Brown Eyed Girl: Still in Marathon

It has been about 10 days since the last post from Marathon and we are still here enjoying the sunshine, people and the seafood. The weather is perfect almost everyday. Temperatures in the high 70's, slight breeze and no rain. The marina is full so there are many people to get to know. There are quite a few current and past Loopers here so we have a lot in common. Some of the Loopers have stayed for only a short time and then moved on so it was nice to see them again. Sid and Evelyn on "Something Special" moved on to Islmorada, "Once Around" and "Algonquin" were here for a few days and moved to Key West.

The highlight of the last 10 days was that our son Dean came to visit. We did not have much on the agenda so Dean mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the weather. Dean and I went on a nice dinghy ride. We went to the beach, explored the many canals with nice houses and then we went to the other side of the island and went under the 7 Mile Bridge. Unfortunately when we got back, Dean slipped and fell and we all thought he broke his little toe on his right foot. Ginny and I thought he was was being a drama queen so we told him to walk it off, but when he got back to Columbus he went to the hospital and it ended up that his right foot is really broken. Sorry Dean but we still had a great time. We rented a car and took Dean back to Key West for his trip home last Saturday. His flight was scheduled for 5:15 P.M. but the airlines called and said the flight was rescheduled for 6:00 P.M. Actually the airlines called about every 15 minutes with a recorded message. We dropped Dean off at the airport around 4 and drove back to Marathon. When we got back the airlines called and said the flight was cancelled. Dean called several times with updates and the airlines decided to send all of the passengers to Miami by taxi, put them up in a hotel and reschedule their flights for Sunday. Dean wasn't really happy about that but he did fine and arrived home safely on Sunday morning. He is back to work using an air cast :).

Marc and Michele on "Marc"s Ark" are docked next to us and we have been having a good time. We last saw them in Fort Myers. They are both sunset lovers and sometimes even set a alarm to let them know the sunset is coming. We have been to a few different restaurants looking for a good sunset and I think the one we like the best is Sunset Grill which is right next to the 7 Mile Bridge on the Atlantic side with an unobstructed view of the sunset. Marc scheduled a 1/2 day fishing trip and asked me to go which was great. We went to Seadog Charters on the Gulf side and went out in a 60 foot boat with 8 other people. We went under the bridge into the Atlantic a few miles and anchored. The captain and first mate were fantastic. They told us how to fish, baited the hook, took the fish off and entertained us throughout the morning and then filleted the fish when we got back. Everybody caught fish and the weather was great. The total catch was 56 Yellow Tail Snappers which were divided up 8 ways because there was one couple from Utah that were leaving the next day and didn't want any fish. Marc and I took our share to Rocco's Bar and Grill in the marina and asked them to cook them for dinner. They did a great job and the fish was fantastic. They grilled some, fried some and blackened some. My favorite was the blackened because it was a little spicy with a slight crust. We did the best we could but couldn't finish them all so Michele took the rest home.

Our plan is to move on next week to Islmorada and then go to the Bahamas in March. We were planning on going with "Free 2 B" but they won't be able to make it this year. "Something Special", "Marcsark" and "Algonquin" have expressed and interest in going so maybe we can all hook up and go together but we will see.