Thanksgiving in Key West

Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end and the holidays begin....

We had our first Thanksgiving in Key West which we shared with friends at Jan & Ray's. They had their daughter and son-in-law down from Orlando and then invited a few of us 'without family' to their dinner.

It was an interesting experience for Tom and I since we have been holding dinner at our house since Mom passed away 9 years ago. No turkey to clean the night before and then get up early to cook. No trying to figure out where to seat everyone in the small dining room, find all of the warming trays & serving dishes (used only twice a year), and get the food timed right to try and be done close together. It was Wed night when we had little to do to prep for the dinner when we looked at each other with quivering lower lips and teary eyes..... we would be without our family and friends for our first island Thanksgiving. So we walked down to the Iguana, had a hot buttered rum (my new favorite that bartender Mike makes) and toasted island life with all it has brought us.

Then Thurs brought dinner at Jan & Rays which for them is an all day affair. Appetizers, drinks and games starting at 2 pm with dinner around 6:30 pm. Tom was the bartender for the day since he has perfected the key lime pie martinis and we have introduced them to Apples to Apples which has become Ray's favorite game.
Everyone that was coming to the dinner brought a family favorite and of course we brought Mom's homemade rolls. We have had to adjust the recipe since things cook differently at sea level and with more humidity. We had a couple of 'test' runs over the last couple of weeks to get the dough just right. It was a great dinner with every ones family foods to share, great friends and key lime pie martinis!

This also means the start of season which brings 2 things.
The first is the seasonal residents have started to arrive. Down here they start returning in Oct and stay till April. Traffic has picked up, less places to park and it's getting harder to get our favorite bar stools.
The second being an event every weekend. Our schedule is starting to fill up again with things to attend which means more topics for blogging..... stay tuned!

Our Cat Misa

Yes I did say our cat Misa .... now what are we doing with a cat you say..... well here is the story.

When we moved into the house we found a bag of cat food and a dish on the front porch. Of course we had no plans for a cat so we got rid of the items.

Then after talking with the neighbors we learned that there was a cat that came with the house. She is a grey cat named Misa. They aren't sure how old she is but we are the 4th family to live here since she arrived. Of course we still weren't adopting the cat since Dyna wasn't ready to share her new yard with anyone, including a cat or a chicken.

So the months went on and we would see Misa in the yard or up on the porch. The minute Dyna would see Misa she would chase her out of the yard so Misa never stayed long. Then came Hurricane Ike and things began to change. Ike visited us in Sept and when the storm was passing by the Keys. We found Misa on our porch in the middle of the storm refusing to leave. Of course we felt bad about leaving her out in the rain and wind but didn't want to bring her in since we weren't sure if she was clean, had fleas or anything else. The trade off was to come up with a shelter on the porch we set up a place where she could get out of the storm and a towel to lay on. Then of course we didn't have any food. Usually she would be fed by the neighborhood lady, Linda, who put food out for all the of the stray cats at the house next to ours since it is empty. During the storm Linda would not be out to do the usual feeding. Not wanting Misa to go hungry I went to our neighbors who have a cat of their own. I knew they would have food. So out I go in in the wind and rain (OK it is only 20 feet from our front door to theirs) to borrow some food. The cat was fed and that was the beginning Our Cat Misa.

From then on Misa decided it was OK to hang out on the porch. Over the past 2 months Misa and Dyna have gotten to be friends. Then Linda decided to move across town and there wasn't anyone to feed Misa. So we bought a dish and some food and moved on to the next stage of ownership. Once that started Misa moved permanently into the yard. She could be found at anytime of day laying in the yard or on the porch in front of the door. It was quite a hoot when she would lay in front of the door since we have a screen door with a doggy door in it so Dyna can come and go when the weather is nice. Misa ruled the doorway since Dyna didn't have the guts to go over her to get in the door. Dyna would sit on the porch and whine until one of us would open the door, which would move the cat and let her in.

Then we started to joke about Misa being smart enough to get through the doggie door..... of course that is just what happened. Over the past few weeks Misa started with poking her head in the doggie door which we knew would lead to just one thing.... sooner or later Misa would be in the house. After a week of that Misa got the guts to come through the door one evening about a week ago. We were watching TV and here comes Misa wandering around the living room. She was pretty skittish and didn't stay long even though she did the same thing a few more nights.

On Saturday morning we were up having coffee when Misa waltzed in, got up on the dining room chair and napped. That is the picture above. She slept so hard we could hear her snore!!!!

