Sunday - Kayaking in mangroves

SUNday lived up to its name. The sun was shining brilliantly up there in the cotton ball cloudy sky. We woke up to some fishy leftovers. More accurately, I slept in until about 8:15/8:30 thereabouts to an empty room. Said hi to the woofers and Tom and Midge and was told that dad was out on a bike ride "before it got too hot." I therein decided to walk down the moderately long driveway to meet him, since it was already beginning to warm up and I guessed he'd be returning soon. We met at the point where T&M have a rope in place to keep the pesticide-spraying trucks from venturing onto their property and dad handed over the bike. He walked back to the house and I took a short ride down to the end of Louise Crane Rd, past the road block, down a dirt road that was "smooth as a bowling alley", as dad put it. I only went a short ways before my stomach began to wake up, but we made plans later in the day to take a sunset bike ride down that road together.

When I returned to the house, Tom made us the rare offer to show us their salt farm. We walked down the driveway, accompanied by a gray/calico cat who walked with us like a dog, to a small clearing where some makeshift green houses were heating up in the sun.

Both were empty but Tom explained to us that they fill up the lined wooden troughs with ocean water and keep it there until the water evaporates into the air. Once left with salt crystals they bring it back to the house where they painstakingly sort through it (aided by woofers) to extract all of the bugs and dirt. Dad suggested they try using an aspirator. Tom said they were working to improve this slow process.

After the long-awaited breakfast of fishy leftovers (from dinner at the Square Grouper), we gathered our things and set out 6 miles down the road to the Sugarloaf Marina. Our earliness was balanced out by the tardiness of the one other member of our group, a lady who lives in St. Simon's Island. She was so late, in fact, that we were almost outside of the marina when we heard a loud car horn and saw a woman running towards us waving.

 Andrea, our tour guide and captain, seemed to be expecting this and was able to hear the car horn over the boat engine. After picking up the missing member of our group, Janice, we wove through some mangrove trees and then jumped to full speed out in the open bay.

Andrea had the kayaks latched to the motor boat and had our lunches in her cooler. I sat up front and felt the refreshing wind on my face.  After 20-25 minutes we slowed down and anchored somewhere in the mangrove maze. 

We saw many other motor boats and kayakers on our way to this secluded spot, but Andrea obviously had claimed this spot as her own. We unloaded in the shallow water and reloaded our kayaks with our lunches on a tiny beach. Dad and I shared one kayak and Janice and Andrea shared the other. It was easy going through the mangrove channels and Andrea occasionally pointed out sting ray, nurse sharks, turtles, schools of fish and coral.

Fiona reaching for sunscreen.

Fiona pointing out a sting ray floating on by.

After maybe an hour of kayaking we came upon a very happening beach where 15-20 boats were anchored and blasting music. It was like a floating club. Most people hung out on their boats - some sat in chairs in the shallow water. We pulled our kayaks onto the sizable beach and pulled up a shady spot for lunch. Andrea took a nap on her kayak and Janice, dad and I sat under the one small tree on the entire island on our kayak cushions and ate our wraps. Upon my mention of the Peace Corps, Andrea told us she joined the Coast Guard Reserve right after college and loved it.

We waded in the shallow water that was bath temperature (which I still did not submerge myself in) for a while and then turned around and kayaked back the way we came. When we returned to the mainland, dad and I realized how the sun can creep up on you and sap your energy. Dad took his nap and we relaxed mostly for the rest of the day. Sunset bike ride to come, dinner and packing for our trip home!

Quote of the day: "This looks like a screensaver." - Fiona

Saturday - Snorkeling

Margaret made gluten-free pancakes with cottage cheese and some raw bits type grain (their last morning.) We had a lazy morning and took pictures of each other. Said a fond farewell to our housemates, Andy and Margaret, with whom we shared the experience of seeing a baby alligator and several iguana.

