Have you ever sat in a bar or restaurant while a band set up? Our initial thought was, oh rats, it’s going to get loud. We were drinking our adult beverages waiting for our food to arrive watching the set up and listening to the standard “check one two three” over and over. Then, they started to play. And, play they did. Normally, I feel a little sorry for the musicians because most people ignore them. The level of noise goes up as people scream over the music to be heard. But, the opposite happened. The room went quiet and at the end of the song the band had everyone’s attention. Yes, they were that good!
The last picture taken with our cell phone (read on).
Todd Doerfel, the banjo and dobro player was former state champion musician. His wife, Angelica Grim, and guitar player held her ground and sang lead. The bass player, Joseph Doefel, well, bass players are just cool. We wound up hanging around for a few drinks and enjoyed the awesome entertainment.
Our visit to Key West, FL was a little unplanned. We were low on drinking water and Key West made the most sense. We would like to have stayed an extra few days in the Dry Tortugas but our water-maker issue forced us to move on.
Key West is an expensive stop. The marinas there are horribly pricey. We had to pay about $250 per night for our docking. Ouch! And, as luck would have it, the weather was not great so we had to stay a couple of extra nights. On the bright side we took the opportunity to do a little maintenance on Cream Puff. I changed the engine oil and scoped out a disposal for the old oil. Yep, I saw parts of Key West others fail to hunt out.
The Key West Oil Recycle Center – Not a top tourist attraction
Diver’s Direct
I purchased some jerry cans to ensure we always have some emergency drinking water. We stocked up on perishable grocery items at a great little market. We purchased a hookah set up and diving tank so I could change the zinc on the rudder (underwater). The best part was all we needed was within walking distance of the marina. We used the marina laundry facilities to get our clothes clean. We did take some time to smell the roses. During laundry loads we sat by the pool sipping a couple of cold drinks. I also washed our cell phone by jumping in the pool with it in my pocket. Ooops! We’re still trying to dry it out and see if it works. Good job we have plenty of rice on board.
It’s time to move on. We’ll go broke if we stay here any longer.
Hand rolled cigars
Colorful fishing floats and bouys
Very nice!
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For other great pictures and a good story, check out our trip to Key West a couple of years ago Key West. This post and pictures was later published in a Sailing Life magazine (I hope they fixed all the typos).
