We've been here over a week at Banana Bay Marina in Marathon Florida and are settling into a routine. We watch "Let's Make A Deal" with Wayne Brady at 10:00 am. Then we walk to Hurricane Restaurant next door for lunch for one of their daily specials. Then we walk and walk and walk.

Tranquility Bay Resort is about a mile west of here and has a neat but pricey Tiki Bar by the water. The West Marine store is a little further. Our 30 year old heater finally died and yesterday we had to walk to West Marine for a new one. Along the way is Daffy Doug's Dollar Store. We can't pass up a dollar store. Also, on the way back to our boat, we stop at Annette's Lobster House--our local favorite--or we might stop at the Sunset Bar that overlooks Florida Bay's spectacular sunsets.

Annette's takes us back in time to when Florida roadside bars and restaurants felt warm and homey. In the lower Keys, most bars feel cool (as in cool, baby) and homo-y (as in gay--not that there is anything wrong with that). Annette's bar has soft lighting and a salt water fish tank whose occupants hypnotize us as we sip our drinks.

East of here is shopping. A K-Mart, Publix Grocery Store, Liquor Store, and a CVS Drug Store are less than a mile away. The Dockside Bar and Grill is about a mile-long walk east then south off of US1 to the south side of Boot Key Harbor. We used to trailer our old 26 foot sailboat to the Dockside and pull into a slip for a week or two. Many of the friends we made on previous trips are still hanging around or working there.

Of course we go to the pool almost every day for a few hours. They also have a poolside Tiki bar. We especially enjoy evenings in the hot tub. We meet people from all over the country and Canada (eh?). Most of them are staying in the hotel and they all have a mission in the Keys. One young couple wants to dive with a whale, another couple wants to buy a boat and wander the marina looking at the different types. Two muscular fellows had rented motorcycles and were roaming the Keys as biker-dudes (Y-M-C-A?). A country-fried family are here to enjoy each other's company for a week at the expense of poor grandpa (You should hear the cussin').
We've had a massive fish kill here in the Keys. The fish of warmer climates aren't equipped to withstand deep hypothermia. Their muscles quit, they stop moving, they stop respirating, then roll belly up. I didn't take pictures of the poor little critters but I did shoot some of the local greenery. The photos above are from here at Banana Bay and surrounding waters. The small island is called Pretty Joe Rock. It has a cottage with a boat ready to go. You can rent it if you have the cash.