October, November & December

Oh how time has gone by since the last post. Let me bring you up to date......

The October brought many events that kept us busy!

I spent a week in NJ working. It was COLD and I have forgotten just how to handle that kind of weather.

Tom has been working for Mel Fisher taking investors diving as long as the weather is good. It keeps him busy and in the water!

Tom upgraded his scooter from the 50cc to a 150cc. I knew it would happen at some point and is he SO much happier with the new one. Check out the photo!

Then the end of Oct brought the party week of the year, Fantasy Fest!!! This years theme was Villains, Vixens and Vampires. Our group once again went with a theme for the peoples parade of the women being vampiress and the men were our victims. It was a blast! Of course that is just one of the events of the week. Its starts with Goombay on Fri and then goes through for 9 days. There were LOTS of people in attendance this year and I think Tom and I went out every night except 1. Check out the pics.....

Since this time also falls at Halloween we went to the Haunted Fort... Each year Fort Zach is turned into the haunted fort which we went to last year but this year was even better and we brought along our next door neighbors Bill and Carol. They have lived in KW for 15 years but has never been. It was a great night out.

The cutest thing was Ashlyn dressing up as a pink poodle for Halloween. She really is the cutest granddaughter ever!!!

November brought another set of changes to lives.

We had the Parrot Heads in town the first week in Nov. They are always a fun group!

Tropical storm Ida came by and gave us the only hurricane scare of the season. That is a good thing for an island that is dependent on tourism.

Then the power boat races were here for a week. Tom was gone last year then they were here so this was the first year he got to see them and really enjoyed it.

We found out that Dad had an aggressive form of blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma. We determined that he had it for a long time but was undiagnosed until we moved him to Albuquerque and had him under a doctor that specialized in geriatric care. On Nov 20 I got a call while in Washington DC working to fly to NM since Dad only had a few days to live. I was able to get there that day and Tom came in the next day. The family all gathered and Dad passed away peacefully in his sleep on Nov 22. As hard as it was to have him pass it was also a blessing. He was ready to be with Mom and the cancer was very painful so it was good to have him no longer suffer.

During the past 2 months of Dad's time in NM Taryn was his guardian angel. She got a job at the assisted living place where Dad was living since she was already there almost every day. The care that Dad received was amazing from the living facility to home health to hospice and was all over seen by Taryn. I have NO idea what I would have done without her.

We decided to put Dad's ashes on Four Peak mountains in AZ where we put Mom 10 years ago. Although it was not a trip we looked forward to it did allow us to be in Phoenix for Thanksgiving and spend it with Tom's family. That was the nice surprise of the trip.

We also managed to get in a happy hour with our GREAT old friends. It was so good to see everyone even if it wasn't under the best circumstances.

Finally after being gone for over 2 weeks Tom and I flew home to KW. It was a bitter sweet flight!

December has started with VERY warm weather. We have been having record highs and can't believe the highs are still getting up to 85 degrees during the day.

We signed a lease to stay in the house on White St another year. We really like it here and can't image moving again!!! It will be the first time in 4 years that we haven't moved.

This is also the start of 'season' and many event to attend for the holidays (more than usual if you can believe that).

We had the tree trimming at Schooner Wharf that included Swedish Gloog. It is a great drink made of wine and vodka! The owner of Schooner is from Sweden and makes her mothers recipe!

Then there was the Holiday Parade down Duval, the Lights Boat Parade, Mel Fisher xmas party, Cowboy Bills hayride, KW Burlesque Sing Long Show, friends xmas parties in their homes and that is just to name the ones that we are attending. It there was time we would add EVEN more events that are taking place.

Then on December 19 we fly to NM to spend Xmas with the kids and have Ashlyns's first xmas. Tom had to stop me from buying to many present since she is only 7 months old!

We will be coming back to KW 12/29 so that we can ring in New Years KW style and start out a new year of Adventures that we are planning (and a few I am sure will happen without any plans) for 2010!!!!

Diving the Vandenberg!

Tom and I finally had a free weekend, the weather was right and everything worked out that we got to dive the Vandenberg. Of course Tom has dove it before since he worked on it and gets to take people out diving on it but it was my first time. On the way out to the dive site (about 20 minutes from the island) we saw a large turtle and dolphins so I knew it was going to be a good day to dive.

It was a GREAT dive!!! There wasn't much current, visibility was good and we went early afternoon after the dive charters had left. It was just the two of us and another boat that had tech divers on it. They were diving the interior of the ship so we could see their bubbles coming out of the various holes in the ship.

As we went down the down line we landed midship (depth was 60 feet) and started the tour moving toward the bow from the large satellite radar dish that was dislodged when the boat was sank. It was so cool to move across the deck, down the walk ways, and look through the doors and windows. There are a number of swim through which allow you to wander through the ship without being inside and having to know wreck penetration diving skills. Even me, who doesn't usually go into ANY wreck, did a few of them. The picture of me is on the weather deck in a doorway that is at a depth of 90 feet. Then we went by the wheel house, past a large access shaft that Tom has dove (but not me) and around the other side until we got back to the down line. The wreck has been down since the end of May and is starting to be covered with marine growth and fish have moved into a new home (barracuda, grouper, king angel and parrot fish to name a few).

It easy to see how this has been rated one of the top artificial reef dives in the world. There is so much to see that its not possible to do it in just a few dives. I didn't get to do the inside of the satellite dish, the kings post or the balloon hanger so we are planning another dive as soon as possible!

September Adventures

So another month has come and gone with so much going on!

Lets start with Taryn, Brandon and Ashlyn visiting KW for 2 weeks.

The trip was our birthday gifts to Taryn and Brandon, Taryn's birthday being Sept 6 and Brandon's Oct 6th. Plus it was Ashlyn's first island visit and a great one at that since they were able to stay for so long.

Highlights were:

Brandon had his first taste of scuba diving! We didn't take the time to do a full certification course so Tom did a resort course which teaches the basics and allows Brandon to dive with Tom. They did a couple of tanks one of the days when we were out on the boat. It was a great time and Brandon now has the diving bug!!!

This was also Ashlyn's first time in the ocean. What a water baby she is! We got to take her out for a couple of trips and she LOVED it. The boat

the best to put her to sleep with the motors and the rocking of the waves. The picture of the right is of her when we were at 'The Resort' which is a friends house that is on the ocean. You have got to love the hat and the rash guard swim suit!!! She really is the cutest baby EVER!!!

After 2 fun weeks in KW it was time to move from Virginia to New Mexico. Brandon had to be in Albuquerque earlier than originally thought so he left for there directly from KW. That left Taryn to go back to Richmond and finish up the packing. Then we realized that a teething baby (or us!) would not make it for 4 days in the car driving across the country. On Monday, Sept 21 we arrived in Richmond, picked up a U-Haul, loaded it that night. Then VERY early Tuesday morning we put Taryn and Ashlyn on a plane. Tom took the U-Haul and I took the Murano with the dog and we headed out for NM. After 3 VERRRYYYY long days on the road, where we covered over 1800 miles, we arrived in Rio Rancho where the kids have their apartment. It was so good to finally be there and get things unloaded into their apartment! It's a great place and the area is amazing too. They really like it! We also got to go to Brandon's new church which we also really like. They have the main church that we attended service at on Sat night and then we to the satellite campus where Brandon works on Sunday morning. They are getting settled in and unpacked but our work was done with getting all the stuff there!

The trip to NM was dual purpose since we also needed to take care of my Dad. In August he had a series of small strokes that have left him with reduced mobility. He is no longer able to walk on his own or even with a walker. He can stand but is pretty much confined to a wheel chair. The strokes also had him in the hospital for 3 weeks with 2 of them in a rehab hospital. After all of that he wasn't able to return to his independent living apartment. He level of care has increased to fully assisted living support. To be able to support this it was decided that we would move him from Las Cruces where my brother Mike was supporting him to Albuquerque. That move came on Monday. Sept 29, after we had gotten the kids moved in. Taryn has also taken over his support and with her nursing training it has been a HUGH help. The new place we have moved him to is amazing and we all really like it. Even Dad is adjusting although the move was hard on him. So the last few days in NM was spent getting Taryn set up to take over Dad's support.

