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!