Returning Home

We woke up in Saint Augustine, Florida to cold and windy temperatures.  Although we were dressed warmly, it really wasn't very pleasant walking around the oldest city under those conditions.  So after a quick tour, we opted to go further north.  We made it as far as Dothan and decided to stop for the night.  Lucy loves running up and down the halls at motels.  Its as if she knows shes doing something wrong. 

Then, on Monday we made our way home, after a stop at Huntsville Hospital to meet our new great niece.  We arrived safely at home around 2:30 p.m. and found everything exactly as we'd left it.  We were greeted by the neighborhood dogs who genuinely seemed glad to see us.  Although we're glad to be back home, we both know that we may have left a part of our hearts in the Keys!

Celebrating Leaving the Keys...

As we left the Keys yesterday on my birthday, we had much to be thankful for.  Although we sat on I95N for 2-1/2 hours because a brush fire closed the interstate, we arrived in Saint Augustine safely, and went to the Keb Mo concert, which was excellent.  To top that off, I jokingly encouraged our niece (Mindy) to go ahead and have her baby on my birthday.  Little did we know that shortly before midnight, Emma Blake Pflueger would make her entrance into this world.  I am so honored to share her birthday.  We will also anxiously await the birth of a special nephew or niece later this summer. 

We recently saw a sign in Marathon that read "My Life Is Better Than Your Vacation".   How cruel to say that, but they might be on to something.  We've been blessed to spend two wonderful months in paradise!  These people get to live here all the time!

Key Colony is such a pet friendly city and we've been lucky to meet so many great pets (and their people).  We will miss Greg and "Daisy" (and Daisy's uncle "Herman"), Eric/Jen and "Coco", Grant and "Mutley", Bob and "Chelsea", Scott and "Charlie", Eric and "Louie", Steve and "Salty", Howard/Sara and "Buddy" and "Yogi", Terry/Sybil and "Sammy", Lynn and "Elvis", Jane and "Pepe", Mary/Bud and "LuLu" and Toasty" and especially Summer and "Zeus".   Then, there were our neighbors that didn't have a pet to bring them to the park every afternoon....Eric and Perit, Bev and Bruce, Frank, and Dave and Bernese. 

While we've been here, we have continually said "Whats Not To Love?"   We have casually tossed around the idea of relocating here.   Maybe someday, but....not just yet!

So today, we'll see Saint Augustine and see where we end up tonight!

Kayaks......SOLD!

The kayaks we purchased shortly after arriving in the Keys were delivered to their new owners this afternoon.   Terry and Suzanne sailed from Michigan to Marathon and are living at the Sombrero Marina on their boat. 

If anyone that knows them wonders how they are doing, I'm here to report that they are not happy....they are absolutely giddy!  I love to be around people that are enjoying their life, and these two are perfect role models of that. 

We celebrated the exchange by opening a bottle of champagne!   Don't worry, we didn't spill any on the kayaks!

We wish them many years of kayaking, happiness, good health, and fair winds and a following sea!



Theater of the Seas

Grandparents think they are pretty cool, but its not too shabby being a great aunt and uncle!

We picked Maddie P up at her grandparents' place in the Keys and took her to Theater of the Seas yesterday.  We enjoyed spending the day with her and getting to see the dolphins, sea lions, parrots, turtles, crocs, sting rays, etc. 

She seemed to have a good time, and told us the dolphins were the favorite thing she saw.

The only way we could convince her to leave (after having seen each of the shows twice), was to promise her a popsicle.

I didn't know that popsicles had been super sized!

After resting for awhile, we took Lucy to Sunset Park to play with all the other dogs.  Maddie was a big help walking Lucy and got to see all the cute pups at the park.

After spending the night with us, the grands came to retrieve her this morning. 

Kayaking in the Mangroves

This morning we loaded up the kayaks and headed to Sombrero Beach.  We paddled to the Marathon marina where hundreds of boats are moored.   After an hour or so of paddling, we came across two couples that were headed to the mangroves and they asked us to join them.  

