Last updated: October 14, 2011
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Sunday, May 16: I slept in till 7:00AM this morning; made coffee, and had my breakfast. Dave and Deanna got up about a half hour later. The weather is cloudy and warm so far. We are parked right on the ocean. What a beautiful view! I went outside to take pictures and our neighbor pointed out 2 lobsters in the water. I called Deanna out and she got to see them, too. It was the first time I had ever seen them in their natural habitat. After we started watching for Lobster we found that there were lots of them up and down the sea wall. We left camp at 10:10AM and stopped at the office to pay the lot rental as we got in late last night. It is raining a little now. We drove on to Marathon, crossed the 7 mile bridge, and stopped at the Visitor's Center. Then we drove on to Key West. We toured Key West, then ate lunch at a bar and grill. It poured rain all the time we were eating, and then the sun came back out. We went to the marina and through several shops where Deanna bought gifts for Cleta and Sarah. We went into the Hog's Breath Saloon and Dave and Deanna bought tee shirts. We then went to Mallory Square and window shopped and then went through "The Wreckers" Memorial Park. We got back to the RV about 5:35 PM. I took a dip in the ocean while Deanna got laundry ready to wash. They went to the laundry room while I showered. I then walked over and helped a little after I had rested. We got done with laundry and back to the RV about 8:15, then fixed supper and packed up stuff to take to Dry Tortugas tomorrow morning. We'll have to leave by 6:00 AM, so will have to get up early.
At the Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger Map |
Deanna with our RV WAAAy in the back.
Having lunch
Chickens everywhere
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A gazillion lobsters along the Jolly Roger sea wall
Tarpon at Key West. 4 feet or so long
While it pours outside
Mallory Square
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Beat this sunset from Jolly Roger!
And 15 minutes later its dry. Check out the different modes of transportation
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Monday, May 17: We got up before 5:00 AM. We are getting ready to go back to Key West to go ride out on a catamaran to Dry Tortugas Island. We will tour Fort Jefferson, swim, snorkel, and have lunch there. We'll come back to the marina about 5:00 PM. We left camp about 6:00AM and got to Key West at 7:15. We left on the Fast Cat boat run by Sunny Days at 8:00 AM. Sunny Days provides a buffet breakfast with lots of fruits, drinks, etc. Glad we skipped breakfast at home because this one is great! The sea is choppy with lots of white caps. We got to Dry Tortugas Island about 10:30. Sunny Days provided a guide who was very knowledgeable about the island and the fort. Did you know that when someone comes from Cuba seeking asylum that if they get one foot on the ground before the INS catches them, they allowed to stay in the U.S. and the U.S. gives them $10,000? WOW! We toured Fort Jefferson, and then went back to the boat for a buffet lunch on the Fast Cat of sandwiches, pasta, potato salad, chips, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and cold drinks. Everything tastes so good. After lunch, we changed into bathing suits and went to the beach. Deanna learned to snorkel really fast, but I got so disoriented when I tried it that I had to quit. I swam and floated on my back instead and had a lot of fun. Dave took lots of pictures of Deanna and me as we swam and snorkeled. One picture of me was really funny. I was trying to walk to the water with my flippers on. I looked like a big-footed duck! We later visited the gift shop and Dave and Deanna bought tee shirts. Dave also bought pins for us gals. Very sweet! The boat left the island at 2:30 and we got back to the marina about 4:50. We returned the rented snorkels and masks that we got from Lost Reef Adventures and checked on our deep-sea fishing trip, then headed for the RV and supper. Saw some really spectacular sunsets from out dock at Jolly Roger. Maybe it was just us, but we think Jolly Roger has the best sunsets and you can almost hear the sizzle of the sun when it touches the sea and just barely see the green flash of light as it drops over the horizon. If you have ever spent any time in the Florida Keys you will know this is true.
Just an FYI, Lost Reef Adventures rents corrective lens masks. By the way, if you need help seeing close up don't believe the story that the water magnifies things and you won't need corrective lenses. Yes the water will magnify what you see but without corrective lenses you will just get a bigger "out of focus" image.
Have you ever wondered where the saying "your name is mud" came from? Well here it is, the famous prisoner of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, Dr. Mudd. And guess what it is all related to? The death of president Lincoln.
Dry Tortugas map |
At the Fast Cat dock
On top Ft. Jefferson
About the lighthouses and coaling dock
Lighthouse on Loggerhead Key to our west
Learning to walk with fins
Arriving back at Key West
Did you hear it sizzle when it touched the ocean? |
Front of the fort with a view of the moat
View out one of the gun ports
The Fast Cat on the right
Getting ready to snorkel
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Nesting birds.