After 12 days of being gone we finally returned to KW on Thursday night, Oct 1. It was REALLY good to get home!!!!!

Now Oct is here which means Fantasy Fest!!!! We are gearing up and I will fill you in on all of the activities once it is over.

August Adventures

So we are into the HOT days of summer. August seems to be the worse month in KW for us due to the temp being around 90 and the humidity being 75%. Just stepping outside makes you break out in a sweat. Even so it doesn't keep us at home and from spending time out on the town.

Latest info on looking for a new hangout......

The Iguana hasn't closed. They did cut back to only being open 3 days a week, Fri - Sun so we are spending at least 1 happy hour a week there trying to get our fill of hog wings and tater tots.

There have been a few of our favorites places closing. With the recession and the people not traveling the local places have been hit hard.

Our favorite delivery place - Damn Good Food To Go closed a month ago. It has been rumored that they may reopen in a different location. We can only hope!!! Their current location was next to the White Tarpon which has the BEST key lime martini on the island.

Meteor closed a couple of weeks ago. This was one of our favorite late night places since they are next to the Green Parrot and served food till 3am. Will miss the BBQ pork and fried pickles!

We are still on the hunt for the new hang out. Last night we were at the Chart Room (an old favorite we haven't been to in months) and the Hot Tin Roof for the first time. We really liked the Hot Tin Roof. It is above the Sunset Pier which is one of our favs. Jan and I have a list of more that we haven't been to so we continue the hunt!

We also just returned from the family invasion on Richmond. Patti, Shirley and Mike planned a trip to see Ashlyn so Tom and I crashed the party and went for the week too. We also turned it into birthday week since Patti had hers in July, Mike in Aug and Taryn's in Sept.

So the week was all about Ashlyn and touring the VA area.

Ashlyn is of course the CUTEST baby ever!!

Now at being over 3 months old she laughs and smiles and is such a good time!

We each got to spend time with her and I think her Grandpa Tom was the favorite. There was something about being up SO HIGH when he held her that she got a big kick out of!

There also is the 4 generation picture that we wanted to take which is below. The rest of the vaca pics are on my Face Book page if you want to see them.

The days were spent getting to see Richmond and VA. We rented a 12 seater van so that we could all ride together and carry all the baby stuff. It was a HOOT!

We did the wine tasting around Charlottesville which was a great time. I think between Tom, Patti and Mike we bought 16 bottles. We also found this wine chocolate sauce which was amazing.

We toured downtown Richmond and ate amazing pizza at Bottoms Up.

We got in touch with our southern side by touring the American Civil War museum and then headed out to the James River Plantations. There we found Shirley Plantation and toured a few others.

We drove to Virginia Beach and checked that out.

We had great BBQ at Q Barbecue and the amazing beer menu at Capital Ale House so we went back there 2 more times.

As you can tell the week was a blast and it was so much fun to have the family together.

We also found out that Brandon is taking a new position as a youth pastor at Sagebrush Community Church in Albuquerque NM. It's a great opportunity for him to work for a large church in a satellite location that they have started. He and Taryn are really looking forward to being back in the southwest again being the 'desert rats' that they are. We are really excited for them and it works out great for us too since my Dad is in Las Cruses NM and still close to Phx to see Tom's family.

In Sept they will be relocating. First they are coming to KW for a vacation and then Brandon flies from here to NM to start his job. Taryn will go back to Richmond to close up things there where we will meet her on Sept 21 to load up the Uhaul and once again drive across country. This will be our 3rd cross country trip and Taryn's 4th in 2 years!

As they say... On The Road Again!!!

100th Blog - July comes to an end.

Welcome to the 100th posting to the Boesch's Great Adventure blog!!!! Hard to believe there has already been 100 stories to tell since this was started Jan 2008. We hope you have enjoyed them at least half as much as we have in sharing them. The move and life on the island has truly been an adventure and a dream come true! We are blessed to be able to have made it happen!!

July comes to an end.........

Hurricane season has started but with no named storms in the area yet it has the weather forecasters all worried. We are predicted to have 9 named storms this year and now it only leaves 3 months to get them all in. I checked the hurricane site this morning and they still don't see any new storms forming in the next 7 days. Late August, Sept & Oct may be an interesting time.

Tom has been busy with Mel Fisher Atocha Adventure. It is a new program they started to allow people who aren't investors come down for a week, stay in Old Town, tour the museum, and do a few dives out at the treasure site. He has done two weeks so far with one more group scheduled for next week. Here is the site if you want to check it out and come down to dive for treasure.

http://www.melfisher.com/myadventure/default.asp

There have also been a lot of investors in town since Mel Fisher Days so he has been taking them out to dive too.

Then when he isn't out at the treasure site he has also been working for one of the local dive shops, EcoScuba. He works for them as either a captain or a dive master depending on what they need to dive the reefs or the Vandenberg. His first priority is working for Chris or Mel Fisher so he works for Eco when he has an open day. Here is their site if you want to check it out. http://ecoscuba.com

All of the work has left him busy, out of the house and paying the bar tab, YEA!!!! He has actually had to turn down EcoScuba to get day off over the past month.

It's interesting since he went from not working much due to instructors classes in the first 4 months of this year to 26 days of work in the past 3 months. He is really enjoying it and getting great experience as both a boat captain and dive master.

Mini lobster season just ended. It cracks me up about what a big deal it is here. It gives people 2 days to dive for spiny lobsters before the commercial season opens. Now mind you there are 7 months that they can hunt for lobster but the 2 days when the season opens is a BIG deal. We have people from All Over come down. The marinas are full and there are boats and people EVERYWHERE in the water. Next weekend is the lobster festival on Duval and of course we will be there.

Our friends Louie and Maureen (their house is The Resort we love to go to) are also having a booth at the street festival for their sign shop, Montage. They lost their shop on Duval last March when it burned down. The art store next to them had an electrical short and burned which took Montage and the creperie place with it. They lost everything they had in the store (luckily their shop is on Stock Island so they didn't loose all of their inventory) and the building, with the 3 stores, had so much damage they leveled it. Now there is only an empty lot. So they have been waiting for the insurance to pay out, summer season to end (this is a slow time and not a good time to open a store), and are looking for a new store to rent on Duval in the fall so they can open for season. Check out their website. They have have great signs! I think we now have 3 and I have already decided on my 4th one. http://montagekeywest.com

So what will the 4th sign be you ask..... Iguana Cafe! Our favorite bar is closing next Friday. Our favorite bartender, Mike, already left a month ago. We will be there next Fri night for our final drink!! It will be a sad day for us indeed!!!!

Then of course that brings us to the hunt for a new 'favorite hangout'. We have been trying various places especially since it's been so hot we have been targeting the ones with AC that we can hang out in year round. A few of our current favorites are Rum Barrel, Sports Page and the BottleCap Lounge. Last night we were at the BottleCap and had a great time. They have also opened up a cafe next door which delivers food to the lounge. Definitely a keeper!!! There are still a few more on the list to visit. Some we have never been to (yes I know that is hard to believe) and others we are visiting more than once to be sure.

Now what is the criteria for our 'favorite hangout' you ask.....

• Air conditioning - there are just some places we won't go in the summer since it is WAY to hot. We love Schooner Wharf but its not a summer time place
• No smoking in the bar
• Great happy hour prices - there are some great deals for happy hour and we are finding them all
• Food - we don't require great food but at least good food that is not to expensive
• Location - since we walk we are limited on some options. Don't get me wrong there are PLENTY of places in Old Town to visit. It just there are other bars, such as Hogfish, that we really like but won't drive to every Fri.
• Great bartenders - ones that remember you after couple visits, remember what you are drinking, are nice and fun to talk to. Unfortunately this is not the case in all bars. Being a tourist place some of the bartenders have become jaded (lost their island spirit) in their work and are no longer a good time.

