Kickin' Back in the Keys

The call of the Florida Keys has been strong since our first visit in 2008. That year we stayed near Marathon for five days. Tom and Georgie came down for a visit and we went with them to Key West for all the usual tourist things. We have returned several times and now stay at the Florida Keys Elks in Tavernier. This year we got to stay for six weeks giving us extra time to get into island time and doing almost nothing except enjoying friends, the weather and the daily sunsets. There is something to be said about being able to have the windows open and wearing shorts in January after so many years of Pennsylvania winters. On the first visit eleven years ago we heard someone say, "I'd rather here drinking a beer than freezing my a$$ off up north". We could not agree more. 

Here at the Elks it is only a very short walk to watch great sunsets.

I have never fished down here but after seeing this nurse shark caught off the the Elks dock I may have to give it a try sometime. 

We get to see a lot of birds here. This osprey is a regular visitor who often has a fish in its claws.

Not the greatest sunset but the clouds were neat.

Of course any time you are near the ocean you are going to see many pelicans. If someone is cleaning fish they go into attack mode.

Love those sunsets that leave a reflection glowing on the water.

Sam the heron flying to the dock. He is not bothered by all the people.

A morning shot with four egrets looking for food.

One foggy morning Sam let me get real close before preparing to depart.

Fellow Pennsylvanians Sue and Dennis are out on the water almost every day. 

WOW, another great sunset. 

The tiki hut and palm trees make a great foreground for the sunsets.

We did stay up for the lunar eclipse. Most of my pictures were not very good, including those of the blood moon, but you can see the curve of the Earth's shadow on the moon. 

Early the next morning the full moon was setting over Florida Bay.

While we will never be Pats fans, we do love the game day gatherings with these crazy New Englanders George, Linda, Patty and Patty's sister Denny. Win or loose it is always a fun time.

They can be mean though. Patty made a voodoo ref doll that inflicts severe pain on any ref who makes a call against the Pats.

While the Elks is a great place for sunsets, one afternoon we went to the Lorelei where they have a band during the sunsets.

The whole group from the Elks went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Puerto Vallarta, for lunch. Here are Jim, Nanc, Linda, George, Dennis, Sue, Ray, Laurie, Judy and John. It was a fun time with great food.

We will be leaving the Keys on February 1, going to Stuart to spend a month in our new stix and brix home. While we love our time in the Keys, we are looking forward to spending time getting used to the next phase of Running Down Our Dream,