We followed them through a small opening in the mangroves and quickly disappeared into a narrow tunnel completely canopied by mangroves.   In some places it became so narrow, we were unable to use our paddles and had to pull ourselves through by grabbing on to the limbs.  In a couple of places, we found ourselves practicing the limbo to get through.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  The water was very shallow and we were worried that the tide would go out and we'd have to walk back out.

The path curved along and finally opened up into a small lake.  We parted ways at this point, as they were going to continue on.  After 2-1/2 hours, some of our body parts were beginning to go numb, so we chose to head back on our on.   It was extremely quiet as we paddled along,  so I mentioned that it would be nice to have some music.  But when Richard began to hum a few bars from "Deliverance", I decided quiet was good!   As a t-shirt I once saw read "if you hear banjo music, paddle faster"!

Manatee at the Dock

This show off swam right up to our dock this past week.   She seemed to enjoy the attention and rolled over in front of us while we took her picture.   She was about 10-12 feet long and wasn't the least bit frightened.  They certainly aren't the prettiest of God's creatures, but they do grow on you after awhile.    They swim into the canals and feed on the vegetation around the docks.   

Don't Pinch Me!

Yes, we're living a dream.  The sun is shining again in the Florida Keys and the weather has returned to a balmy 82 degrees!   We are counting down to our departure....10 days from now.   We have a fun new couple next door for the remainder of our stay (Bev and Bruce from New Jersey).  Today was golf day!  Again, not very pretty, but a lot of fun. 

While sitting under the pergola this afternoon, listening to Pandora radio, Richard changed the station to Keb' Mo".  Our friends Robbie and Mary recently turned us on to him. Keb Mo is a three–time Grammy Award winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album.   Richard mentioned that he was touring and would be playing somewhere in Florida on the day we leave the Keys.  I went to Ticketmaster and found two tickets to his show in Ponte Verde on March 2 (near Jacksonville/St. Augustine).  If we leave here that morning, a good seven hour drive will get us there in plenty of time for a quick nap before the show.   So, decision made....we'll stay a couple of days in the St. Augustine area before returning home.   Life is indeed good!

Clam Bake

The KCB Fishing and Boating Club's 2013 annual clam bake was yesterday.  They sell 400 tickets and always sell out.  It was a well run, worthwhile event that is used as a fund raiser for the club.  There is a silent auction; a raffle for the "wheelbarrow of cheer" that includes the wheelbarrow or $500 cash, whichever you choose; a 50/50 raffle where 50% of the money collected goes to charity and the winner receives the other 50%, and many more activities. 

For the price of a ticket, you could eat all the steamed and fried clams, raw and fried oysters, fish, steamed shrimp, clam chowder, paella, cold slaw, and onion rings you wanted; as well as all the soft drinks, cold beer, or wine you could drink.  Its a good thing it was held at 1 p.m. instead of 5 o'clock!

Needless to say, there was no dinner needed after that lunch!

Baby Its Cold Outside!

The cold front we've been hearing about finally reached us this morning!  This is one of those things I choose to write about because later when we look back on this trip, we likely won't remember waking up to 20-25 mph winds and 54 degree weather, which by the way makes it feel like its freezing! 

While walking Lucy this morning, I put on my fleece jacket, houndstooth wool scarf, long pants, and shoes and the wind was still cutting right through me.  I checked the weather in north Alabama and its 27 degrees there now with a high today of 51 degrees.  So believe me, I'm not complaining....and its suppose to be back up to 74 degrees here tomorrow! 

Our plan today is to step outside the box and instead of going to the traditional service at the Presbyterian Church, we're actually going to attend the contemporary service.   We have attended a few of these services at non-denominational churches before, but never at a Presbyterian church.  So we're anxious to see just how expressive these Presbyterians are willing to get.  More on that later...

We believe we have sold the kayaks we purchased shortly after arriving.  We posted an ad on Craigslist and received a call from a very nice, and interesting couple from Michigan (Terry and Suzanne).   We hit it off immediately.  They sailed for 7 months to Marathon from Michigan after selling all their worldly possessions.  How gutsy is that?   And, in addition to that....they are bloggers!   So, although we have thoroughly enjoyed being able to jump in the kayaks for an hour or two at a time, we didn't want to travel 1000 miles with them on top of our car.  I'm betting they will enjoy them as much as we have.