And so the search continues... I will be sure to updated you when the latest place is found. We don't mind the hunt since that is all part of the adventure!!

4th of July and Mel Fisher Days

This is the 4th of July pic of the CUTEST BABY EVER!

It's been a busy first couple weeks of July. Summer is here and the heat and humidity has moved in. We have been having squalls move through about every day to dump rain and then blow out. It leaves the humidity high along with 90-95 degree temps. We stay in doors or in the water during the day and plan evening in places that have AC.

First was the 4th of July. We spent the day with friends out at their house on Mile Marker 15. That's 15 miles up from KW. We call their place "The Resort" since it sits on the ocean and faces the Atlantic. Its a beautiful place with water access from a beach they made, a bar that sits in the shade and view that is amazing. The day was spent floating in the water, cold drinks, great food and ended with a few fireworks. We even had our own sparklers that we set off. It was a GREAT day with GREAT friends!!!

Then we headed into Mel Fisher Days. This year it started early with Tom working with Chris and the MF team taking investors out to hunt emeralds and dive for treasure. It was a busy week before the parties started. Mel Fisher Days is one of our favorite times!

Last Thurs started with the Schooners Wharf party. It was a great time even

if we were all melting since Schooner's is a outdoor bar. You can see that in the picture to the right of Tom, Beau and Chris. The bikini contest was a hoot, we won one of the raffle items with tickets to the KW Aquarium.

Friday was the parade and pub crawl. The parade went from the MF museum, down Whitehead St, up Duval and then ending at Rick's. One of Mel's favorite bars. We started there with the group for a few hours before moving on to The Bull. Another one of Mel's favorites. Again a great time and by 10:30 we were starving since it had been a hot dog at Rick's, a piece of pizza at The Bull and a whole lot of drinks. Jan and I have a new drink, Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka and lemonade. It is amazing and goes down WAY to good when it is as hot as it is. The rest of the group headed over to the Chart Room to continue the Crawl while Tom, Ray, Jan, Beau and I headed to Jack Flats. We actually made it home about midnight!

Saturday was Ray's birthday and the Midnight Poker Tournament. A group of us went out for dinner to celebrate with Ray at Finnegan's Wake (our Irish pub). Then Tom had to head out for the poker tournament while the rest of us went on to a few of our favorite bars and continue the celebration.

So now we are recovering from the fast paced week, a little to much drink and a whole lot of heat. If you want to see more pictures from Thurs and Fri check out my FaceBook page.

June

So where did June go??? It doesn't seem like over a month since the last blog but it is true! Here is the highlights of the month.

Tom worked many days the first few weeks of the month taking Mel Fisher investors out to dive and a few other dive charters. Since he has finished his scuba instructor class he has been busy and even earning a few bucks!

Hurricane season officially started June 1. The experts have estimated 9-14 named storms, 4-7 hurricanes and 1-3 major hurricanes. Nothing on the horizon yet but usually it is Aug and Sept that are the worst months.

Ashlyn (or Peanut as we call her) was a month old June 9th and celebrated her first Fathers Day with Brandon. Here is a picture of her Fathers Day outfit. I am sure you see Taryn's fashion statement in it. I am sure dance lessons are in her future. We are meeting Tom's mom, sister and nephew in Richmond in Aug so that will be a great visit. Plus with the web cam we get to see her anytime we want which is grand!

I was in New Jersey for work for a week, then home for a week and on June 20 we left our island to vacation on another island. Where else does someone who lives on an island go!

We got to spend a great week on St Croix in the USVI with Jan and Ray. They are going to start building a house on the beach front lot they bought we went to check it out and have a vacation at the same time.

We rented a house that overlooked the ocean. and spent the week hanging out on the beaches, diving and relaxing which was what I needed after the pace I have had at work lately. Slept in late the first 3 days! The picture to the right is Tom looking out to the ocean from the patio. We spent most of our time there when we were at the house.

The diving was amazing. It was what I remembered the USVI being since it has been a number of years since we have dove there. We only got a few dives in since relaxing was the goal but enough to give us the bug to go back and stay again when we can dive more. The best of the diving was that I got to see my first sea horses. They were so amazing and were hang out under the Fredricksted pier. We were able to see at least 8 of them in various colors, my favorite being the purple one. Such a treat!!

Then after a great week it was back to our island and back to work. Now we are getting ready for July which brings the holiday on the 4th and Mel Fisher Days. More good times to come!

If you want a day to day update on island life and to see pictures from the St Croix trip then check out my site on Facebook. I am regularly posting there.

Vandenberg, Vandenberg, Vandenberg

As of Wed, May 27 at 10:21 am she found her way to her final resting place!

I took the day off (or course Tom already had the day off) and we went out with Jan, Ray and Louie on Jan & Ray's boat to watch the sinking. As we pulled out Key West we could already see Vandy in the distance waiting for her final hour. The site is about 7 miles offshore, outside the reef, so we made our way along with LOTS of other boats. It was estimated that over 200 boats came out to watch the historic event. We found our spot anchored in and waited. Usually things here do not happen on time but this was a special event and it actually did take place between 10 & 11 am as scheduled. There was a slight delay due to a turtle in the area that had to be moved. Seemed the creature was already looking for a place to live! We had the radio on and listened to the count down, then we heard the big boom of the charges going off, watched the smoke come up, then watched her sink down to just bubbles as The Vandenberg Song played, people cheered and boats honked their horns. I had goosebumps & tears!!! It all happened in 1 minute & 44 seconds which was faster than expected to witness history!

Here is the site that has a number of great video's on it. It will give you the feel of being there.

http://www.sinkthevandenberg.com/ondemand.html

So far there are 4 of them posted and new ones seem to be added each day.

The last one in the list (scroll down to see it) is the view from the chopper and is excellent. It gives the full view.

The second one in the list is the on-board cameras which shows what it looked like going down from different areas.

The third one is from the boat that the Joe Weatherby was on and you can hear his reaction. Joe is the brain child of the project. He had this idea 13 years ago and never gave up hope it would happen.

Of course the Mel Fisher group had a hand in this. They donated the salvage boats to come out and be used for the tech divers after the ship went down. Since they were on sight they were able to dive just hours after she had reached the ocean floor and before she was opened to the public to dive. Below is the video that they took of what she will be like when we get a chance to dive her. It is really cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPzju0TqHL0

Then of course in KW style the parties began.... we took our boat over to a sandy reef closer to shore, popped the cork on the champagne to celebrate, had lunch, swam and had a beautiful day.

That was just the beginning since that evening started with the Save the Vandenberg, Sink Joe Weatherby party at Half Shell. It was a tribute and honoring of Joe for all that he did. Then the party moved to the Rumbarrel where Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 band was playing (check them out in iTunes if you like Jimmy Buffett music). They are a favorite local band and wrote The Vandenberg Song. We finished out the night there with friends and toasts and to much RUM!

After she went down it as taken a couple of days to get her ready and open for public use. The 2 satellites that were on the top were dislodged during the sinking and had to be secured along with the other items that had to be finished. As of this morning.... the POOL IS OPEN!

Tom is working today (taking MF investors to dive) so we haven't decided when we will have a chance to get down and see her but it will be SOOONNN!!!