Powder house
Ramp across the moat
The Majestic Frigate Bird
One of the coaling docks
The fort fading into the distance
Driving through Key West
Some good-looking babe standing on our dock
Did you see that blink of green light when it went over the horizon? |
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Tuesday, May 18: We got up about 7:00AM and got ready to go deep-sea fishing. We are going on the morning trip instead of waiting for afternoon. We went to the Marathon Lady Marina and left to go fishing at 8:00 AM. We went out several miles into the ocean and stopped at 4 different places to fish. Dave caught at least 4 keepers and several throw-backs. Deanna caught the most at 11 and I caught 4 fish. They are called grunts. The helper said my last one was the biggest one caught that morning. It was about 12 inches long and silvery in color. We had a special code put on our fish so we could have the fish we actually caught. When we got back to the marina, they separated our fish and we had them to filet them for us. We then took them to a restaurant next door and they cooked them for us for $6.00 per person. We had 11/2 pounds of edible fish, plus French fries, Cole slaw, and tea. MMM!!! So good! It was the best fish I ever ate. The men threw the leftover parts of our fish back into the water and a lot of large fish and two pelicans feasted on them, so we not only had fish for us, but fed other creatures with parts of our catch. Dave said the big fish were tarpons. Some were 3-4 feet long! Sam called while we were at the restaurant and was impressed with what I told him about our fishing trip. We got back to the RV about 2:15. Dave and Deanna napped and I walked to the laundry room to return a book I had borrowed. We watched a movie, then I went outside and 5 pigeons were on the waterfront. I came back in and got a package of cheesy crackers to feed them. Four laughing gulls came down and helped the pigeons eat all the crackers I had crumbled. Dave and Deanna came out and scrubbed the bugs off the front of the RV. They brought out some crackers and fed the birds, too. We were so full from lunch that we decided not to eat any supper, so drove into town to a McDonald's for hot fudge sundaes. They were so good! We came back to camp and walked down to the dock to see where a sailboat had crashed into the dock during the night. We came back to the RV and waited to see the Space Station pass over. Atlantis is attached to the Space Station now. It is due to go over this area at 9:16PM. We went outside and I spotted what I thought at first was a bright star, but it was moving. I pointed it out to Dave and Deanna and they said it was the space station I had spotted. It moved so fast, it was only visible for 2 or 3 minutes. WOW!!! What a thrill that I could even see it, let alone be the first to spot it.
Space Station and Shuttle times |
Early in the morning at Jolly Roger
Got another one!
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At the Marathon Lady dock
Bate those hooks ladies
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On the way out
Got one!
Our catch
Pelicans and Tarpon waiting for their treats
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Wednesday, May 19: Deanna and Dave slept in this morning, but I got up at 6:30, made coffee, and ate my breakfast. I then took a walk around the park. It is humid, cloudy, and feels sticky outside. Later, a slight ocean breeze sprang up and that helped a lot. We left camp at 10:15 and headed north on highway 1. We stopped at Long Key State Park and saw land crabs and lots of seaweed, but not much beach. We visited a mangrove swamp and walked the boardwalk. We saw many different trees and plants--cactus, date palms, sea grass, etc. We saw a chameleon, lizards, crabs, and orb spiders, but no snakes. We left at 11:30. It rained a little but didn't last long. Next we stopped at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center and walked all through it. We saw egrets, pelicans, herons, hawks, falcons, kestrels, gulls, etc. We left and decided to find a place to eat lunch. We stopped first at Shell World and I bought shell necklaces for Barbara and me; then we went to Wendy's for lunch in Key Largo. We stopped for gas then headed back to camp. A traffic accident kept us tied up for an hour and fifteen minutes. Dave took a left turn to try to bypass the problem, but it led us right back to the highway. We finally crept along to where a car had hit an electric pole and the car was demolished. Big cranes were holding up the electric wires while the pole was being replaced. We got clear of the area at 4:00 PM. Whew!! When we got back to camp, we only stopped long enough to use the bathroom, and then went to Big K to stock up on supplies. Also, visited Winn Dixie for some of the groceries we needed. Dave and Deanna dropped me off at the RV and went to gas up the truck in Marathon. I showered and washed my hair, then rested a bit. When they got back, we walked on the Oceanside in back of the RV and saw many, many lobsters in the water and some crabs and snails. Other people came out and took pictures of the lobsters. Dave and Deanna had taken bread out to feed the gulls and the other people did, too. We had supper about 8:30 that night.
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The BIG Lobster
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Tuxedo Crane |
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Thursday, May 20: Jolly Roger to Ft. Myers I got up at 6:30 AM and discovered a helicopter hovering over the highway for quite awhile. I guess it was a news station; there is a lot of road construction going on in this area. It is raining lightly again this morning, but according to the weather report on TV, we will drive out of it on our route to Fort Meyers this morning. We will also go down Alligator Alley on the way there. I saw a big white crane standing on the swim platform at 8:00 AM. We left camp at 9:30. The rain has stopped and it is hot and humid. We stopped at a service plaza after getting on the interstate. We spotted an alligator swimming in the channel about 12:45. A really big one!! We stopped at a rest area for lunch in the RV. We arrived at the Gulf Waters RV Park at Fort Meyers Beach at 3:45 PM. We are now on the west side of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. After setting up camp, we drove to the Lighthouse Beach and took pictures of the Sanibel lighthouse; then drove to Bowman's Beach and walked along the shore, picked up shells, then drove back to the RV Park. We discovered you had to pay $2.00 an hour to park here. There are no free beaches in this area.
Gulf Waters map |
Little shells everywhere |
Along Alligator Alley
Lots of bridges in Florida |
Visitors center along Alligator Alley
Gee, does Sanibel Captiva have a problem?
Some folks wading around on a sand bar |
