February 13: Anchoring Stop and Fun Visit - Buck and Donna from Ohio/North Carolina

Our friends Paul and Colleen told us about a nice sand bar anchorage close by. Randy promised Mia and Liam that they would anchor out . The weather was so nice as we were leaving Bahia Honda we decided to anchor out with them for the night. Cindy dropped the anchor as Mia and Liam watched.

 Love You More's crew jumped into the dinghy and headed to the sand bar.

















I snorkeled in. We found lots of shells with hermit crabs in them and a couple horseshoe crabs. It was a great anchorage. We spent a very pleasant night and headed back to Banana Bay early the next day.












We were looking forward to our friends Buck and Donna coming for a few days. Buck taught math at Cuyahoga Community College with Linda and I worked with Donna in a couple school districts. We've kept in touch since retiring and always enjoy getting together.We were not disappointed this time.! It was a great few days.


We enjoyed catching up on what was going on and renewing our euchre competition, the men against the women of course. It was the men's turn to be lucky!

Saturday we went to Key West.  Buck and Donna had never been there so it was a must see! We did the Conch Train Tour and ate at Sloppy Joe's, Hemmingway's favorite hangout. It happened to be Put-In-Bays Days! We were lucky to snag a seat by the window.









The bands were from Put-In-Bay, an island on Lake Erie that is "Party Central". Linda's brother Pat loves Put-In-Bay and probably knows the guy that was playing, Ray Fogg, or something like that. The place was packed with Ohioans.










Key West has a lot of chickens roaming loose. Years ago the townspeople raised chickens for cockfights.  The government banned cockfighting and the people released the chickens into the streets in protest. To this day they  are thriving and legally protected. They have become part of the charm of Key West. Buck and Donna tried to get close for a good picture.









The pictures are the best we could get.
















Donna, however, found an alternative chicken at the gift shop which was very cooperative.























There is a lot of tropical vegetation in Key West. This is a large Banyan Tree. It was really impressive.

We toured The Little White house. It was an interesting tour. The sign gives a brief history of the property. Click here for more interesting info.    The Little Whitehouse

We ended the trip with a picture at Mile 0 for Route US 1. We are told they have a hard time keeping the marker on the pole, especially during spring break. Buck and Donna settled for the picture and left the sign alone!











We returned to our laid back marina and the next day went to Crane Point and for a kayak ride. Buck borrowed our friend Sharon's kayak and Donna and I headed out in ours. Linda of course could not join us given her hand surgery. It was a little windy but we saw some big iguanas and a few fish. Headed back to the boat for a great Ahi Tuna dinner on the boat.

We woke the next day to a beautiful sunrise. The Bambics were heading back north.













Buck decided to wear the gold beads a street Elvis mime gave Donna when we were at Key West. We all agreed they looked better on Donna!

We said goodbye and Linda and I headed to the Cleveland Clinic Weston in Miami for a followup meeting with her surgeon. The plan is to get her left hand scheduled!