Drove to Bahia Honda and got in line with 50 million other people going on our trip to the Looe Reef (named after a British ship HMS Looe that crashed into the reef that was above water in the late 18th century.) Finally we were up to bat to rent our gear: wetsuits (for both of us, I might add), masks and snorkels). While the tour group checked everyone in and cleared the boat from the last trip, we ate lunch on a semi-shady bench. An hour later, dad and I were two of the last people to board the boat. It was very crowded and there was only a spot in the sun left.

We went 6 miles off shore (bout half an hour boat ride) then stopped where a bunch of other boats were anchored. Our two funny/laid-back guides gave us the spiel  about safety and not going too far from the boat then they cut us loose for an hour and a half!

I had a bit of trouble keeping my mask from fogging up because I kept exhaling through my nose. Dad seemed to adapt quite easily. Finally, we were flippering face-down in the water with the rest of the 30 or so people, looking down at the array of sea life. I liked the sea fans, coral beds, barracuda and schools of bright fish. On one side of the boat two moon jellyfish were hanging out, doing their elevator thing. They were beautiful!! I like the neon four-leaf clover loops in the middle and the graceful way they moved. You can get very close to moon jellyfish because they don't have tentacles to propel themselves and therefore move at a snail pace.

Dad particularly enjoyed following a school of blue fish (about 50 of them) who were moseying around the reef like a pack. He did this for some time. Towards the end of our time, he said he saw something in the murky distance that might have been a 3-foot long barracuda but also might have been something else... Some woman in our group claimed to have seen a shark and someone else said they saw a moray eel.

We went to the Square Grouper for dinner after our day of snorkeling. The night before, when we dined with the Ukrainian woman and her Florida husband, we were informed that the name was a reference to bales of marijuana that ships threw over the side when the coast guard was approaching.  We thought the restaurant felt more stiff than any of the other places we've eaten at, despite their cool laid-back image.

Dad was tired when we returned and read about Earnest Hemmingway in bed and watched his tv show some. I was still awake and chatted and played games with one of the woofers staying here named Laura.  

Friday - Alligators, iguanas and roosters!

Dad had the idea the night before to ask a couple staying in the other room if they would like to join us for an early morning walk in the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge. We left a note on the counter before dinner adventures and received a positive reply by the time we returned, so the game was afoot! 

Dad set his alarm for 6:15 (!!omg&ajhlk!!) 

It was actually a pretty cool walk. I grouched a little in the car by sleeping on the ten minute drive over to the park. Andy and Margaret followed us. Andy is an ardent bird-watcher but we all know that the main attraction was seeing alligators, and see alligators we did! 

We also saw iguanas and plenty of birds, which appeased Andy. The adolescent alligator we saw most clearly came right up to the viewing dock and sat like a puppy the entire time we were there, obviously expecting hand-outs. We did not indulge him because a.) dumb idea and b.) it leads the gators to become aggressive which leads to their execution if they get too aggressive and c.) $10,000 fine for doing so. 

After baby gator we split ways and da and I ventured over to Big Pine again. It was not as good the second time around. 

Our kayaking and snorkeling trips were pushed back to the weekend because it was too windy during the week. Thus, our Friday was open so we returned to Key West for another bike tour of the colorful city. Our first stop was Lizzy's house again. This time, when we walked up to the gate, which bore a tiny sign identifying the house as a historical spot, we saw the front door was open so we walked up to the door. Luckily this was ok and a friendly brittish fellow came out from his office to chat with us (more detail in the Wednesday entry). 

Our next stop was Hemmingway's house. He was obviously the more popular of of the two writers and around noon the place was crawling with tourists. Lucky for me it was also crawling with cats. They were all friendly (well, tolerant, but very very cute) except one and there were at least 15 cats lounging around this house-palace, being waited on by staff. Hemmingway's house was extravagant and we heard many funny stories about Hemmingway and his four wives from the tour groups we drifted in and out of. The funniest was the dispute over the lavish swimming in front of his writing studio. Wife Mary built it while he was away for the Spanish Civil War. She built it in the place of his beloved boxing ring and it cost an absurd amount (largest residential in-ground pool in key West in its day). When he returned and saw it he threw a penny at her feet and said, "well Mary, you've spent all my money, you might as well have my last cent." Or something to that effect. The penny is still cemented to that spot and in a little glass case.