It seems that all we have talked about for I don't know how many weeks is Vandy. I am sure you are also wondering about it since there have been so many blogs about it. With having a the worlds second largest man-made reef it brings a world class dive site in our own backyard and so much more to KW. Here is the a list of the things that an artificial reef bring:

• boost the local economy, encouraging tourism and creating jobs
• create marine habitat and increase marine life population,
• relieve pressure from the surrounding natural reef,
• provide an opportunity to scientifically document the effects of artificial reefs with an ongoing monitoring program,
• provide a platform for education and research,
• preserve the history and honor the memory of those who served and traveled on the ship

Sinking the Vandenberg

For the past month or so it has been Vandenberg, Vandenberg, Vandenberg (or Vandy as she is locally called).... the talk of the town. After over 10 years of ARK (Artificial Reefs for the Keys) working to get the Vandenberg to be an artificial reef it is FINALLY going to happen on Wed, May 27!!!!! To say that Key West is excited and ramping up for a MAJOR party is to say the least. When the Vandy is finally on the ocean floor 6 miles south of Key West it will be the 2nd largest man-made reef in the WORLD!!! a major dive site for KW and will bring divers from all over the world here. With the Spiegel Grove (another man=made reef) being in Key Largo it will be great for the Keys.

In all of this Tom has been able to work on Vandy and be part of history in the making. Our friend Chris is president of ARK and of course is involved in all of it. Tom has been helping out from the first time the ship was brought in to KW thanks to Chris and has been helping out when he could (except for the Mel Fisher diving and Ashlyn's birth) in finishing the clean up of the boat. Now the historical date of May 27 has been set for the sinking. The ship is being towed out to the site on Tues and then between 10 - 11 am (EDT) the ship will be sunk (weather permitting and everything is on schedule since we are on island time). Tom will hopefully be helping out with the sinking and I am taking the day off to be out with Jan & Ray, on their boat, watching it sink. Then of course there will be MUCH celebration. Not sure when we will have a chance to get out to dive it. Once the ship is on the bottom

Here is the site that ARK has which has a lot of info on the ship, the events and everything else.

http://www.bigshipwrecks.com

There is also a video company that is going to be showing the sinking of the ship LIVE! So you can log on Wed morning and see the ship go down just like you were here.

http://www.sinkthevandenberg.com

So log on and join us in the adventure.

Welcome Ashlyn Emma!

Since the 5 of us have spent the last 7 days with Ashlyn I thought we would share our insight with you about the newest addition to the family.

Patti -

From the second I saw her, she had my heart. She makes the cutest squeaky noises and adorable faces. She is an angel baby and I'm so glad she has joined our family. Oh, and I can't wait to buy you more shoes!

Tom -

On my drive to Richmond the closer I got the more excited I was getting to see them. When I got to the hospital and saw Taryn (my little girl) with Ashlyn (her little girl) and it was hard to comprehend but it did not take long for the proud grandparent feelings to take over. I can not believe how beautiful she is and she already has me wrapped around her little finger. I was not to sure about being called a grandpa but she makes it all worth it. I am looking forward to being a part of her life.

Myrla -

Our friends (who already have grand kids) told us how much we would enjoy our own and how RIGHT they were!

She is the most beautiful and amazing grand daughter ever (of course you knew I would say that)!

When I got to VA Taryn was so ready to deliver and we spent the better part of 2 days walking and walking (as you know from the previous blog), then when she went into labor I was more than beside myself. Here was my baby girl having her own baby girl!

Then when Ashlyn arrived the feelings are more than I can describe. The past 7 days with her have been all that I could have ever hoped for and more. She has brought a delight and love into our life as only a grandchild can. We cannot wait to share with her all of the experiences that grandparents get to share with their grand kids, especially island life!!

Taryn -

How can I put into words how I feel about my baby girl? She is truly an amazing blessing. From the moment she arrived, she has stolen my heart and I suddenly have a whole new meaning to my life. Not only is she the cutest baby in the world (of course! she is my daughter!), but she is also a ton of fun to be with. She makes little squeaky noises that just make you smile. When she wraps her entire hand around your finger, she instantly has you hooked. I love being a mommy to her and I know her and I will always have a special relationship. I truly enjoy the small, precious moments with her.....feeding time, napping together in the rocking chair, and watching Brandon gaze down at his baby girl. I can't wait to watch her grow into a beautiful girl. I love my baby Ashlyn!

Brandon -

Everything has been so surreal. I still find it hard to believe that when I am holding her, she is not just another baby but MY BABY! I am loving every second of it. The first time I had the chance to be completely alone with her I laid on the couch with her resting on my chest. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. And to top it all off, I finally realize what my parents went through.

There was one moment when we first got home where Taryn was laid up on the couch and couldn't move because of her C-Section and I was changing Ashlyn's diaper. I look up and see Tayler (our dog) puking on the rug, and while I am distracted Ashlyn manages to pee all over herself (and a little on me). So I am running around trying to take clean up everything while Ashlyn is crying, the dog is tracking her own vomit through the house, and Taryn is completely helpless. Oh the joys of parenthood! I wouldn't change it for the world.

Welcome Ashlyn Emma!

Ashlyn Emma Arrives!!!!!

Yes we are the VERY proud grandparents of a 7 lb 3 oz baby girl who is beautiful and healthy! The picture above is the her first one with Mom & Dad on her birthday May 9th. 

Now for the story of her arrival!

Taryn's due date was May 17 so I had made flight arrangements to come up to Virginia on May 10. After Taryn's doc visit on April 27 she called and told me that the doc says Ashlyn will never wait till then so I should come early. So I changed my flight reservation to Wed, May 6  since that was the earliest I could get my flight changed and it was investor week for Mel Fisher. I wanted to stay and attend at least a few of the get togethers to see our friends. 

I flew out on Wed night with no issues, flights were on time and it was good to see the kids. Taryn still didn't look like she was due any day. 

Thursday morning I get up and I have messed up my back. Not sure if it was the heavy backpack i was carrying, the airplane seats or the airbed that the kids have but by noon I had muscle spams that were horrible! Here I was in VA to take care of my daughter and now Brandon had 2 of us to take care of. 

Thursday afternoon Taryn and I head off to the Urgent Care. When we arrived they were unsure about who was there to be treated, it was a bit of a hoot. The doc fixed me up with some muscle relaxers and i knew after a night of those I would be good as new (this isn't the first time this has happened to me). So I got the drugs, we headed home, I took the first pill then both Taryn and I were out for a nap.

It takes an over night drug induced sleep for the muscle to relax so when I got up from the nap the pain is still there. The only way it is bearable is to lay flat on the floor. It is now Thurs night, Brandon is at the church, Taryn is in early labor pacing around the house to keep it going and I am laying on my back in the middle of the living room timing the contractions. What a pair we were!!! I had to write them down since the drugs had made me silly and I couldn't remember from one contraction to another when they had taken place. They were between 3-10 minutes apart but never consistent. This went on for about 4 hours. Brandon had come home, Taryn was exhausted, I was loopy and when she sat down to rest the contractions stopped. So we decided bedtime was best, I took another dose and off to drug induced sleep. 

Come Friday morning the spasm is gone and just a sore back. I was getting back to where I needed to be. Taryn was really uncomfortable but no contractions. So the day was spent with me working, Brandon mowing the lawn and Taryn trying her best not to be miserable. 

Friday night Brandon had a softball game so we went to dinner (Chipotle, YUM since I am getting all of the food I can't get on the island) and then to the softball park. Taryn and I figured it was a great place for her to walk and see what happens. For 3 hours we walked! As soon as we started walking the contractions started up (during this time Brandon hit 2 home runs). It wasn't till the last hour that they really kicked in and were consistently 2-3 minutes apart. We decided that they needed to go to the hospital after we stopped off at the house for Brandon to shower, pick up the hospital bag, and leave me to babysit Tayler (my grand dog). 

Not only was I there to help with Taryn but stay with Tayler while Taryn and Brandon were at the hospital. VA requires a 2-3 day stay depending on the type of delivery so I was also needed to babysit the dog. 

So off to the hospital Taryn and Brandon went. They admitted her, broke her water and waiting for Ashlyn to arrive. 