Lucy, who is 14 years old, spends about 18 hours a day sleeping.  She has developed a funny habit since we've been here.  Around 4:30 p.m., she gets up from her bed, stretches, and begins to act very anxious.  She knows its getting time to go to the park to visit her 4-legged friends.  To see this in action:

No Name!

Our friends from Georgia, the Favereaus, came and stayed with us for a few days.  Its been a long time since we have had the chance to spend much time together, so our time together was very special. 

Our guys, the romantics that they are, wanted to go somewhere special for Valentine's Day!  So, we drove 22 miles to Big Pine Key and had pizza at the No Name Pub!  Really....that's the name, and their pizza is world famous. 


Its an obscure little place that you would drive right by if you weren't looking for it.  I've been to places that had dollar bills stapled to the walls, but this was over the top.  Money was hanging from every square inch of the ceiling and a fan blowing on the ceiling made the ceiling come alive with movement!  The decor has got to be worth more than the building itself. 

After we left the restaurant, we saw a number of key deer meandering around the area.  We found that they are as tame as dogs.  Very cute, but we also remembered to sanitize our hands when we got back in the car! 

We were glad to get to share our burrowing owls, the key deer, and all the dogs of Key Colony with our friends!

Landscaping with Gravel



I really hope this doesn't sound as weird as I'm afraid its going to.  You know you've been in the Keys too long when you find yourself commenting on how nice a white gravel yard (in lieu of grass) looks.   Its rare to find a yard with grass here and even if you do, its not really pretty, healthy grass like we are used to seeing.  The simplest yard to maintain and most accepted yard is white gravel. 

In Key Colony, Wednesday is yard debris pickup day.  Every Tuesday, lawn services and residents are out sprucing up their yards...removing palm limbs and coconuts that have fallen, raking their gravel yards to remove debris and tracks made by vehicles.  They place everything in garbage cans on the street to be removed.   Most of the yards are kept very neat and there is a noticable difference in how the gravel looks on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.    I won't try to convince you....but will take pictures and post them and then you can be the judge! 

5 Weeks Down....3 To Go!

Last night we said goodbye to JoAnn and David, friends from Florence that stayed in the other half of our duplex for the past week.  We played tennis, biked, walked to Sunset Park, kayaked, and turned them on to Sparkey's Landing and Key Colony Inn for some good Florida Keys food!  Hopefully they enjoyed KCB as much as we do.

Although we're not tired of fresh fish for dinner, we are switchng things up tonight.  I'm cooking white beans and cornbread!  

Our neighbors and new friends, Eric and Piret, took us on a boat ride around Marathon Key this week.  What a treat!  We left Key Colony Beach and headed through the Vaca Cut out into the Gulf of Mexico.  We headed west, went under the 7 Mile Bridge, and toured the Sombrero beach area (including a ride past Demi Moore's home),entered the Atlantic Ocean at Sombrero Beach, past Sunset Park, back into Key Colony.  The trip of 21 miles took about 3 hours.  The gulf was quite calm, but the ocean side was pretty exciting as we bounced through the waves!  

We're excited that my sister has gone her limit without seeing her granddaughter and is flying to Nashville to pick her up and bring her back to the Keys in two weeks.  We'll try to free up some time to help her out with the 4-year old!  :}

Close Encounter with A Sea Monster

Today, while kayaking in our canal we saw a huge white blob right below the surface of the water.  We paddled over to it and realized it was a manatee.  We took several pictures that just didn't do him justice, so Richard took this video and he surfaced right beside his kayak.  Thank goodness he didn't decide to come up for air with one of us on top of him! 

Lucky Enough!

If a picture is worth a thousand words....then a painting is priceless.  The Howdyshells discovered our paradise and spent a week down the street from us.  She spent time with her easel and paints in one of our favorite spots.  The first painting she did was an old bicycle leaning against a palm tree and was purchased by a local resident just as she finished painting it.  I plan to take this one to "yappy hour" and show it off.  Its officially for sale....but may have to go home with me!

