Marina Del Mar

Our friend and the assistant manager of the Key Largo Resorts, Patti, was also decked out for the celebration of St. Patricks Day. Patti has been a wonderful help to Annette, getting her a wheelchair, taking her shopping and loaning her car for our use. She and Annette meet every Monday night (with snacks) to watch the television series, 24. Patti is a transplanted Texan and,as one might imagine, has a Texas-sized personality. She has a passion for sea horses and collects all manner of representations of them.

From the deck of Coconuts, our nightclub here at Marina Del Mar, we can see our boat, Sabbatical, and that of our friends, Jack and Sheila, Windy Affair. We have been in this slip since December 19th, moving only to pump out our waste tank and to take one trip out past Molasses Reef. Windy Affair has been out a couple of additional times to sail or snorkel. These slips are located right in front of the site of our continental breakfast and the pool. We use the deck behind the boats for gatherings of the Marina Del Mar Gang.

On St. Patricks Day we went to Coconuts for a bite and a drink. Candy and Patti were there and we had no choice but to join the party. They really had to twist our arms! Here Annette is dancing with her crutches for support. We had to do her dance without the help of crutches. Try standing on one leg and moving the other leg and the rest of your body in time with the music. You'll get some idea of the effort it takes to spend weeks as Annette has.

This is a shot of the pool and the jacuzzi next to it. It is a heated pool when that is necessary. It is a welcome place to be after tennis with Mark. He and I head directly for the pool where we can enjoy a bit of weightless movement. We are basically elephants on the tennis court since we both weigh in the neighborhood of 285. The pool level does go up when we are in it. There are three pools here in the resorts that make up Key Largo Resorts and Marina. We are free to use any of them but generally do not go any farther than right here behind the boat.

March 17, St. Patrick's Day, brings out the little people. Here is a leprechan named Candy O'Dockmaster that I captured on the morning of the 17th. She assured me that I would be in for good luck for the rest of the day. She looked a bit like Candy Claus that we saw on Christmas here. She claimed that on Easter she will turn into a southern belle with a beautiful Easter bonnet. Unfortunately, we do not plan on being here at Marina Del Mar to see that.

The Marina Del Mar Gang

One of the great things about this life is the number of wonderful people one meets along the way. Here is a shot of the Marina Del Mar Gang (minus a few) doing what we do best at one of our impromtu get-togethers. We have a lot of fun and eat a lot of good food. The fish was spanish mackeral caught that day by Mark and Vickie and cooked on our dockmaster's grill here at the marina by Mark. It was delicious.

Bongos

Across the way from the boat show site is American Airlines Arena and Gloria Estaban's nightclub, Bongos. Jack, Sheila, Mark, Vicki, and I went there after the boat show for supper. It has a Cuban style interior with a great dance floor under the pineapple dome you see in this picture. One could easily imagine Desi Arnaz and all the Latin bands playing here with men in white hats and suits and beautifully dressed women dancing to mambo music. The food was great and the atmosphere was amazing. The walls were lined with all kinds of bongo drums.

Recuperation and Key Largo News II

Sunset at Mallory Square at Key West is a crowd draw. A huge cloud blocked the sight of the sun actually falling below the horizon, but it did provide some spectacular effects, nevertheless.



One of the restaurants here at Key Largo has a resident population of tarpons swimming in the cove next to its decks. The bartender will provide for a small fee latex gloves and a small bag of meat to feed the fish. Here Grant is feeding some of the tarpon. The competition for the meat is not just among the tarpon. One first had to fake out the ever present birds, particularly the pelicans, as they were far faster to the bait than the fish.

Annette is progressing nicely with her recovery from the operation on her leg. Last week she had her second cast removed and replaced with a boot. The boot adjusts to allow her foot to flex to a certain angle. She can now walk with crutches applying up to 30% of her weight on the left foot. The doctors who performed the surgery and are directing her recovery are pictured with Annette after the second cast was put on. Today she got off the back of the boat at high tide without any help for the first time. We walked to a restaurant for lunch and she felt a great sense of relief at her recovered degree of independence.

One of the benefits of going to the hospital in Miami (Coral Gables, really) is the chance to see a little of the city. This is a typical view of the downtown area. Notice the large number of construction cranes. They seem to be everywhere. New high rise buildings are going up all over the core of the city. Of course, the area around the city is also growing wherever there is room for more condos.

Annette and I went back to the site of the sailing portion of the Miami Boat Show pictured here. She had not gone because of her leg. There are many shops and amusements in this facility. We had a late breakfast here at a Cuban style restaurant after her visit to the hospital for her second cast. Afterwards we were able to sample the shops in the area.

Recuperation Update and Key Largo News

The south side of the building used for the Wyland painting has a diver portrayed. The painting is dedicated to the Australian adventurer and naturalist, Steve Irwin, whose death from a stingray wound shocked us all. The diver represents Mr. Irwin in one of his elements.



Susan, Sam, Cailean, and Grant stayed on board for an extended weekend during President's week. Among the many things we did was a trip to Key West. In this picture, they are enjoying the scenery at Sombrero Beach near Marathon. It still is strange to see KSU sweatshirts on our GO BLUES. The day was beautifully sunny with strong winds. Unfortunately, Grandma had to remain in the vehicle to preserve her strength for the rest of the day.

Malory Square at Key West is a major attraction because of the many street performers and artists found there. Despite the high winds, the performers were able to balance on high ladders and unicycles without apparent difficulty. My favorite trick was the dog who was trained to take dollar bills from the tourists and deposit them in the master's bucket. Cailean and Grant had fun keeping the pigeons and seagulls away from grandma's head.