So now anytime we leave the door open Misa will come on in, find a cozy place and nap away. She even had the guts to nap on Dyna's dog bed today. Dyna just laid there and looked at her, not sure what to do!

Of course we are still concerned about fleas and stuff so Tom put a flea treatment on her today and it looks like Our Cat Misa is here to stay!

St Croix from Tom

Last Saturday I returned from 10 days in St Croix USVI. I went there to help Ray (the husband of Jan who are friends of ours) clear a piece of beach front property. There are preparing the land to be able to build a house. I have never been to St Croix so it was a chance for me to check out the island as well as help Ray with the work he wanted to get done while we were there.

The day we left was a typical travel day getting to the airport at 5:00 am and getting to St Croix at 5:30 pm. It took three flights to get there (you would think being this close would make it easier... NOT). Of course one of them was delayed due to mechanical problems after we had boarded the plane and had to get off while they repaired it. We think it was just a low tire, safety first! We got the rental car and found our hotel with out any problems, after all the island is only 14 miles by 5 miles and Ray is quite familiar with it. The first cold beer at the bar after we checked in tasted pretty damn good and so did the fifth and sixth, after that it was the traditional island drink, Pain Killer, which I was feeling none of by then.

Thursday our first full day where we spent driving around getting the demolition permit, verifying the delivery of rental equipment and buying some tools we needed to start cleaning up the lot, like shovels, rakes and a chainsaw. The next two days me and the chainsaw became one while we cut down several Seagrape trees and a few palm trees which then had to be cut up intp pieces. Needless to say I was pretty sore on Sunday. We had rented a bobcat to load the dumpster and use it to remove some of the smaller bushes and trees. Ray did most of the bobcat work and at one point all you could see was the tops of the trees and bushes moving and hear branches snapping so it looked like Jurassic Park when the T-Rex was crashing through the trees, pretty cool! See the picture to the right for what it looked liked when we started.

Monday the demolition contractor showed up and started tearing down the shed and the house. They had the shed down by the time we got there Monday morning but it took until Friday for the house because it was built all out of concrete and they used a lot of re-bar, it must have been cheap back then. See the picture to the left of the end result.

We did get a day off on Tuesday because the crew was off for Veterans Day which did not make Ray very happy because he was worried about them finishing by Friday. So we took the day to drive around the island and hit quite a few bar/restaurants including drinking with the pigs in the rain forest, yes you give the pigs a whole can of beer (near beer since the SPCA found out they were giving them real beer and it is bad for the pigs). They just chew it up, drink the beer and then spit out the crumpled can.

Each evening we would go to a different place for drinks/dinner to explore both the local and tourst places. My favorites (besides the pigs) was Parrott Cove which is a local hang out with great music and the Island Brewing Co which makes Black Beard Ale. It was interesting to see the different places since the island goes from the beach to the rain forest.

I did manage to get in some scuba diving on Sunday and Thursday.
Sunday was pretty cool because we dove the new cruise ship dock which was very different swimming around all the huge concrete columns that hold up the dock. It is a great place for sea life like all the different colored Sea Horses and some Frog fish that I have never seen before. Thursday I went to Cane Bay where you just walk from the dive shop to the beach and swim out and dive a wall that drops off to about 3000 feet deep. You could see some reef damage from the recent hurricane but there was still some more Sea Horses and some Reef Sharks.

I also got a tank and tried to dive off of the beach at Ray's property but the water never get deep enough for me to actually dive. There is a reef about 200 yards off of the beach and Ray wanted me to see if there was any place he could get a boat through but not that I found.

The Island is beautiful and the people were very friendly and laid back. Nothing happens to fast there so Jan & Ray will have to be patient when they build there house. We will be going back next year maybe in February or March so Myrla can check out the island and we can do some more diving.
You never know with Jan & Ray moving there it could be the next stop on our adventure.

Bachelorette and Boats

So what does this all mean......
Let's start with the bachelorette. That would be ME! Tom left for St Croix on Wed so for 10 days I will be the bachelorette. He will be back next Saturday so I still have one full week on being on my own in KW.

So why is Tom in St Croix.... Our friends, Jan & Ray, bought beach front property there. It is a beautiful place (so I hear since I don't have pictures yet) with lots of sand, palm trees & a great ocean view. The house that that is on the property is in bad shape and isn't something that J&R want to keep so this is when the house is coming down and the property is being cleaned/ leveled for the building to begin. They aren't sure when the building will begin since it takes along time to get the permits and get the house built. They are estimating a couple of more years till it is ready to move into. Yes things move slowly with island time. It has taken them months just to get the permits to clear the land. They have already started the request for the permits to build but there have been many obstacles that they are having to overcome, some due to the beach front restrictions, some due to difficult govt regulations and the interpretation of what they mean and they are trying to do it all long distance. Ray is a contractor and had done many houses so the process is not new to him and since he knows how it all works so that is very much in their favor.