When I got up Sat morning Ashlyn had not yet made her appearance. Since Taryn had arrived at the hospital she had made very little progress. She had only dilated to 3 cm and the baby wasn't completely down in the birth canal. They had her on full pitocin and an epidural. 

When I arrived at the hospital she still had no progress and the doc had just shown up to check her again. They found that Ashlyn's head was too large to enter the birth canal and Taryn was still only 3 cm after 12 hours of labor so a c-section would be necessary. At 12:15 pm they took Taryn to the O.R. and at 1 pm she came back with a 7 lbs 3 oz, 19 1/2 inches long, blonde hair, blue eyed baby girl. Ashlyn was wide awake and beautiful!

What a day May 9th was!   

Now that Ashlyn is here Tom will be driving out from Key West to VA on Monday (it is a 2 day drive). We are exchanging cars with the kids. They are getting the Murano since they need a bigger car and we are getting the Echo since we need a smaller car. He will be here on Tues and CANNOT wait to see his granddaughter. His arrival is great timing since that is the day Taryn and Ashlyn will be coming home from the hospital. 

Patti has also made arrangements to fly out and see her great niece! She will arrive on Wednesday and stay till Saturday. It will be great to have us all together. 

Although our move to Key West was a great adventure I think being a grandparent will be the BEST one yet!!!

Vandenberg, Car Wreck, Neighbors, Investor Week & VA Trip

So many things happening.... as usual!

After Tom was involved in bringing in the Vandenberg he was also asked to help out with the salvage clean up of the boat so he has been out working on it almost everyday. Its a dusty, DIRTY job but he has been accepted as part of the salvage crew, is getting great experience on what it takes to clean a ship and is getting to know the layout of the ship inside and out. That will be great info when he starts taking people out to dive the ship once it has been sunk. He is one of the few drivers that gets to do this. Yes a blessing and a curse, hard work to get knowledge. The picture is him getting on the ship for the first time when it was still out at sea and they were bringing it into the harbor.

Then on Thursday morning I had a bit of excitement! It's 11 am and I am on a conference call for work when I hear this horrible crashing. When I ran outside I found my neighbors Mercedes up against our front fence. A drunk guy (yes it was 11 am) has turned the corner to fast a half a block up, swerved into the oncoming lane and side swiped a car going the other way, fishtailed (he was in the white truck) and hit the Mercedes which was parked in front of their house (which is beside us) and he kept going so the Mercedes went into

the silver truck that was parked in front of our house (counting our blessing for now having off street parking) and the truck ran over the scooter parked in front of it. The truck belongs to another neighbor that lives in one of the apartments on the other side of us and the scooter belongs to the apartment manager! Tom was at the Vandenberg otherwise it would have been his scooter since that is usually where he parks. Yes the drunk managed to wreck 5 vehicles including his own. The best part was No One was hurt! The picture tells the story!

Out of this we got the chance to meet more of our neighbors since we hadn't had a chance to meet many with only moving in a couple of months ago. The Mercedes belongs to Bill and Carol who live next door. We had met them but not really talked yet. I had taken pics of the wreck and Bill wanted them for insurance so we had the pleasure of having happy hour at their house Saturday night. A very enjoyable 3 hours and we found out all of the friends we have in common. They are seasonal and will be leaving in the next couple of weeks to their summer house in North Carolina. In fact we found out that a number of people that live by us are seasonal and will be leaving soon. That will make for a quite hurricane season!

This Saturday also started the annual Mel Fisher Investor Division week. Tom was supposed to take investors out diving the last 2 days but the winds have been to high to get the boats out so nothing has taken place yet. Looks like Tues would be the earliest to get out. This also means a week of parties and get togethers. We started with Fri nights happy hour since there were a few investors in early and it will continue all week. We have another one Mon, Wed, Thurs and the big one on Saturday night.

Now Tom will be attending all of the celebrations from Wed night on by himself. I will be off to Virginia to wait for baby Ashlyn to arrive. Taryn's doc says she should deliver any day so I didn't want to wait to long to be there. Tom will then follow after she is born.

That is it from the island!

Tom's Latest Adventures

I have been quite busy lately with actually working (one day), finishing school and helping with the Vandenberg.

Working, well let me explain..........

My friend Chris works for Tow Boat U.S., a water towing company that (you guessed it) tows broken down boats back to KW to be fixed. So Chris called me one morning around 8 o'clock to see if I could help a captain with a tow. I said I would so he told me where and when to meet Capt Glen at the tow boat. I should have been suspicious when he told me I needed to bring a book, change of clothes and food. Capt Glen and I met up and finally left KW around 10:00 am. We made it to the broken down boat at about 2:00 pm (the broken boat had hit a reef and broke it's rudder the day before out at Dry Tortuga which is 60 miles out). We were able to stabilize the rudder and get it hooked up to tow by 3:00 pm to start the tow back to KW. Well for the next 13 hours we towed the behemoth boat back to KW and got it secured to the dock about 3:30 am. The people were very thankful for our help and I made it home by about 4:00. Most of the tows are not that long but of course my first trip was a long one.

Next on to the Vandenberg..............

For those of you that do not know what that is, it is a 520' ship they are going to sink 6 miles south of KW as an artificial reef. This project has been in the works for almost 11 years and has had many ups and downs but the ship finally made it to KW. They towed it from Virginia and it made it here last Wednesday. I was one of 8 people to get on the ship about 3 miles out of KW as a line handler to help dock the ship from the deck. It was pretty cool with all the attention it was getting from boats following it and the helicopters flying around filming it coming into KW. The ship made it in and now they are doing the final prep work to sink it around May 20th. The workers are working 12 hours a day and I am helping out with that work doing what ever is needed. Its great to get to know the ship before it is sunk so I will know the areas to dive. When the crew is not working there has to be a safety fire watch on duty the other 12 hours. There is a company employee on this shift but he needs a safety buddy with him at all times so one of the college dive instructors got students to volunteer for 6 hour shifts from 7:00 pm to 1:00 am and 1:00 am to 7:00 am. My first shift was from 1 to 7 and it was cool being able to walk around the whole ship at night and check it out but it was kind of creepy at times. I do it again in a week but I am doing the 7 to 1 shift. The good thing is that I don't have to work on the days I have the night shift watch, that the nice part of volunteering... working when you want to.

School, I AM FINISHED!!!!!

Yes I am now a certified NAUI scuba instructor so those of you that want to learn how to scuba dive can come down here and I can teach you, or we can just go to Duval and get loaded, your choice. School was fun but intense and I am glad it is over because things are going to get busy with Taryn having Ashlyn any day, the Vandenberg arriving and Mel Fisher division week coming with all that brings (including taking divers out to the site to look for treasure). When that is all over I plan on getting a job at a dive shop as a captain, dive master or an instructor, all three if possible.

So that is the latest on what has been going on and will update you when there is more to add to the Adventure.

Events and More Stuff To Do

And so begins a week of events and much to do. It has been pretty quiet the past few weeks and now it all seems to be happening in the same week!

It starts with Conch Republic Independence Celebration. 10 days of events that celebrated when we seceded. It has always been one of our favorite weeks and really a local event. The tourists will be confused as to why drag queens are running down Duval today (and yes we will be there for it)! Check out the site if you want to see all the events. http://www.conchrepublic.com/schedule.htm

Tom has his last set of scuba instructor classes this week end. YEA!!!! Then next Fri is the official sign off and end of class party so he will be an official NAUI instructor. That dive certification will be added to the ones he already has as a dive master for PADI and SSI. Sometime this summer he is also going to take the cross over test to be a PADA instructor. I think he is collecting agency certifications!!!

Monday night is the Taste of Key West. An AIDS fundraiser where 50 local restaurants get together and you can buy 'tastes' of the various food being offered. Of course there is beer and wine (this is Key West!) We went last year and had a blast so back for more this year.

Then last but not at ALL least is the arrival of the Vandenberg!!! That is to take place on Tues (hopefully if the weather holds out). All of us dive crazies can hardly wait!!!!!

