local place definitely off the beaten path on…

Our friends Rick and Elene just arrived yesterday in Key West for the winter. We have looked forward to spending some time with them before we leave for the Abacos at the end of the month. So, after lending us their car the night before, we met them for breakfast downtown at Pepe’s Cafe the next morning. Pepe’s, which is open every day, is the oldest restaurant in town. Opened in 1909 it is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year.…

This afternoon we hopped on a bus to go down to Bayview Park for the fourth annual Key West Seafood Festival. Lots of choices for some good seafood at low prices along with a great local band, Mr Nice Guy. Lisa got to satisfy her sweet tooth with a huge cone of cotton candy.There was a petting tank provided by the  Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, Fish & Wildlife. The salt water tank was staffed with real live scientists who can…

More cemetery photos. Flowers, tombstones and statues. Well worth a visit while in Key West.We loved the sign on the fence of the cemetery.

 A few days ago, Lisa and I ventured out in our dinghy to the protected Sand Key reef area in the Atlantic Ocean side of Key West to go snorkeling. The day had all the characteristics of the perfect day, clear blue sky, calm waters and no wind. On the way to our destination we saw a good sized turtle, feeder sharks, crabs, flower pot sponges and lots of fish from the dinghy in only 4-5 foot water depths. Our…

Steve and Pat are from Omaha, Nebraska, we had the pleasure of meeting up with them in Key West. They boat in Lake of the Ozarks and have an interest in doing the Great Loop and thought we might be able to answer their Looping questions. We had a fun lunch at Hog's Breath, downtown and we think they'll be venturing out some day in the near future on the Loop route.For us, boating has been a way of making…

We dinghied into town on Thursday to visit our boating friends Charlie and Linda, on Freedom’s Turn, at their slip in one of the downtown marinas. We were with them last at Tarpon Springs in December before they flew home for the holidays. Today we decided to do a walking tour with Charlie and Linda to the historic Key West Cemetery only five blocks away from their marina. The cemetery is located on the highest point on the island and…

Our marina is teaming with fish. There are at least a dozen Tarpon, some over three feet. They swim near the harbor office with lots of smaller fish, today I saw two stingrays. I think they hang out in this spot waiting to get fed, along with the friendly pelicans, by the returning fishermen who clean their fish on the dock. Lisa bought me a fishing pole so I’m sure we’ll be having some fishing photos soon. I have been…

It’s a good thing we’re spending a month in Key West as there’s so much to see and do. We are looking forward to getting “Key’s Disease.”We decided to spend Skyler’s last day with us by going downtown mid afternoon to relax some more and explore a little. We found this great little bar, B. O.s Fish Wagon, that is more like having a drink in a treehouse.We headed downtown for our first, of many while here, Key West sunset.We…

 Yesterday we took a long dinghy ride all the way around the Key West Island. It was a little choppy on the outside and we got a little wet but we enjoyed seeing the Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish float by us using their gas filled bladders to catch the wind. Today, we took the boat out to Sand Key (sorry, Lisa lost all the photos on the card today) to go snorkeling, however the water was a little too…

Our son Skyler Nelles, a graphic and web designer in northern Michigan - http://www.skyboxdesign.net, had never been to Key West before so we hopped on a bus from the marina and headed downtown. The downtown area was buzzing with lots of tourists filling the streets. We picked Hog’s Breath Saloon for lunch because it looked like a fun place. Funky decor and quality entertainment. After lunch we walked around some more and then went to the southernmost point in the United…

 We made the short trip from Marathon down to our slip in Key West today (Wednesday, December 30th). We went on the ocean side then went around the end of Key West over to the Gulf side, to Stock Island and to Sunset Marina where we will be staying for the month of January.New years day we thoroughly cleaned the boat from top to bottom, inside out. Our son Skyler will be joining us New Years day for a week…

We crossed under the bridge at Marathon mid-day after another great weather day. Calm waters, light breeze and sunny skies. We tied up on a mooring ball in Boot Key and took the dinghy onto shore to get an early dinner at a restaurant where, according to the harbormaster, the locals eat. We had lobster reubens while sitting by the water. After we dinghyed around the harbor until sunset. No bugs tonight. Life is good.Tomorrow we head to our slip…

Night One - Russell Pass Anchorage We took the inside route through Marco Island today to Russell Pass in the Everglades National Park. We have always wanted to do this route to the Keys, so this is new territory for us. Our first Loop took us through Lake Ockeechobee  to get to Fort Lauderdale so that we could cross over to the Abacos. We just did not have time to do the Abacos and the Keys in 2006. This time we…

One more night with Bart as part of our crew. We cruised outside to get to Naples and the weather and water could not have been better. We are sure that our anchorage tonight is one of those "Million Dollar Views" but for us it was free.We too the dinghy into the small town and found that they were having an art fair. We walked around the fair then found a hardware store with the idea of procuring a fishing…

