What a pleasure to have Adrienne and Joe with us for a visit. They flew in from Milford, CT where they live on Long Island Sound. Living on salt water has been a new experience for both of them and it was fun for them to make comparisons with salt and tides in Marathon vs. Long Island Sound.
There is a side of Joe we had never experienced. He is CRAZY about fishing! Good news was our friends from Bama Belle. Charlie, now retired, owned Bama Bait, a bait shop in Mobile AL and is an avid fisherman. So is Brandie, his First Mate. The first day Adrienne, Jim and I joined Joe, Charlie and Brandie. We had a blast! We caught about 40 fish and threw them all back. We learned of the moniker CPR, Catch, Picture, Release! We caught a Grouper, a hogfish and many Mangrove Snappers. Was a long day and we were exhausted.
Joe, believe it or not, wanted to go again the next day! He enjoyed a day with two experienced fisherpeople, Karen & Jimmy along with the Bama Belle crew. They caught many fish and were able to keep many of them. Jimmy showed the guys how to correctly filet the fish. There was a significant difference between Jimmy's filets and those of the other guys! We enjoyed fish tacos - yum!
Again, Mr. Fisherman was at his game! He drove to another key, rented a kayak and had another fine day. He has some really nice equipment and came with his pole and equipment in tow. Ask him about his new tshirt from the local bait shop. So cool!
Key West was a fun day. We walked Duval and other streets and enjoyed a great meal outside with dollar bills all around us, hanging from every wall. Ernest Hemingways house is a highlight with the six toed cats. We managed to visit the southernmost land in the US. We also enjoyed the Mel Fisher Museum. Very interesting!
Adrienne, Anna from Blue Yonder and I ventured on our own with the dinghy. I asked Jim earlier - "do we have enough gas?" Yes he said! ha! We ventured through an area Adrienne named "the creepies" with abandoned boats and narrow channels leading nowhere in the mangroves. We had oars, so we knew we would always be safe! As we ventured outside the Key on the Ocean side, we planned to visit an island where our friends, the Parrents (3 great kids) had found many star fish. We were geeked!
Surprise! We ran out of gas as we approached the island and out came the oars. Anna is a beast and can out row both of us! After a tow to Sombrero Beach (lovely) we found our friends, the Parrents and they towed us to the island where we found great sea life! Starfish, Sea Cucumbers & Horseshoe crabs. Amazing. Then they towed us the 45 minutes back to the marina. Craig, Danielle, Morgan, Ryann & Jaxon Parrent are from Ada MI. They are having the time of their life and Danielle is doing a great job home schooling the kids on the boat. Morgan is 11, Ryann is 9 and Jaxon, I believe is 4. We have enjoyed their company in a number of places along the Loop.
No comments:
Post a Comment