Our time in the Keys is coming to and end

Friday, February 17th, Mary's parents, her sister Sue, Sue's husband Denny and their daughter Sara arrived just in time to enjoy the fish dinner special at Navigator's, the marina bar and grill.  In the morning, they checked out the beach at Boca Chica:

then rode the Conch Train.

 While we were waiting for the Conch Train ride to end, John got a little fresh with Marilyn:

After lunch at the Cuban restaurant on Mallory Square

we went to Truman Annex to see the goats and lizards then relaxed on the beach nearby.

Mom and Dad went back to their room on base and the rest of us attended the sunset celebration then had dinner at Hard Rock.

Sunday was a planned relaxing beach day and we executed our plan perfectly:

Sara joined John on the 12 mile bike ride around Key West while the rest of us began our day of leisure.

Mary and Sara swam to the island at the swimming beach,

we had a picnic in the Tiki Hut, John did some laundry, and we enjoyed our own quiet sunset.

That evening Sara and Mary beat Sue and Mom at hand and foot and we all went to bed early, tired after our strenuous day.

Monday we went back into town to do some shopping (all except Dad, who was reading Dana Stabenaw's latest Kate Shugak mystery on Mary's Kindle).  We checked out 2 cruise ships docked at Mallory Square, went to Kino Sandals and some other stores, and had lunch at Hard Rock.  John ran some errands and returned to base to wash the boat while Denny kept the parking permit current and brought us back to Boca Chica so Sara could paddleboard and kayak.  She wasn't too crazy about sharing the water with this jellyfish:

Sue was successful on the paddleboard, also:

and Sara and Sue took a kayak for a spin.

John grilled for us for dinner, but a mosquito hatching (the first time we've had any bugs here!) drove us indoors early.  Mary's dad and Sara went on the Ghost Trolley and really enjoyed it.

Tuesday we packed up the cars and Mary went with the rest of the family to the Everglades while John attended a presentation on "Marathon to Norfolk".  But first we had to visit the goats one last time, as Sara had promised them she'd bring each of them a sugar packet.

John joined us that evening at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead and our company left early Wednesday morning to drive back to Michigan, arriving Thursday just ahead of a snow storm.

We visited Biscayne National Park on our way back to the Keys.  We'll be here by water soon.  We stopped at a Pro Bass Shop at mile marker 81.6 to visit a "sister" boat of Hemingway's Pilar:

Now it's time to put everything away and give the boat a good cleaning, do laundry, reprovision, return the rental car, and prepare to get back underway on the next leg of our journey.