Anyway Tom went with Ray to help clear the property. Things have been slow here in KW due to weather so the he has only been out once in 3 weeks with an investor dive trip. With so much time on his hands I booked him a flight and room and sent him with Ray. You already know that 1000 spare feet is just not enough room for both of us 24/7. So far Tom has spent the last couple of days swinging a chain saw to down trees that are where the house will go and to clean up the trees lost from the last hurricane. St Croix took a direct hit from Hurricane Omar a few weeks ago so there was clean up to do from that. So for 10 days I am just a KW bacholette doing the usual stuff with friends!

Note on Tom's captain status. He has received all of his official paperwork and license to be a Certified Charter Captain! The last time he was out he took the Lucky Dog as both boat captain and dive mater. Happy to say that captain and investor divers all made it out, dove and made it back safely. As Chris (owner of the Lucky Dog) would say "Cheated death one more day".

Now the Boats. This week has brought the 28th Annual World Championship Super Boat races to KW. Last weekend the big boats started rolling in so it has been a week filled with the sound of boats racing on the water. There are 23 boats that have already had races on Wed and Fri. I didn't get a chance to see any of them since I was working but the finals are tomorrow and I am going to watch. The race course is set up along the island so there is a number of places that you can watch from. Last Sun they had a boat parade down Duval. The Iguana is just off of Duval and one of our favorite places to what Duval so we were there and had a great view of the boats. Some of the are amazing! Then Wed night Mel Fisher hosted a party for the racers so I went along to help out. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some of the race teams. Then last night part of Duval was closed for a street party and once again they had many of the boats parked along the street so you could see them. I ant wait to see them in the water tomorrow. Here is the web site if you want to check out more about it. http://www.superboat.com/

So that is the story of the bachlorette & boats. When Tom gets back next Sat I will have him post about this St Croix adventure.

The Phlock & Capt Tony

Yes the Phlock ascended on KW and is flying out today. This weekend was the gathering of the 17th Annual Parrot Heads in Paradise Meeting of the Minds. So a Phlock of them, over 3,000, started arriving on Thurs and have spent the weekend. Appeared to be a mild bunch after the crowds that we experienced with Bike Weekend and Fantasy Fest. The good part was the music that they brought with them. Jimmy Buffett wasn't here but many of his band members were with their own bands to good music was in the air.
By the way.... we think we have found Jimmy's KW house. Officially he doesn't live in KW anymore and the local 'coconut telegraph' says he bought a house recently so we went on a hunt to find out. When Jimmy was staying in KW (many years ago when he was starting out) he lived in a place not far from where we live and it was said that when he bought his latest place it was in our neighborhood. Just a little place to hang out in that no one would know about...... Another friend told us that its not a rumor and that their friends were the ones who took care of Jimmy's house since he isn't here most of the time. She told us where to find it since the house is only a few blocks from our house by the little park. It is overgrown with plants and trees so it is very hard to see. We have been walking past it for months with no activity or lights. Then low and behold last Thurs we went by and the place was all lit up with cars outside so it appeared that someone was finally home...... interesting that it is the same weekend as the Phlock. We figured it was some of the band members staying there but nothing has been confirmed yet. Of course we are still on the watch!!!!

On another note this weekend we also lost Capt Tony. He passed away on Sat at the age of 92. He was a KW icon and more than a legend here. Below is the link to the local paper where his death made the front page. It is a sad day for of the locals. We had heard about his passing last night when we were at a friends house. As soon as he was gone the text messages/ phone calls were flying on the 'coconut telegraph'. We all knew he was ill and had been in the hospital for the last week. A book about his life was just released so if you would like to read about a colorful man then I would suggest it. Its called Life Lessons of a Legend.
He is also famous for the quote "All you need in this life is a tremendous sex drive and a great ego - Brains don't mean shit". Of course he did have 13 kids with 8 women so the quote is not a surprise.
The other note to the story is that Capt Tony owned Capt Tony Saloon and was one of the first people to give Jimmy Buffett a job. Guess it is fitting that he would pass when the Phlock was in town.
http://www2.keysnews.com/citizen/KWC_TFP.pdf
He will be greatly missed and as our friend Jean text us last last night "Godspeed Capt Tony"