We don't like to think that we're half way through this trip, but we've been here 4 weeks today and 4 weeks from today we'll be heading north. Our duplex neighbor, Frank, who arrived the same day we did is headed back to Michigan today and the Howdyshells are headed north as well today. We wish them all safe travels and are thankful that we are lucky enough to get to stay awhile longer. As a sign in our neighborhood says, if you're lucky enough to be in the Keys, you're lucky enough!

More from the Keys...

We drove to Key West for what most likely was our one and only trip there.  The folks in Marathon refer to it as "Key Waste".  We timed our visit to coincide with a craft show being held there and on a day when there was only one cruise ship in port.  After strolling around (and buying a few things), having a great lunch at a sidewalk cafe that you would most likely be afraid to go near in any other city, and taking a quick walk through Mallory Square and Duval Street, we returned to the peace and quiet of Marathon Key. 

While reading a book yesterday on our patio, our neighbor lowered his 28-foot ProKat boat in the water, backed up to our dock, and asked if we wanted to ride with him to fuel up.  Naturally, we jumped on it....literally.  He decided to give us a quick tour of Key Colony by water on the way.  I was surprised at how well the boat handled the waves of the Atlantic, until I remembered there were two 300 hp outboards pushing us along.  Sweet!

This morning, while Richard was out walking Lucy, another neighbor invited him to go fishing.  This has been the first day in awhile that the winds have been calm enough for fishing.  So, while I'm still drinking coffee, off they go.   Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and the fish will be biting!

If You're Going To Plan Life....Plan to Enjoy It!

I do believe we're adjusting....rather well.  We've met so many nice people (and pups) and have been included in a number of the neighborhood's activities.  From a round robin tennis gathering every Monday and Friday morning, golf in the afternoon, an afternoon party on 13th street, get togethers with our neighbors, and learning to play MahJong. 

The typical story we hear from the residents is that they came down for a week or two the first year, a month or two the second year, and bought a place the third year.  This is our second year....

Who's Who in Key Colony

After numerous visits to Sunset Park for "Yappy Hour" at sunset, I realized we had not seen the gentleman that rides the red scooter for the past few days.   He is a regular at the park, always wearing gently worn white loafers, and looking like happy hour might have started a few hours earlier in the day for him.  His faithful companion, a beautifully manicured white dog "Salty" (get it?....Salty Dog) proudly rides along with him everywhere he goes.

A couple of the regulars informed us that he'd gone out a couple of nights ago with an old friend that could apparently hold his liquor better than Steve, and that he was still "recovering".   They went on to tell us that Steve had quite an impressive background.  His name is Stephen Francis Patrick Aloysius Dunleavy.  We came home an googled him and found that he was a well known columnist for the New York Post. He was a lead reporter on the US tabloid TV program "A Current Affair" in the 1980s and 1990s.

Apparently he used to be quite a character.....and I can report that on his 75th birthday earlier this week, he got off of his scooter, threw off his white loafers, and kicked a soccer ball around with some neighborhood kids.   He may not be quite as steady as he used to be, but I can confirm that he's "Still Kicking"!

Turtle Hospital

On the recommendation of our friend Nola, a very bright young lady and animal enthusiast, we visited the turtle hospital in Marathon.  They house 28 sea turtles that have been rescued.  Some are there for rehabilitation, others have become permanent residents due to their inability to survive in the wild.  This adult female Kemp’s Ridley, a very rare white turtle, was hit by a boat and entangled in a lobster trap resulting in loss of left front flipper.   Weights have been attached to her back  to help her with buoyancy issues. 

The hospital is doing great work and relies heavily on visitors to support this endeavor.

Key Colony Beach

Watching winter advisory weather reports for north Alabama only makes us enjoy our little slice of paradise more!   That's our half on the right.  

We got this shot while out kayaking yesterday.   The wind was calm so we set out for a couple of hours of exploring by water.  Got to see a couple of dolphin and a huge iguana!   Did I mention its snowing at home?

