Day 171 Marathon, Kathy & Tom

Tom at Key West with a bag from our son Jeff's Electric Doctor business in QC




Rummy cube at the pool; Kathy & Diann






Sombrero Beach after breakfast at the Stuffed Pig.







Mt sister Kathy and Tom at Southernmost Point, Key West (90 miles from Cuba)



Tom & Tom taking the easy way back to the car!


Since I haven’t updated the blog for awhile, I’m going to condense the next few days.

On Thursday after Diane and Denny left, my sister Kathy, and Tom arrived from Foster City, CA (San Francisco area). Besides adjusting to the 3 hour time difference, they also have to adjust to the cold and wind; not what they had hoped for. They are staying at the Banana Bay Resort and Marina which is a couple of miles down the road from us. We spent some time in the warmth of the boat before going to Lazy Days for the sunset, happy hour and dinner.
Friday we tried the Seven Mile Grill for an excellent breakfast after which we gave Kathy and Tom a tour of Marathon. Since we had sunshine we went to Banana Bay and sat at the pool and played Rummy Cube.

Saturday we tried the very busy Leigh Ann’s Coffee House for a light breakfast. Kathy and I visited the very educational Dolphin Research Center. A dolphin’s normal speed is 2-7 mph but can travel speeds up to 24 mph. They have extremely soft, flakey skin which they shed every 2 hours. This ‘flaking’ is what allows them to move so fast through water. While Kathy and I are enjoying ourselves, the guys went back to retie and secure the boat for the predicted winds of 25-30 mph. During the heavy winds (15-35 mph) lines are stretched to their limits and have to be readjusted when the weather is calm.
Stone crabs were on Tom Esber’s list of things to eat while in Florida so we headed to Keys Fisheries for a late lunch. In spite of the cool, windy day we once again had a great meal of stone crabs, stone crab soup, lobster and coconut shrimp. Life is good!

After breakfast at the Stuffed Pig on Sunday, we took a walk on Sombrero beach. The rest of the afternoon was a relaxing day at the pool with not a cloud in the sky. I hate to admit it but I think I was whooped at rummy cube! Sunday night dinner was at Key Colony Inn where we had enough left over food that we planned on having dinner on board Monday night.

We had a light breakfast on board Monday morning and then headed to Key West. It had been a few years since Kathy and Tom had been there by cruise ship so they were interested in seeing the changes. We found a parking lot at the Wharf and proceeded to look at all the charter boats as we walked to Duval Street. Of course Kathy and I found lots of shops to poke our heads into along the way while the guys stood outside. After lunch at an outdoor café, rather than move the car and search for another parking place we decided the Southernmost Point was within walking distance. It was further than we thought and on the return the guys took the easy way back. Kathy and I walked but that allowed us to leisurely browse more stores in search of something we couldn’t live without. The one boutique we found that we both liked was a little out of our price range with a blouse at $325.00! Not the same as the %5.00 t-shirt area.

After breakfast this morning, they had to head to Ft Lauderdale where they will spend the day and evening before their flight tomorrow. We have really enjoyed their stay and hate to see them leave. Boo Hoo!