Day Seven: Lost at sea.

So this morning we decided to go over to Sombrero Beach off the bottom end of Vaca and almost against Boot Key. It's a great beach with palm trees lining the edge instead of sand dunes and a long expanse of white sand. It used to be coral beach but has been replaced with some very nice sand. The beach also has small pavilions for luncheons and areas for volley ball and a place for small children to play. It's also one of the very few excellent and free beaches in the Keys. About two hours into some fabulous beach time, tropical storm force winds came in and blew everyone off of the beach. Now this wouldn't be a problem for me, but Lance and Samantha were out at sea kayaking when this happened. My mother of course was on the phone at the time and left me to pack everything up and it wasn't until the beach umbrella was half blown apart that she got off the phone and went right into panic mode. I had to be the voice of reason and snap her out of it. Seriously if there was anyone in the world that you would want to be lost at sea with in a kayak, it's Lance. Mind you if I were Lance I definitely wouldn't want to be stuck with Samantha. Anyways I managed to pack everything up and get a hysterical quinquagenarian to the car to wait for the kayakers to return.

To end the exhausting day and to celebrate our last night in the house, I was rewarded with some fine spiny lobster. I'm going to huff it back over to Sombrero in the morning o get some sun in before I have to return to the great wet Mid-Atlantic.

A pleasant start to a beach day.

The backside of Sombrero.

Smoothing and expanding the beach. 

Sailboat! There was also a dolphin out there somewhere too. 

Storm's a brewin'. Get off the phone MA I'm already feeling rain.

From inside the car. This started long before I made it to the Silver Bullet. 

I broke away from studying to find a pleasant surprise in the pot. 

Day Five: Key Lime Pie

I know I said I was  going to do all these things today, but today ended up being a nothing day. Lance didn't really want to do anything but kayaking and reading and Samantha spent the entire first half of the day burning herself to a crisp. So after some sunning and napping I made a pie. There's something romantic about making a key lime pie in the Florida Keys. Very similar to camping at Walden Pond. I kind of really wish Marg were here right now. Family time is fun for a little while but now I wish I had someone to cavort around the islands with. Or at least have a bicycle.

I think I made the key lime pie too key limey. 

Day Four: Key West

Today it was a little too cold and windy for a beach day so we drove down to Key West. Way too many cruise ships and college students for my liking but plenty of bad graphic t-shirts for Lance and rum runners for my mother. Got my hands on some conch, more tomorrow and a better beach.

Old Seven Mile bridge.

Hey Cuba! We see you!

Fully took advantage of the open container laws today.

Mile Maker Zero.

Literary Mecca: Hemingway's House.

Hemingway's dead cats. 

Sunset on the ride home (Samantha took this, I was passed out in the car).

Day Three: First Full Day

Finally a first full day of Key Colony. Cheryl dropped by yesterday and stayed until this evening. It was a low key Sunday with some kayaking, beach time, and late afternoon tennis. I finally got to sleep in, but now that Pete's posted the runs for the week I'll be up early and out on the pavement before it get's too hot. High of 85 F today and expected thunderstorms overnight.

Plenty of boats out on the ocean side today. 

Small jetties break up the beach with long piers at the end of them.

Cabana Club on the beach. Not my favorite beach, small and crowded isn't my thing. I want to go over to Sombrero tomorrow. 

Red skies at night sailors' delight!

Cheryl came to visit!

Day Two: Getting better.

Day two was much better. I woke up somewhere in a Denny's parking lot, but I can still say that I have never been inside of one. I continued to finally get much needed sleep and woke up in the upper-middle Keys. 

After I woke up and started taking pictures of each key sign. 

Not yet on Vaca Key but Marathon seems to be taking over. 

Giant dolphin. Why not?

Finally a survivable temperature. 

The house for the week. Right on the canal and close to the beach. Lance and Samantha have already kayaked around Key Colony.