Our home for the holidays

It's warm here and we love it.

Sunday,  December 11, John hopped on his bike to ride off base and check on the progress of the bike path from here to the city of Key West.  When we visited in February, we thought the trail would be completed by now.  No such luck, he had to ride along the Overseas Highway.  We'll rent a car to make traveling into town safer and more convenient.  John rode 23 miles exploring possible routes to town, the commissary, etc. then rode 10 more miles with Mary on base.  We also took a brisk 30 minute walk.  This base is pretty utilitarian, no path along the water, historic forts or museum so we'll probably buy a bike rack so we can drive someplace pretty for our rides and will probably take walks in town, also.  There are pretty constant flights of F-18s and we saw C-130s dropping paratroopers.

An F-18 Hornet:

Monday we walked again and Mary rode 5 miles, John 10.  We added a P-3 Orion and some F-5's to our aircraft sightings.  We rode our bikes to the base post office to pick up the mail Jo had sent.  We sure collect a lot of junk in a month-and Jo hadn't forwarded catalogs! We worked on cleaning the boat for our much-anticipated company-all 4 kids will be here for Christmas! John scrubbed the deck carpets and the deck while Mary washed the deck seating and the dash-including all the crud that gathers along the windshield from rain.  Her new hip allowed her to crawl right up to the window-it's cleaner than it's been since the boat was new!

P-3 Orion:

Tuesday we spotted a mysterious white object floating in the sky when we took our walk.  Fat Albert is a blimp that is tethered over Cudjoe Key.  There are 2 different ones-one is used for drug interdiction, the other transmits to Cuba.  We now have a rental car.  Enterprise has a good thing going with their policy of picking you up to take you to their office.  We can't remember ever using that company before, but have taken advantage of that policy all 3 times we've rented cars during this trip.  We won't need to buy a bike rack-they had no economy cars so we have a Jeep Compass and the bikes fit in the back.  We went to Turtle Kraal, a restaurant in the old turtle factory, where they used to can turtle soup before the turtles became protected.  It was our favorite place to eat the 2 other times we visited Key West, but they've changed their menu drastically and are more a southern smoke/barbecue place now.  Rather than have a distinctive sauce, they smoke the meat then bring 6 different sauces to the table. We get much better barbecue when we visit Matthew and Christine in Charlotte. We had a very windy bike ride around base.  There's one place on the road where you have to stop and look for low-flying aircraft, as you are crossing the runway approach.  There are often planes taking off or landing, so we have to wait, hands over ears, for them to pass.

Fat Albert:

Wednesday we had another windy bike ride then drove to Sigsbee, where the commissary and px are located.  Naval Air Station Key West consists of several different sites.  We then drove a few keys past Boca Chica to look at bike trails.  There are some nice ones we look forward to exploring. There is no fresh water available in the Keys, so a water pipe runs along the bridges and along the road all the way from the mainland. Here is a picture of the pipe along one of the old bridges:

Thursday we prepared Christmas cards and pulled the little Christmas tree out from under the seat and decorated it.  The US Postal Service did not get our forwarding address correct, even though we had our postmaster in Shepherd complete it for us, as it didn't present correctly when we tried on-line and the postal employee at the 1-800 number couldn't get it to go into the system, either. Consequently, we have to drive into town to the main post office to get our mail as well as check at the post office on base. We decided to go to Margaritaville, the site of the first of Jimmy Buffet's restaurant chain, but it was closed for their Christmas party so we had to go to Sloppy Joe's, where Hemingway used to hang out.  Yes, it's a tough life, but we're hanging in there! After dinner, we went to Mallory Square for the sunset ceremony.  Even the cacophony of the performers and vendors does not detract from the beauty of the sunset:

Friday we drove as far as Marathon to look at bike trails and the old Bahia Honda bridge, which was the biggest challenge for Flagler's crews during construction of the overseas railroad, as the water is very deep.  When the auto road was constructed, this bridge was too narrow to use the railroad bed, so the automobile road  was built above the supports!  John drove on this bridge in 1972 and he says it was quite exciting.  One of our guide books describes it as like driving your car on a roller coaster.  Alas, there is now a newer, tamer bridge.

There are several trainers at the base now, the white and orange 2-seater prop jobs like we see at Pensacola.  We tried the Square Grouper at mile marker 22.2 for lunch.  It had been recommended by someone in the marina and was excellent.  We went back into Key West for those "cheeseburgers in paradise" at Margaritaville then to Mallory Square for the sunset.

The old "roller coaster" bridge:

Saturday we added to our plane-spotting list with some 5-16's, 5-15's, and a C-17 while walking and biking.  John went to the commissary, as it's closed Sunday and Monday.

Sunday we moved the bikes to the Truman Annex, another part of the naval air station.  It's right in town and close to a good bike path along the ocean.  After dark we walked along the Bight (old docks) to the Christmas tree decorated with lobster pot floats to hear a children's musical group from Ft. Lauderdale play Christmas music.  Not quite the Dow Gardens Christmas walk-through, but nice.

Monday we biked along the ocean and walked along Duval Street.  We dropped John's bike off for repair since, in spite of paying to have 2 new tubes installed in Tarpon Springs, both tires are flat every morning.  There's also an annoying clicking noise that we hope they can eliminate.

There are a lot of chickens wandering around.  When cock fighting was outlawed, the chickens were just released and their descendants wander freely.  Crowing is common background noise:

Tuesday we did laundry and John grilled chicken breasts and steak.   We picked up John's bike then drove back to the old harbor to try another recommended restaurant-Dante's.  It seems the economy has badly affected the restaurants here.  Dante's now has a limited menu and uninspired food.  Matthew and Christine are here such a short time that we don't want to waste time and money in mediocre restaurants.

Wednesday we rode the bike trail all the way to the airport and checked out East Martello, the pre-Civil War fort that now houses the museum where Robert, the haunted doll, resides.  We'll go in when the kids are here. Mary wrapped John's Christmas gifts and his stocking now bulges suspiciously.

Thursday John arose early and biked all the way around Key West, following the bike path around past the airport and the old harbor and back to the Truman Annex.  Mary did some paper (computer) work.  John wrapped Mary's presents and went back into town for stocking stuffers. We set out the little nativity set John's sister Jo gave us and the Year Without a Santa Claus figures Theresa gave Mary a few years ago.  We put a small string of lights on the silk flower arrangement and Mary Frances looks very Christmasy for the kids' visit.  Benj and Sarah are running to catch their connecting flight in Atlanta and Matthew and Christine are packing the car to begin their drive. We can't wait for them to arrive!