Later that evening, we hosted a family dinner and enjoyed surf and turf!  Snapper caught yesterday, steaks, and homemade key lime pie.  We face-timed family back at home while sitting around under the tiki hut, enjoying good company and warm weather.  Life is good!

Now, The Adults Get Their Say

We are so enjoying our stay in Key Colony Beach!  Its 82 degrees every day and drops down to the mid-70s at night.  Tonight we actually went bar hopping in our neighborhood on bicycles!   After dinner, we rode to Breezes, a beach front outside bar and then went on to Sparkeys Landing.  Both are located less than 5 minutes by bike from our house.  We were home about an hour later....but we went!   Went to a local fish market and brought home red snapper for dinner....added some glazed brussel sprouts and a salad and dinner was served under the tiki hut on our patio.

We've been looking for a place to go to church tomorrow.  There is a Presbyterian church down the road, but it seemed a little too contemporary for our tastes.  The Methodist church traditional services begin at 8 a.m. and there's a Baptist and Church of Christ.  We'll get up tomorrow and see make a decision.  Our motto "why do today what you can put off until tomorrow"!

Oh, this picture isn't where we're staying, but it is at the end of our street.   Ours is slightly more modest!

More From Lucy

We've been in the Keys about four days now and are loving it.  I was surprised today when ol' pawpaw and Ms. Ann came by for a visit.  They were going to stay with me today while mom and dad went to Miami for the National Championship game, but they decided not to go and then Aunt Sharon and Uncle Ray came over to watch the big game.  I went to bed around halftime because Bama was kicking butt and the game was essentially over.  Turns out it IS better to be good than lucky!

Mom and dad have been shopping for a dinghy with motor to tool around in Key Colony and I was getting very excited.  But, it looks like they have decided on a couple of kayaks.  I am not getting in one of those!!  

I'm getting into a routine here.  My morning walk, naps, eating, and the high point of my day when I get to go to the park for "yappy hour" every afternoon!  

The Dog Finally Gets A Say - January 3, 2013

Well, here we go again.  I went outside this morning, visited my neighbors, and then came back home for my morning nap and the car was out of the garage, bags were being loaded, wait….my bed….that’s my bed.  Looks like my parents are taking me somewhere else.  So, with their help, I was lifted onto my bed in the backseat and off we go.  I rode, slept, woke up, was lifted out of the car at every gas station and rest stop and was watched in careful anticipation of what would otherwise be a very natural act.  But not knowing how long it would be until the next stop, I lifted my leg on every tree, leaf, and sometimes even a candy wrapper left on the ground.  An eternity later, we arrived at one of those places, where a card is inserted in the door and noises can be heard all night long under the door.  My parents left me there for a while, and when they returned, I could clearly smell steak as they said goodnight.  The next morning, upon returning from my morning walk, I could tell my mom really needed to drink that cup of “that stuff” that makes her begin to act normal again.  So upon her request…and because there was a big sign that read “animals not allowed in breakfast area”, I patiently sat on the tiled floor while my mom walked over to get a couple of cups of that stuff she drinks every morning.  Several people looked up from their cups and smiled at me (as if that was really something that I was sitting there….where was I suppose to go?  I am too short to push the elevator button)!

Soon everything was loaded back in the car and off we go again.  One observation I was able to make, it was getting warmer!  I found myself drinking more and more water at every stop.  Finally, we stopped and got out.  Wait….I believe I’ve been here before.  It’s my Aunt Susan’s house!  Only, she has a new puppy that just loves to put his nose in places that I’ve been taught are off limits for a “nice girl” like me.  I feel it’s my duty as the alpha…elder animal to teach her that southern hospitality stops with the tail wag.  I promise I didn't hurt him.  Our visit ended with us being better friends and hopefully I’ll see Maxx again soon for another lesson or two.

After a couple of nights at Aunt Susan’s house, we continued our adventure and the temperature continued to rise!  Finally, we arrived at our final destination.  I seem to remember being here before.  Nesting owls living in a PVC pipe, Sunset Park where all the dogs in the neighborhood bring their parents to watch that big ball fall out of the sky every afternoon, walks, naps, more walks, more naps…..I believe this is the Florida Keys….life is good...my tail is wagging!