Lunch at The Café (stuffed bell pepper for Fi, dad had salad) then more bicycling. We biked through the avenues in the cemetary. Saw roosters, iguanas cemetary appartment complexes and very extravagant mauseleums. The brittish renter at 624 White St. Directed us to the public library so we could ask about the second house bishop lived in in Key West - on Olivia St. We biked there but the Florida historian was not in that day so we didn't find anything further. 

Emily suggested stopping by an art store called the Funky Chicken so we bicycled over to Duvall to check it out. Cute statues - everything chicken related.

Afterwards we returned our bikes and drove over to Fort Zachary Taylor Beach. We lounged on the beach, dad swam, then went for a hike around the outside of Fort Zachary. Saw more coco lobo trees and a cool moat around the Civil war-era fort. Otherwise it looked very restored and modern. 

We dawdled in town to see the sunset from the docks. It was slightly crowded and very noisy because of some parakeets a lady was showing off, but otherwise pretty.

Then we had one of our funnest dinner adventures yet. We drove on some side roads back to Sugarloaf key in search of the fabled Hogfish Bar and Grill. We were disheartened by all the people waiting for a seat but it was already pretty late and this place was way off the beaten track so we decided to stick it out. This proved to be a good decision because it was a very cool local experience. We were seated after about 15 minutes with a couple at a large bench table. Both claimed to be locals but we soon found found out that the woman, Lucy, was from Ukraine. We had a lively conversation with them throughout dinner about the Ukrainian revolution and the guy's stories about Key West. he told us the story about the Square Grouper restaraunt we tried to get into the night before: the name is a reference to bales of pot that were thrown overboard from boats when the coast guard was approaching. They would say it was grouper, but were not fooling anyone.

Thursday - Bahia Honda

We ate breakfast at a hopping local joint called Big Pine Restaraunt. It was excellent and dad commented that the waitresses were all really friendly, despite being under the stress of the breakfast rush.
From there we went to Bahia Honda State Park, home of Florida's "top beach." We hit it at high tide and found no beach at all on the ocean side. I suppose this shouldn't have surprised us but when we went to the bay side we saw only a few hundred yards of beach - with every square inch being used. We both got into the water and took a while to acclimate to it, but concluded it was definitely preferable to the Westport beach temperature-wise.

We went through a quaint butterfly garden by the seaside. It was quite beautiful. Today was a day for collecting coco lobo leaves, which a park ranger told us have been used as postcards because of their durability and pretty colors. I put my stash in my journal to personalize later as potential good-bye gifts to friends??

After exploring the bridge, flutterby garden and beach we were hungry and so drove up the highway to the next big town, Marathon. Our destination in marathon was Publix to purchase fixings for picnic wraps. These ingredients served us for several meals over the next few days. We tried out our new ingredients at the Marathon veteran's park, where we talked about Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys and the idea of starting a literature club in Indonesia.

We were a little sunned out at this point in the day so returned around 3:30 to our inn and chilled until dinner. Dad took a lovely shower in Tom and Midge's outdoor shower. For all those who doubt the aesthetic of an outdoor shower, we have only to say, try it before you knock it. It was very zen.
Later that evening, after doing our respective relaxing activities for the remainder of the afternoon, we drove around looking for an un-busy food joint. We tried to get into a posh-looking place called the Square Grouper but they had a 55 minute wait at 8 o'clock so we drove down the road to The Wharf Bar and Grill, an outside bar. 

