Saturday was the huge nautical flea market in Islamorada, and Bob and Stephanie graciously offered us a ride. Jay found a new wet suit, since his had mysteriously shrunk a LOT since he bought it 30 years ago (when he purchased everything else he has). Suspecting that there were still fleas we hadn't seen, we went to the Big Pine Key flea market on Sunday to get new Conch Republic flags. Big Pine is close to Summerland, so we headed further south to visit with Bill and Charlotte, friends we met on our trip down from Tennessee two years ago. They also happen to be friends of Bob and Stephanie, so we introduced them to Rusty and Nancy and enjoyed a visit in their gorgeous home on the canal.
Afterward, stomachs growling, we went to No Name Pub for their world-famous fabulous pizza. We waited outside with a large Hispanic biker gang for our table, then enjoyed the scenery (loads and loads of dollar bills) and delicious pizzas inside.
That's not me on the bar stool behind Jay, but it could well be if we don't change the lifestyle to which we've become accustomed!
To celebrate our arrival in Marathon, Dockside reopened the bar (which has been closed since last summer). We appreciate the gesture, and Friday night's "soft" opening (for marina residents) was great. Dockside provided barbeque and chicken, and all the marina residents brought pot luck. There was a huge crowd of very happy people. Happy hour prices were in effect all weekend, and John provided live music. We were surprised when Roy also played and sang -- very well (we didn't realize he'd been a musician for many years). The staff of Dockside did a great job of getting ready for the party, and they couldn't stop grinning all night from the joy of being open again. Hopefully the restaurant isn't far behind. Dockside has been a fixture in Marathon for many years, and is a favorite local watering hole.
We found Mariah (our former dock neighbors in Twin Dolphin) on a mooring ball when we arrived in Marathon, and cajoled Tuck and Kathy into joining us at Keys Drinkeries (and Fishery) for sundowners and crab claws on Sunday evening. Nancy passed the sobriety test by pointing toward the light.
We rode the bus to Marathon on Tuesday to meet up with Steve, Kelly, Gerry and Sharon (our Ft. Myers friends). We'd described the colorful bus trips of the past to Rusty and Nancy, and they were anxious to add to their experiences of life in the Keys. But the ride down was very tame -- people on, people off. We arrived in time for breakfast at Schooner Wharf (sudsy breakfast) before meeting the Ft. Myers crew at the Raw Bar for Steve's traditional oyster shooter. Then back to Schooner's for lunch and listening to Michael McCloud. We're so regular there that we get local pricing and the waitress saved us a table while we were at the Raw Bar. Seems like a pattern developing here.... Not wanting to seem like total bar flies, we left Schooner's. And went to the Green Parrot. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to the Ft. Myers crew there, but hope to see them all again soon.
We visited the top of the Holiday Inn to give Rusty and Nancy a great view of Key West. They seem to be adjusting well to this lifestyle. We were disappointed that Rusty and Nancy didn't get the full bus experience on our ride down, but the ride back renewed our faith in all things colorful. A man sat down in front of us who was either smuggling week-old fish in his pockets or had digested and rejected bad fish earlier. He was having conversations with himself, and shook his head a lot when he was losing the argument -- which stirred up his "aura" a little too much. We had to rub hand sanitizer in our nostrils to keep from losing our KW refreshments. We were soon distracted when the crack whore with an iPod boarded and danced and gestured wildly to the music. She also held her cell phone up and waved it around, either taking photos of herself or waving her own candle or getting signals from her home planet. She drew the attention of the rasta carrying all his worldlies in a hospital bag. He'd lost his shoes on the beach (someone stole them while he was sleeping), but had non-skid socks on for the bus ride. He tried to hit on Miss Music by donning all his cool t-shirts at once, while explaining the benefits of each one. Thank heavens for characters (except maybe the dude with the fish)!
We did some serious training in Ft. Myers Beach to prepare for Marathon. You have to run with the big dogs here -- there's no porch. The table is totally prepared (thanks for Bob for the Clorox de-cootie job and Katie for the lovely tablecloth and Rick for the candleholders and Jaybird for the imported umbrella and Capt. Wade for pilfering chairs from Dockside) and has been christened as the Table of Wisdom (since there's already a Table of Knowledge in Dockside and a Tree of Knowledge at City Marina). No rum punches or potlucks yet, but lots and lots of philosophizing, singing and problem solving. Can you tell William's happy to be here???
Jim and Kathryn (on another house call from Freundship Marine) visited the table, and described the session as going "from Mensa to Dependsa" -- you start out with imparting wisdom and degenerate to drooling.