We started the day with beignets and coffee as we headed for our dock at Fort Myers Beach. It's a little hard getting used to the idea of it being Christmas when the temperature is in the eighties but we managed. So today we just relaxed, tried to stay cool, went to the beach, cooked a big Christmas dinner, watched the sun set and walked around the little beach town after we ate.Friday we did some work in the morning…

Christmas Eve finds us anchored in Pelican Bay just across from Useppa Island.After lunch on Cabbage Key we checked on the boat and then dinghied over to the Cayo Costa State Park to walk across the island to the beach. Bart went swimming and we tried to take a nap on the beach but the flies wouldn’t leave us alone.It was amazing how many boats were anchored out here for the night. We saw lots of Christmas lights. We had…

We decided to linger on Useppa Island as long as we could in the morning. We got up and walked to the pool again which is a little hike across the island. We stayed until check-out time and then it was a very quick hop over to anchor at Pelican Bay. Just after we got settled at anchor we hopped in the dinghy for what turned out to be a very wet ride over to Cabbage Key to get the famous…

 We are often asked what is/was your favorite place. That is so hard to answer and I usually say that wherever we are at the moment because it is all good. Well now I will have to say that Useppa Island is very special and at the top of this list I don’t have. This lush tropical island is loaded with exotic plants and the quaint architecture reminded us so much of the Bahamas. We'll let the photos speak for…

We left Sarasota this morning for the free dock at Venice Beach. We had stayed here before and enjoyed it very much. Isn’t it amazing that this community provides boaters with an easy opportunity to explore their beautiful town, on them. So, we did just that. We stretched our legs and walked downtown and did our shopping thing and then we walked back on the beach. We had a nice dinner at the Crow’s Nest which is close by the…

We were so excited to arrive at Marina Jack in Sarasota early on another beautiful morning. Tonight we picked Bart up at the airport and he will join us for the Christmas holiday and a week's worth of boat travel. We spent most of Saturday shopping, stocking up and waiting in line at the Post Office. Sarasota is a beautiful, clean city, a real people place. We loved walking around here and even the driving was enjoyable.  Lisa did laundry while…

Slowly moving south towards Sarasota where we will pick Bart up at the airport (Saturday night). One last anchorage just off New Pass called New Pass Cove. A little anchorage in size, but quiet and calm. There was a mixture of homes, condos and a natural park or grounds of a club of some sort. We dinghied to a nature park from here for a short walk and some much needed exercise.

Still at the Long Beach Anchorage (second day here). We took a long dinghy ride over to Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach for lunch. A cute beach community. We loved walking through town which was nicely decorated for the holidays. It's kind of strange being in Florida for the holidays. Having spent most of our lives in Michigan we are not used to the warm weather during the holidays. So, going to town to shop reminds us that it…

We left for Long Beach on Long Boat Key with more calm waters on our 12-mile trip today. This is what I meant when I stated that it was time to slow down. It gives us time to absorb each port or anchorage, making the trip more enjoyable. Once settled in at our anchorage we went for a long dinghy ride and walked around the Long Beach neighborhood. We checked on a few restaurants because we thought it would be fun…

The next day was another grueling 26 miles of sunshine and calm waters to DeSoto Point, a cove inside of Manatee River, close to Bradenton. Lisa and I went ashore to tour the Desoto National Memorial Park, walk the trails around the point and learn about Desoto the Spanish explorer.It was also here that we were invited to Bill and Phyllis Haan’s home. They’re boaters and have been following our blog for the last three years. They plan on doing…

Our second days stop was an anchorage seven miles away from Dunedin, tucked back into a cove off Clearwater Beach. One of the advantages of anchoring in Florida is the hard sand bottom which holds an anchor really good. The weather has been great, with calm winds which are always appreciated when we’re not at a dock.

On our first Loop we only took five days to get from Tarpon Springs to Fort Myers. This time we want to do it differently. Our goal is to visit places we’ve not been while trying to broaden our Florida, west coast, boating knowledge.Our first stop after leaving Tarpon Springs was only 17 miles south at Dunedin. This is a very quaint town. It has a very nice marina and is home to Lisa’s brother Mart and his family. After…

Tarpon Springs for fun, food and relaxation.We had to come back to Tarpon Springs because this little Greek fish town is full of character and charm, not to mention the food which we can’t get enough of. We decided to stay for a week to soak up as much food and Greek culture as we could.1905 is recognized as the approximate year that large groups of Greeks settled in the Tarpon Springs area to take over the sponge industry and…

Lisa asked me to write something about fuel economy as I am always explaining to her how much we're saving in fuel this trip so far, versus our last trip. In 2005/06 Lisa and I paid an average of $2.86 for gas doing the first 2,300 miles of the Loop and fuel prices were going up. So far in 2008, on our second Loop, we've averaged $3.50 for diesel fuel and prices have been going down. Here's how it breaks down…