Wednesday - Arrival in Key West

February 19, 2014

At the Atlanta airport, we experienced the benefits of pre-TSA clearance for the first time, which allowed us to go through security much more quickly. While we were standing in the regular line dad inquired about the little symbol and asked the attendant if I could go through with him, to which she asked if I was over 12. Obviously she had not had her coffee yet. Delta flew us into Key West on a huge plane that was chock-full.

The plane ride was uneventful except for the exciting walk across the tarmac when we landed, which I had never done before. I felt like a movie star or an important diplomat.

The airport was tiny and had a bar. We landed at noon and waited almost an hour for a ride from Enterprise car rental -- which was probably never going to come anyway. We finally wised up to Florida Standard Time (FST) and took a taxi to pick our relatively cheap, off-site rental car.



We had a wonderful lunch at a vegan/vegetarian hole in the wall called Sugar Apple which dad has not stopped talking about. We sat at a tiny bar and passed the time until lunch came (a tempeh dish for me and curried tofu and brown rice for dad and a mango smoothie to share) reading children's literature on why not to eat animals (after all, we don't eat our pets). Dad tried my dish and would like to point out that it was the first time in his life that he has liked tempeh.

We had a few hours before we needed to check into our AirB&B room that was in Sugarloaf Key, a 30 minute drive up the Keys, so we headed over to A&M bike rental and started cruising. As we biked down White Street (near the center of town) we passed many colorful houses and the city cemetery, which was equally colorful. We stopped to take pics of the apartment-style housing for coffins. Some were 3-4 stories high!

A placque on the gate and a run down house

 First on our route was our most important stop of this whole trip (more or less): the home of Elizabeth Bishop at 624 White Street. It was everything I imagined and less.
Lizzy and Louise Crane lived at 624 White Street from 1938- (look up). We found out from the current renter that she moved to a house on Olivia Street in 194_, after she and Crane split up and she could no longer afford to live there. He was a guy from England and very chatty - he had obviously done a bit of research on Bishy. We actually didn't meet this fellow until our second trip by Bishop's White Street house, on Friday, but I'll put all of my Bishop mentions in one spot. He said the current owners of the house were a sibling team who were rather crazy. I'll let the pictures tell most of the story about the current state of the house, but the current renter told us that the house

The back of the old Bishop house was a mess.

was currently undergoing some much-needed repairs (including fixing a leaky roof, which he had told the owners about sometime back in the fall). We learned an interesting tidbit about Bishop's Nova Scotia house from this fellow - that it is owned by none other than Thomas Travisano! This entertained us greatly, because we are to meet Dr. Travisano, a professor in upstate New York and head of the Bishop society, in about a week.

After wandering around Bishop's house and meeting the current feline residents, we biked around the tourist quarter of Key West, past more quirky neighborhoods.








We returned our bicycles by 4:45 and then set out for our B&B minus the

View from the porch

breakfast. Midge and Tom live in a two-story house over-looking a the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of mangrove and keys and a small sliver of ocean in the distance. We entered through a garage of sorts littered with natural sea sponges and other manner of junk that

The Medidtation Room

is presumably cleared out during hurricane season. We climbed some stairs and knocked on the door to meet Tom Jolly. His name is befitting of his personality. Tall, lanky and shirtless, he has a big smile on his face almost all of the time. He showed us to our room, which is usually the meditation
room. There is evidence everywhere that Midge, whom we did not meet until she returned from her meditation retreat, is on a spiritual quest. Their only request was that we did not use any fragrances.

We saw a blimp out the kitchen window which we had seen all afternoon floating a couple hundred feet above the key. Dad thought it was recreational but Tom had other ideas. He shared his speculation that it was being used by homeland security. Suddenly our trip took on a sci-fi feel.

Ate at Mangrove Mama's for dinner. Crowded, delicious, rather generic live music.

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More photos from Monday ...

An interesting tree in downtown Key West

Sunset from the porch

Outdoor shower --- nice!