The Vandenberg is an old Navy ship that will be sunk off of the coast of Key West to create an artificial reef, the worlds 2nd largest. A groups of locals have been working years to make this happen and there have been LOTS of issues but it seems it will finally take place. The ship has been cleaned and will be in KW for the final prep before it is sunk. That is to take place between May 20 & June 1 since it has to be done before the start of hurricane season. Tom and I both plan on being there when the ship comes in on Tues.

Check out the sites if you want to know more and I will keep you up to date on the status.

http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/index.html

http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=7395

Taryn Update

So we thought it would be good to send the latest on Taryn and the grandbaby.

First our grand daughter has been 'officially' named. 

Ashlyn Emma

Now there are a few of us who still think that she should be named Emma Ashlyn or Crazy Ray Ann (that is from our friend Ray) but we have been told (many times by Tom & friends) that it is up to her parents and not us to name her. 

Here are a couple of the latest pictures. The first one is her at Virginia Beach last weekend. 

 Taryn was getting a little 'stir crazy' and Brandon took her out to the beach for a little sun and sand that was needed. The water was cold but the day outing did her good. Virginia Beach is only about 1 and a half hours from them. (I think she looks like Patti in this picture).

The next picture is off of their back porch. I thought the one of the two of them was very sweet! Someday the rain will stop and the summer will finally be here for them. 

Taryn has been doing well. She is due May 17 so  is in her 35th week and just waiting for the day to deliver. She still has the sickness so there are good and bad days. There are mostly good days now which is great after the long days of being sick. She has even started to gain weight which the doctor is happy about. 

I will be heading to Virginia on May 9th or so depending on what her doctor says after her visit next week. I want to be there when she delivers (NOT in the delivery room since that is Brandon's job!) and then help her out for a few weeks after she gets home. Luckily my work lets me work from anywhere so have PC will travel. Then Tom will come out after Ashlyn is born. 

So I will keep you posted on the progress and when Ashlyn makes her arrival. 

Wasted away again in "Scooterville" (the Crotts do KW)

Below is Mark's version of he and Dona's visit to KW. Enjoy!

We landed in Ft. Lauderdale on a Wed afternoon and spent the night there.  I'm sure we ate something but I was too tired to remember.  We woke up on Thursday morning and ate breakfast at Burger King. "Yummy".  We then proceeded down highway 1 to Scooterville.

Highway 1 is quite a road and at times we were able to achieve 45mph on the 140 mile trip. There was at least one Po Po for every three cars on the road but Dona left all her hooch back in AZ so we were worry free.  Plus we knew Tom and Myrla would have plenty at their place.  

We arrived in Scooterville at lunch time and had seafood at a local place Tom picked out. Hooter's I think it was.  Dona didn't care for it but Tom and I enjoyed ourselves.  Myrla pretended she had to work.  After lunch we walked around every square inch of Scooterville looking at all the bars and hooters, I mean scooters.  Tom told me everyone had a scooter in Key West.  What he really meant was "EVERYONE" had a scooter in Key West and they "ALL" ride them until 4:30 am at which point the tiny island is quiet., until 7:00 am and they start all over.   The first morning I thought a bunch of Mexicans were running around the house with weed eaters.  Luckily, I love the smell of pre-mix in the morning.  Myrla was proud to inform me that she had purchased a new bed and that it was a "virgin".  Took care of that. 

We did a lot of walking the next few days.  I'd say 45 miles would be a good guess.  We hit the docks and saw a lot of great looking yachts and sailing vessels.  We walked to the sunset pier and saw a beautiful sunset and a huge man with a "WAY" too small swimsuit on.  At least we knew where he kept the bananas.  We climbed the lighthouse and had a great view of the entire island.  Myrla had to make a spectacle of herself at the light house and slide all the way down the banister, but we all had sunglasses on and no one recognized us so we didn't care.  We then went to the MF museum and were given the VIP tour.  I've never seen as much gold in my life, truly beautiful treasures.  We then took the train ride (TOUR) around town which Tom and Myrla had never done.  I'd never seen Tom this happy to be on a train, and if you go down to see Tom and Myrla I highly recommend the train tour.  I'm sure they will both JUMP at the chance to take you.  We then took the tour of the house where Ernest Hemingway took a dump, it was quite impressive with beautiful grounds and pool.  The spiders were very nice also.

We did a lot over the 3 days we were there.  We ate a lot of great food except for the one deep fried booger I had.  Myrla knocked herself out in the kitchen as usual.  We made her lay on the couch with a ice bag on her head and all was well.  We all laughed a lot and told the same old stories we've always told.  It was great to see our friends again and as usual, hard to leave.

Visitors, St Pat's, treasure and Atocha Adventure

The past couple of weeks have brought the 'usual' adventures to us. 

First was the visit from Dona & Mark, friends of ours from AZ. It was really great to see them and have them spend a few days with us. We had a chance to do some of the tourist things here that we hasn't done before and really enjoyed them. They are putting together their own guest blog so as soon as that is available I will post it. 

Then St Patrick's Day was upon us. Of course a big party day in KW, yes I know that any reason in KW is a reason for a party, anyway I took the afternoon off and we met up with friends to do the St Pat pub crawl! Of course we started out at Finnigan's Wake. A great Irish bar and the only one in town to have a band that did Irish music. So we used that as our home base and would wander from bar to bar, back to Finnigans then out again. A great day!

Also during this week Tom was out treasure hunting at the Atocha site on the dare. Chris was taking out investors and had an open spot so Tom was able to get out 3 days. On the first dive Dave found a silver plate. It was a great find so I included a picture of it that Tom had taken for his instructor class. 

Then of course it was the showing of the Atocha Adventure. Tom didn't get his face on camera but we enjoyed the show anyway. If you got a chance to see it you will have a good idea on what takes please during treasure hunting. No word yet on whether the show will be picked up for a series... we shall see.  

Next week we are hoping for a quieter week with time to finish getting the house set up and Tom still has school work to do. He is hoping to have his instructor class done by April 17! 

TRU TV - The Atocha Adventure

Mark your calendars, set the alarm on your phone, program the DVR for WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 10PM EDT ...... WATCH THE ATOCHA ADVENTURE.... you never know who you may see! 

The TRU TV group was here for a couple of months doing a reality show on the Mel Fisher treasure divers. They spent days on the boats and a few in town, filming their latest idea for a show. This is the pilot and based on the response they will decide if it will be come a regular series. 

The exciting news is that your very own Diver Tom may be included in the show. Tom was out with investors diving a number of days when they were filming. He knows he was caught on tape (hopefully behaving) but they will not tell us what made it into the show and what ended up on the cutting room floor. Hopefully he will at least have a small appearance! You know we are already planning a party to watch it with the MF group!!! 

Here is the site in case you don't usually watch TRU TV and want more info. 

http://www.trutv.com/shows/upcoming_specials/

1 year Anniversary in KW

It was 1 year ago on March 7, 2008 that we pulled into KW in the U-haul with the kids and Dyna following along in the Murano. Hard to believe the year has gone by so fast! 

We celebrated with a group of friends over to the new house for a theme potluck night. The theme was Spam dishes from our childhood. What a HOOT!!! We had baked beans & spam, scalloped potatoes & spam, spam cornbread, spam meatballs, spam dip, spam mixed with Velvetta & onion on hamburger buns, and then a few other non-Spam items that those who did not have Spam as a child brought.  It was a great way to celebrate. 

