Update January 26

While Sabbatical rested in her slip at Marina Del Mar, we flew home to spend the holidays with family in New York. After following all the traditions, including our family cookout in the snow with hot dogs and marshmallows, Annette and I flew back to our winter haven. The day before we left, a new January temperature record was set in Rochester. I think it reached 70+. That helped us transition back to the low 80's of Key Largo. While I helped Mark and Vicky Carey move their boat to Fort Lauderdale for a new mast, Annette and friends visited a botanical garden in Miami.

We have been blessed with good friends here and from previous trips. Jack and Sheila Adamowski spent several nights on board. One day was spent in Key West which is 100 miles away. We were guided by our hat lady from Canada, Joy, who expertly guided us to many spots that we had not visited in previous trips. One highlight was the butterfly conservatory where we got to mingle with many exotics and a few other creatures inhabiting the building. It took us a half hour to walk to the southernmost point in the continental U.S. at the south end of DuVal Street and four margaritas to make the walk back. This is Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

Friends John and Ellie Warren followed Jack and Sheila in staying aboard Sabbatical. We enjoyed showing them around Key Largo and John Pennecamp State Park. Later we went to Worldwide Sportsman's store which is not only a store but somewhat of a destination. This picture shows a sister boat to Hemmingway's Pilar that has been restored and is on display in the middle of the store. We also enjoyed the ambiance in the Zane Grey Lounge at the top of the store. Zane Grey made a fortune writing novels about the wild west, but also wrote stories about Tahiti and other south sea islands. We were surrounded in the lounge by pictures showing his many record fishing catches. The Happy Hour half price tequila sunrises were good too.