Living on Key West Time

Our month in Key West went by much more quickly than anticipated. Certainly helped by the variety of things to do and see, and visits from family.  This song captures the vibe perfectly.   (Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 band)








Judy's sister Wendy's visit unfortunately coincided with the poorest 3 days of weather we had in January.  Although generally dry, it was unseasonably cool and seasonably windy.  That didn't stop Judy and Wendy from getting out and seeing things though.  After all, Wendy was there to celebrate a significant milestone birthday.  Hemingway house, the butterfly museum, some shopping of course, and we even managed to get a dinghy trip out to Sunset Key during a calmer afternoon.  The highlight though was the evening at the local cabaret headlining a female impersonator act who features Bette Midler, Cher and a (third character).  He/she was fantastic and we all had great fun.


Tristan's visit followed shortly thereafter and with much better weather, we managed to fit in some better outdoor events.  One of the better beaches here is at the Fort Zachary Taylor state park, so we combined a visit to the fort with an afternoon at the beach.  We managed to catch the ranger's guided tour of the fort in the morning which really brings the history to life. 

Wreckers Race Start

The next day was the "Wrecker's Race", which is a sailboat race to a local lighthouse to re-enact the route of when the locals would race to get to the new wreck to first save the crew and passengers, and second, claim the bounty from the wreck.  We again went to Fort Zach as the start line is just off the beach and provides a good elevated view, and then spent another afternoon at the beach.  Of course a visit from Tristan wouldn't be complete without spending some time out in the evening listening to some of the great music that KW has to offer. 




Additional sightseeing and events from our last two weeks included the Lighthouse, a seafood festival, a 10k/half marathon event, numerous dinghy trips to explore the area, some more beach time, and a few more nights spent exploring the Key West music scene.

Captain Amber entertaining Greg with story

The highlight of activities was saved to near the end, waiting for the perfect weather day.  We went sailing on the America 2.0 schooner for an afternoon.  And we even picked a day with not too many people, so when they asked if there were any people interested in steering, Greg was one of the few.  And being last, he got lots of time at the wheel, including a number of tacks back into the harbor past the cruise ship dock.   What a thrill to sail on that classic boat.

Alas we did have to leave though.  Judy headed back to Toronto to see her mom for a few days as she wasn't doing well, and Greg ran the boat up to Marathon, and then across Florida Bay to Marco Island, where Judy came back to, with Tristan who was visited again for a weekend.  The Florida Bay run was broken into two legs as it is a long run, with a night anchored at Little Shark River.  Pretty anchorage, with a number of dolphins circling and a manatee showing, but inundated with noseeum flies at sunset so couldn't really sit outside and enjoy it. 

We will be on the move much more over the next couple of months so stay tuned for a bit more frequent posts.