We also look back on the last year. What a year of changes it has been!!! As we sit here and watch the sun set off our porch we think about what the past year has brought us. Here are a few of them: 

• Tolerance of people who are different. This has to be one of the most diverse places we have been between the Caribbean, Cuban, Eastern Europe and others that have settled here. We cannot tell you how many different languages we hear on a daily basis. It has been very interesting to live in such a diverse community. 
• Love of the ocean. We have been ocean people for a long time but with being so close to it allows us a new respect for her. It is truly what the island evolves around, from the weather to the commerce.  
• Friendship. Friendships here are easily made based on a common desire to live in a place that is out of the norm. An amazing sense of community and support. These are some of the most helpful and friendly people we have ever met. So many of them have become cherished friends.     
• Excess in Moderation! This happens to be a sign in a local bar but is a lesson learned here. It's a different lifestyle and its easy to get caught up in the 'vacation frame of mind'.  
• Priorities. What was once a priority about 'things' is no longer. We have sold most of what we had and do not miss it. Its no longer about the new toys or the better house, or the new car or ANY of that. It's now about a great sunset, walking the dog and a cold beer on a hot day. 
• Limited finances. We came from 2 incomes in a place that had reasonable living expenses to a single income in a place that DOESN'T have reasonable living expenses. It is where we all share what we have so that we can get to the next paycheck, we know where the best happy hour deals are, potlucks, horseshoes and cheap poker games make for a great Saturday night, and a scooter makes the cheapest way to get around (other than our feet).
  
• New carrier path. Finding that you can leave the same job after MANY, MANY years and pursue your passion. Taking a leap of faith in trying new things. 

This probably doesn't cover it all but it gives you an idea as to all this Adventure has brought us. What we can say is that it was the BEST decision we could have ever made! It has been all that we had hoped for and more!

  

 

White St

We have MOVED! The new address is 704 White St!!!!

We were notified by the owner of the house on Elizabeth, in early Jan, that he wanted to put it up for sale. At first we were going to stay until the place sold since house sales here are so slow (average of a year to sell a house in the Keys) and this time of year there is usually not a lot of places open to rent. Starting at Christmas through end of April is 'season' when things are busy here. We have snow birds, just like AZ, and then people who come down to work just while it was busy. Shirley and I met a guy that works the pedi-cab who comes from Brazil to work Jan - April. This usually results in very little options to rent. We found that out last year and were lucky to find what we did. So when the house went on the market and we had a steady stream of people in to look at the house we decided to start looking around. The search went on for a few weeks. Having lived here for almost a year now we had our criteria for where and what we wanted.

First the Where - we wanted to stay in Old Town. Key West is broken into 3 parts, Old Town, Mid Town and New Town. Here is a link to a map if you want to check it out. http://www.keywest.com/map1.html

Old Town is where we live now. We love this area and wanted to stay. There is where we can walk every where and most of our friends are. This is the original part of KW with great old houses and lots of charm. It runs from Truman ave. to the Mallory Square and White St to Fort Zac. This is the original part of the island. None if man-made.

Mid Town is the area just beyond Old Town. This was just a little farther out then we wanted to be. It runs from Truman to White St Pier and Fort St to 1st St.

New Town is the rest of the island that was added to expand KW when the Army Corp of Engineers came in and dredged out the ship channels for the Navy base. The dredging waste was used to expand out. New Town looks like suburbia Florida with newer houses, lawns and boat parking on the channels.

Then the What - we needed a yard for Dyna, space for Misa (the stray cat from Elizabeth that has become part of the family) since we brought her with us, a porch, at least 2 bedrooms (you know who you are that need to visit) and 2 bathrooms. The one thing we have learned is that with both of us home full time we NEED 2 bathrooms! Since many of the places in Old Town are small it is very common to have 1 bathroom. In the older houses they didn't even originally have bathrooms and were remodeled to include just one. Tom also wanted some semblance of a kitchen that allowed more than one of us in it at a time, had cabinet doors that would close and where you didn't have to open the refrigerator door to open the oven door.

In early Feb we were lucky to find this place...... White St. Now this was the farther part of Old Town and we joke that if it had been on the other side of the street we wouldn't of even rented it. The house has the same square footage as Elizabeth, 1000 sq ft, but has a different layout with 2 bedroom/ 2 bath. It is also a newer house that has hurricane windows, a kitchen that is large enough for 2 people, a dishwasher, vaulted ceilings and a great layout. Below is the picture of Tom and Dyna on the porch. That is a great part too. The porch is larger and so is the yard so Dyna has more room to roam. We are going to cut down the BIG bushes! We like to be able to see from the porch. Guest room will be ready soon so come on down and join us!

Key West with Mom (Shirley)

Well, Mom (Shirley) finally made it to Key West and we had a great time with her here. We had a chance to show her that we really do not live in grass huts and she was able to see the places and meet the people we always talk about. 

The day she arrived (Wednesday) the last leg of her flight was delayed about an hour and a half but she still made it here before dark so we took her to dinner at the Half Shell Raw bar on the water at the Key West marina. It was beautiful with the sun setting and all of the boats in the marina and she had some fresh KW lobster for dinner.

Thursday morning we walked to a local bakery and picked up some goodies for breakfast including coconut cream cheese croissants, yum!!!! After enjoying breakfast Mom and I took a drive up the Keys so she could get a lay of the land and sea so to speak. On the way back we stopped at the Hogfish restaurant for lunch and she could see were the Mel Fisher salvage boats are docked. When we got back to KW we went to the Hemmingway  House to see the six toed cats. After a afternoon nap we finished the day with watching the sunset at Mallory Square and dinner at El Pepe De Mason for some good cuban food and a Mojito.

Friday started out with a trip to the Butterfly conservatory, a tour of the Mel Fisher museum and lunch at Schooner Wharf bar to listen to Michael McCloud and watch tourists. I have school on Friday night so we had an early dinner at the Meteor Smoke House and then to the Green Parrot bar to watch a local band play. It was a fairly early night but we did get Mom some key lime pie on a stick for a late evening snack.

Saturday started with breakfast at the Flamingo Cafe followed by shopping on Duval St. After a cocktail at the Flying Monkey we took a pedi cab to Nancy's Secret Garden for a self tour of this beautiful property filled with amazing plants and a lot of colorful parrots in cages. After another afternoon nap we were off to Alonzo's for happy hour with drinks and appetizers. With high spirits and full stomachs we were off to the Iguana Cafe for drinks with our favorite bartender Mike who always treats us right. We did a couple of dial-a-shots calling Patti and Jan and Ray's daughter Tracy. Mom spent the evening talking to our friends and having a good time but she had been going all day so it was time to go home because she had to leave the next morning.

Mom did great getting around town and she wanted to do as much as she could while she was here. It was fun having her here and we are already figuring out what to do when she comes back so she can continue to be part of the adventure

   

Night out on Duval

This last week was the continuation of Al's 70th birthday week. The second part of his birthday surprise was all 3 of his kids and their spouses showing up at Schooners Thursday night. Of course we were in on the set up (the local group of us) and then spent the evening with all them  going from Schooners to Turtle Krawls to Sloppy Joe's. It was a great time. His sons (and spouses) came from VA and the funniest thing was that his daughter (and spouse) live in Fountain Hills! Over in Crystal Ridge for those of you who know the area and live across from the Vaughts.  They have been there a few years and were there when we left! What a HOOT!

Now Thursday was also the coldest day we have had in KW since we got here. It was almost a record! The record low was 41 degrees and we got down to 45 degrees with

 only a high of 54 degrees. Here we all were at Schooners with 2 shirts and a jacket plus pants, shoes & socks! 

Tom finally had to give in. He has been holding out to not allow a jacket, shoes (with socks) and pants to all come together on his body at the same time. He has had various versions of jacket with shorts & flip flops, pants with t-shirt & flip flops, shoes with pants and a t-shirt but this was a FIRST for all 3!! It was noted as a major milestone.

