Key West

We are staying at Boyd's campground which is in a great location but jammed with large RVs.  It is also expensive.  People settle in here for $3000 a month--they must really like this place....well, it is Key West after all.  Here a pictures of some interesting vehicles we have seen today.

Boyds Key West Campground

Truck at Hogfish Bar & Grill

Container home

There is a great "authentic Key West" restaurant called Hog Fish Bar and Grill that we heard about.  We could almost walk there.  It was terrific.  The best lobster bisque we have ever eaten and the Hog fish sandwiches were outstanding.  It is located on the wharf and behind it is this community of "container houses and stores".  The whole area is cargo containers, some on top of each other, made into living quarters and some wood working shops.  There are also all kinds of dilapidated sailing ships docked there with people living on their boats.  We talked with a mother who had three young children living on their boat.  They were having a great time.

Container home

The Bailey Buggy took us to a new part of Key West today-- Zachary Taylor  Fort and park.  It was $7 to park and tour the fort which was used in the Civil War and then updated.  The fort had a moat around it and was worth the trip--especially in Pete's eyes... all kinds of preserved cannon of various ages used at the fort at different historic ages.  The attached park was really great with a beach, shade and picnic areas.  It was the perfect place to set up our chairs and watch the famous key West sunset.  There were two large cruise ships in port to add to the ambiance.  The catamarans sailed by us with live music and tourists enjoying the sunset.  It was a wonderful day!

Ft Zachary Taylor

 

Our last day in Key West was spent exploring Duval Street and the many little shops,  We stumbled upon Garbo's which is a food truck that specializes in Korean BBQ and fish tacos.  It is a Diners, Driveins and Dives pick and had a long line.  The fish tacos were worth the wait.  The other big treat of the day was chocolate covered key lime pie!  It was seriously the best thing I've eaten in a long time!

Chocolate covered Key Lime Pie

We parked the Bailey Buggy at the parking lot on Mallory Square.  It is $4 an hour but it is right where all the street performers, vendors and cruise ships are.  We watched another beautiful sunset along with hundreds of others taking pictures with smart phones.

On our way North we we stopped at another restaurant (The Fish Camp on Geiger Key Marina) owned by the owners of the Hog Fish Grill.  It is the next Key north of Key West.
It was the same recipe for the lobster bisque and so good and the site was beautiful!  Definitely worth stopping by!

Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Jonathan Dickinson State Park has so many wonderful things to do all related to the natural beauty of this area.  When we pulled into the camping sites at River Campground, we were wondering why it was so hard to book a reservation here.  It really didn't look that great except for the bathrooms and showers which are brand new.  The campsites were devastated by two hurricanes and the trees and foliage are in recovery mode.   After one day here, we are sold on the place and loving all the activities here and nearby.   The Kimbel Nature Center near our site gave us terrific information.  There are all kinds of hiking trails right here and great bike trails but we didn't bring them this trip.
The River Campground is the place to stay--close to more activities.

The first night here our tornado warnings sounded on both our phones.  I stayed up to 2am waiting to save us.   My cell phone was clutched in my hand but it turned out only to be a mild thunderstorm.  No leaks in the Buggy!  Since then the weather is absolutely ideal--sunny and 78!  

We went on a 2 hour guided pontoon ride up the Loxahatchee River right from the campground.  Must go when the tide is right so you can make it up to see Trapper Nelson's Interpretive Site.  What a hoot this place was!  The "wild man of Loxahatchee" trapped here and built a "tourist attraction" that lured Hollywood stars into his primitive cabin.  He had all kinds of animals out there and was quite a showman dressed in very little and swinging out on vines.  He made a lot of money in the 1930s until 1960s!  We saw alligators, turtles, fish, and birds from the boat and the boat trip was great but the wild man camp ground is what we'll remember.

 

Pontoon boat to Trapper Nelson's

Pete made us a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs which is a novelty because I am the "Queen of Microwave" when we camp.

Breakfast at the campground

The next day was a drive to the Hobe Sound Nature Center which is on Route 1 and about 5 miles away.  Great trail over dunes to the beach--easy walk on sand.  The Center had live animals including a Red Tail hawk and Barred Owl--tethered to a perch right out in the room close enough to touch --so beautiful--and a baby alligator--not so beautiful!  Would love to go here again.

Barred Owl

Red Tail Hawk

National Preserve near JDSP

We continued north on Route 1 and turned right onto Bridge Rd (708) and drove a couple miles until the road ends at the Atlantic Ocean and a beach.  We went left and dead ended into the Hobe National Preserve lot.  We spent the afternoon on the beautiful beach there collecting shells and watching a very eager young man work on his "Skim board" technique while he recorded his attempts on a Go Pro camera stuck on a pole in the sand.  What a lovely day!

Skimboard

Harry and the Natives was the place for breakfast the next day.  Kind of a fun place with funny sayings all over the walls.  It is right on Rt 1A and Bridge St.  Then we drove back onto Jupiter Island and hit the beaches again.  There were all kinds of people surfing and playing in the waves.  A perfect to place to be!

Breakfast at Harry and the Natives... a local favorite

Our ranger guided canoe trip up the Kitching River was great fun.
There were 10 of us with the husband and wife rangers.  A wonderful morning adventure.

Canoeing on the Loxahatchee and Kitching Rivers

On our walk back to our camp, we stopped at the Kimbel center and watched a movie on Florida cowboys.  They were the first cowboys and cattlemen in the United States.  The horses and cattle were brought here to Florida by Ponce de Leon who battled with the local Indians.  The Indians won and due to a rather hasty retreat, the animals were left behind.  This was the beginning of the cattle business in Florida.

Swimming anyone?? No thank you, not with the gators

This park has a swimming beach with a sign "No Lifeguard--swim at your own risk".  However, it seems to me that is the least of your worries.  The other sign says "For Your Safety, do not swim with alligators"!  The ranger told us that people swim there all the time and they sometimes have to chase an alligator away.  But, they don't close the beach unless the alligator comes back!  That's two times too many for us!

We also went to the Loggerhead Marine Center which rescues and rehabs injured turtles.  It is right on Rt 1A and very worthwhile to visit...admission is free.

Our last day here we started the day with bacon and eggs on our camp stove, then hiked the Kitching Nature Trail in the morning and went on a night walk with the ranger.  We all had flashlights and had a great time exploring the park in the dark.

Our last breakfast at Jonathan Dickinson

Tomorrow we leave for Key West!

Merritt Island, Melbourne Family, Friends and Cocoa Beach

There's a camouflaged manatee in there!

Next stop was to Merritt Island which has a National Wildlife refuge and the Kennedy Space Center.  The Wildlife center was wonderful with a nice trail behind the Visitor's center and a special 6 mile drive through the park  The manatees in the river were very close to us.  The Space Center will wait until we come back to Orlando in a month.

Great nature trail at the refuge

    

Manatee

 Off to Karen and Jack Donahoe's lovely home in Melbourne complete with indoor pool and fountain.  They were so welcoming and we had a great time catching up with pictures and stories.  There was supposed to be a Satellite launch that we could watch from their back yard but it was cancelled.  They suggested we visit the Cocoa Beach Pier.  It was a great beach day with blue sky and people surfing....next time would like to go to old city part of Cocoa Beach to check out cute shops.

Karen and Carol

Donohoe screened in pool

Pier at Cocoa Beach

Olivia Peck and Donna Otte, who ran our office for years and became dear friends, invited us to stay with them in Melbourne so that was the next stop.  What fun we had!  Olivia gave us haircuts and Donna fed us and did our laundry.  We stopped by a hydroponic strawberry farm, went out to a Thai restaurant and soaked in their hot tub as we remembered the "thrilling days of yesteryear" of our 25 years at Family Practice Center of Westerville.  It was a blast!  Speaking of "blast", we were able to finally see the satellite launch from their front yard--that was neat!