Also on Thursday Jan & Ray had old friends from PA come down for to stay till Mon. John & Jen come to visit them every year so it was great to get to know them too. Now of course when they have friends visiting that always results in an evening on Duval. We had all recovered from Thursday night so Saturday night was the next night out (remember Tom has class on Friday night). Now we had a bit of a set back since Iguana was closed. They had closed for cleaning and a few repairs for a few days so one of our usual haunts was not accessible. Fear not that did not detour us! We started at our house, then off to Rum Barrel for dinner, stopped at Tw

o Friends for karaoke, John is the only one of us who sings (of course after more than a few drinks Ray and I have been known to be back up singers). Things didn't work out there since it was packed so we ventured down Duval an eventually ended up at Cowboy Bills. I have talked about Cowboy Bills before since that was where we started the hay ride from and is a usual hangout for a number of our friends so it is not unusual for us to end up there. 

The other reason we ended up at Cowboy Bills is that Jan has wanted to ride the mechanical bull that they have. Tom has ridden it a few times and she has always wanted to so we talked her into it and got her set up. She did great. She is now hooked and road it twice that night!  can see picture of Tom on bull below (sorry but the back shot was the best there was since the bull was moving). 

Below is the link to the web cam that they have... check it out on Saturday night and you never know if you will see Tom. www.cowboybillskw.com/bullcam.htm

So the night ended with snacks and drinks at Meteor and then the walk home. What a great night out with great friends!

 

Jimmy, Al and Super Bowl

Last week was a mix of Jimmy, Al and Super Bowl.

First there was Jimmy. Jimmy Buffett that is.

Early last week we walked by Jimmy's house (the one we suspect is his) and it looked as though someone was living there. Tom and I commented on how it would be great to run into Jimmy and see him play. We didn't get that chance but we did find out the Jimmy was in town and did play at Margaritaville.  A friend of ours has a shop next to Margaritaville and actually ran into Jimmy when he came into the shop before he went into his place. So we are still on the hunt to see Jimmy. 

Then there is Al. Our friend Al. 

Saturday night we celebrated Al's 70th birthday with a surprise party at a great restaurant. Al is an amazing guy who lives on a boat with his wife Jan. They retired 10 years ago and have been living on the boat ever since. They split their time between Key West, St Augustine FL and Virginia. Now don't think that Al's age of 70 makes him an 'old guy' or slows him down at all. He is on the go and can drink most of us under the table. 

And on Sunday was the big game... the Super Bowl.

We had a Super Bowl party at the house with our PA friends. We made it a complete AZ party with mexican food and margarita's. Of course we had to make all of it since we can't find any place that has good food and our friends hadn't had green chili beef so it was a treat for all. Unfortunately the Cardinals did win but it was a great game and we had a great time.  

So ended our week of Jimmy, Al & Super Bowl.

Sailing Week

Last week brought another event to KW. This one was the Acura Sailing Race. A week where we are invaded by sailing teams from all over the world. Below is the site for the details on the race week. 

www.premiere-racing.com/keywest09/pages/KW09_entry_information.htm

Now this event was different from the others. 

First there was no parade down Duval. No showing of the sailing boats or any pomp and circumstances of the event coming to town. The sailing takes place outside the reef so there is little that can be seen from town. You have to have a boat or take out a charter to see any of the racing. 

Then there was the sailing teams, over half were from other countries which makes for an interesting crowd when out on the town. This also made for interesting people watching since many of the other countries do not tip their wait staff or tip very little. We watched more than one bartender serve up round after round of many drinks and get left maybe a $2 tip. 

There is also a special tent set up where 'only' the sailing teams are allowed into for free drinks, food and various booths are set up. Special access only is strictly enforced.  

So it seems all of the comments we had heard from the other locals about sailing race week and all that it brings seems to be true. 

This is the first event that is one adventure we will not want to be around next year.  

West Coast Fans in the East

Go Cardinals!!!!! 

I am sure you know about the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl. We are very excited about it and that is what has inspired this blog.  

Since moving East we have found it VERY, VERY hard to see any of our 'hometown' favorite teams. Unless the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Suns or Coyotes are playing a team that is East of the Mississippi river we don't get to see ANY games. 

So when we are flipping through the channel guide we check all of the listing just in case we can catch a game. If we are lucky enough to find one then we are camped out for the duration. 

Of course there is one exception to that rule... the time change. This time of year it isn't to bad since there is only a 2 hour difference but when daylight savings comes and it goes back to 3 hours then I can't always stay awake for the late games that are from Phoenix. Much better for us when the team is on the road in the East. 

We have also found that we are one of the few Phoenix fans in KW. We have found one other guy that graduated from ASU and THAT IS IT! When the Suns were in the playoffs last year we went to a local bar to watch and there were only a couple of other ladies and us watching the game. Even they were from Phoenix and in town for just a couple of days. 

There is also a lot of fans from all of the states north of here. NC, VA, PA, NJ & NY are the most common with PA taking the lead. So when one of those 'hometown' teams are playing the bars are packed. 

So on Sunday when the Cardinals played we decided to set up our own home party... just Tom and I with margaritas, chips and salsa and we left all our 'northern' friends to watch at the bar. Then once we had WON it was off to the Iguana to celebrate. Of course we got to taunt every person who came in wearing an Eagles jersey. With the number of PA people there was no lack of whooping and hollering on our part.  

Now this brings us to Super Bowl Sunday! The game party will be at our house with all of our PA friends. Yes once again we will be out numbered but I am betting we will the loudest!!!! 

GO CARDINALS!!!!

In Remembrance of Deo Fisher

This week was a sad week for all of us that are involved with the Mel Fisher family. Deo Fisher passed away on Tuesday. She was the widow of Mel Fisher. Tom and I had a honor of meeting her a few years ago before she went to live in Montana on a full time basis. Her life was an amazing one so I took the story from the local news paper that was written by Mandy Bolen. She is a friend of ours who also writes a great article each week called Tan Lines that I love so and provided a great story of Deo so it is included below....

Delores Fisher

Mother. Diver. Seeker. Stoic.

All have been used to describe Dolores “Deo” Fisher, widow of the late treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who lost her own battle with cancer Tuesday afternoon — 10 years and one month after her legendary husband succumbed to the same.

Although she was born, and died, in Montana, Deo Fisher lived a waterlogged life on both coasts.

Born Dolores Horton, she married the charismatic Mel Fisher in 1953 in California when she was 17. The young married couple embarked on Mel’s dream of opening a shop that catered exclusively to the burgeoning population of recreational scuba divers, and Deo did her part to entice more female participants to the sport. Together, she and Mel taught an estimated 65,000 people how to dive.

In August 1959, she broke the world’s underwater endurance record by remaining submerged in a 10-foot-deep porpoise tank for more than 55 hours and 37 minutes using scuba equipment.

The Key West community met Deo Fisher when she arrived in the early 1970s with her young family to begin Mel’s search for the treasure of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha.

The family’s struggle, determination and perseverance in the wake of the tragedy that killed Deo’s eldest son, Dirk, and his wife, are the stuff of local legend. But Deo was not Mel, and she was a mother above all else.

“Deo was as tough and resolute as Mel, but her gentle demeanor and outright beauty often made you forget that,” said Corey Malcom, director of archaeology at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

Malcom arrived in Key West immediately after the 1985 discovery of the mother lode of the Atocha. He worked for an archaeological company hired by Mel to oversee the excavation of the historic shipwreck.

“For many years, she served as a de facto mother for a very large crew of divers,” Malcom recalled Tuesday. “If someone had a personal problem, she was the one to go to.”

Personal problems were plentiful in the slim days leading up to July 1985 and the discovery of the sunken treasure.

“Her love for the ocean and all it contained was only surpassed by the love for her family,” said Melissa Kendrick, executive director of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, which Deo helped found in 1982. “She had those really basic attributes of a solid American Midwesterner,” said Don Kincaid, who worked for the Fisher family for several years and documented the Atocha search and recovery for “National Geographic.” He survived the night the salvage ship sank, taking Dirk’s life. “Many of the divers had come from broken families, and Deo was very much the mother of all of us, and we all thought of her that way.”

No details about funeral arrangements were available Tuesday, but will be forthcoming.