Time for a trim

No trim needed but the only way to get me to get one

Family Practice Center of Westerville lives on.

How to end a great visit

Our friends and family tour ended with a visit to Hal and Phyllis Larned who bought our farm with their son Andy.  They are such delightful people and they live in the most beautiful condo with a view of the beach at Fort Pierce.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them and loved seeing pictures of their trip out west.

Road Trek Rally Orlando

We left Bonnet Creek and headed over to the Orlando fairgrounds for a three day rally.  There are 69 Road Trek vehicles here and 17 of them are solo women driving them.  We are all parked in a big field but all have electricity and water so not the greatest.   This is all outweighed by the great learning experience with Chris and Jim Guld (Geeks on Tour).  They presented information on computers, tablets and smart phones and how to use them for 8 hours.  Terrific information and so clearly presented.

Geeks on Tour learning session

Entertainment--great guitarist

The meals have almost all been provided along with prizes from the Road Trek dealer who brought the new models to tempt everyone.
They had "book club" meeting which was 25 people sharing their favorite book titles--I was writing furiously and now have the list typed and printed off.  Card bingo, live music, ice cream social and sharing stories with so many wonderful people made it a delightful 3 days.

69 Roadtreks parked at the rally

Tomorrow we leave for Melbourne to visit my step sister Karen Perry Donahoe!

Bonnet Creek and Disney with the Schmitts!

The best part of our trip was having the Schmitts all together at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is on Disney property.  Carrie, Nate, Molly, Anna and Nate's parents Willy and Lisa flew in on Saturday.  We went to Mass and then a spectacular grocery shopping trip at Walmart--wouldn't go there again.  It was way too crowded.  The food worked out great with Carrie's preplanning of all the meals and her shopping lists.  Sunday was just getting settled in and enjoying activities at the resort.  There was a bouncy house on the lawn for the girls Sunday morning.  The daily ice cream sundaes were always a treat!  The girls loved feeding the fish at the resort!  Having two sets of grandparents there was such a help with the girls.  It was really a pleasure having everyone together!

Feeding the fish

Sundaes... highlight of the day

Monday the younger Schmitts took off for the Magic Kingdom with their fast passes all ordered way ahead and planned out.  Tuesday all of us went to Epcot and enjoyed a great day.  The girls loved the fountains, Soar'in, Nemo, the Lands, and
street entertainment.  The Frozen ride was not operational so Nate and Carrie were able to get 7 fast passes to come back another day.  Wednesday was a needed day of relaxation at the pool with games, lazy river and the hot tub. 

We were all at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday.  It was the most crowded but with Carrie's Disney app, fast passes, picnics we took, we were able to see so much and went home tired!  Friday was Animal Kingdom and we all really enjoyed that.  The Safari, Lion King show, Birds of Prey, Bugs life and the street performers were our favorites!

Saturday was 80 degrees and so much fun at the resort--swimming most of the day and then to Disney Springs at around 5pm after church.  Sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich was perfect.  The girls loved the Disney store and spent quite a bit of time how to spend Anna's $6 of allowance she has saved up.  She was so sweet and wanted to buy something Molly liked.  Of course nothing there is six dollars so Nate and Carrie chipped in some and the girls with thrilled with their "Tangled" figures.

Ghirardelli chocolate store free samples and hot chocolate are always a must stop for us.  At 7 pm the audience participation hula hoop and dance contest starts.  We all loved watching this especially after Anna and Carrie entered the dance contest which featured 20 different dances.  Anna was in heaven!  It was a perfect evening!

Monday night at Bonnet Creek resort there was a great comedy magic show.  We all enjoyed it.  This is a picture of the magician pulling a bunch of cards out of his mouth.  Anna was entranced!

The ten days went by so quickly and a good time was had by all!  It was just perfect!  Can't wait to do it again!