Brown Eyed Girl: Winter in Marathon and I miss ALA CARTE

We are getting settled in at Marathon. We are in Sombrero Marina at the very East end of Boot Key Harbor. It is a nice marina with a bar/restaurant and walking distance to Publix and other stores. We only have reservations for January but we are trying to get the dockmaster to let us stay through February. Two days after we arrived, our good friends Terri and Mike came to visit us. They have a place in Daytona so they drove down and stayed for two nights. Mike knows a couple (John and Donna) in Marathon and they invited us over to their house for drinks and then we went to dinner at the Sunset Grille. Their house was in Key Colony Beach on a canal and it is beautiful. The Sunset Grille is a great place to hang out, eat and watch the sunset which is what we did.

I met a guy on one of the boats, who is a diver and cleans boats. He said he would take a look at my bottom and zincs so I said great. He found a piece of nylon rope on one of the shafts and removed it for $10, what a deal. He said everything else was OK.

There was an organized happy hour with snacks on Thursday night so we got to meet a lot of the people which was great since we will be spending a lot of time here. Most of the boats are here for an extended period and many of them come each year for the winter so they all know each other.

On Friday morning I got a call from Sid and Evelyn on "Something Special" who had just left the Shark River and were heading for our marina to stay a couple of nights. They had just called the marina that morning and were able to get a slip. They are only two boats away from us and it has really been great catching up with them. They were supposed to leave on Sunday but it has been very windy so they are stuck with us until probably Tuesday. We have missed them and it is so good to see them again. When we were traveling with them we had played a couple games of Euchre. Sid and I were partners and each team won one game so we needed to have a tie breaker which we did last night. Needless to say the good guys won convincingly but unfortunately it wasn't Sid and I. Evelyn and Ginny beat us fair and square but there was a lot of table talk (oh yes - that was Sid and I).

Our son Dean has come from the cold North to visit us for a week. He flew into Key West so Ginny and I rented a car and drove down to pick him up on Sunday. It was great to see him and he looks great. Ginny and I have been to Key West several times but Dean has never been so we walked around Duval Street for a while and ate at Sloppy Joes. Dean is flying back from Key West next weekend so we will have more time to visit the city then. We are not planning anything special, but if the weather gets better then we will go out in the dingy and fool around.

Now for ALA CARTE. I know I talk about food way too much, but darn it I miss a good breakfast out. I can cook a nice breakfast on the boat which I do but occasionally I like to go to a dive and eat a breakfast that is not good for my body but great for my soul. I am not talking about Denny's, IHOP or even Bob Evans but a place where you can get a good breakfast with good coffee at a reasonable price. There is such a place in Port Clinton, Ohio called ALA CARTE. They make their own sausage, they have the best fried potatoes and for my money the best coffee ever. Just to be fair, I have tried many places in the last six months but none of them stack up. I had high hopes for a couple of places in Marathon and they were good but not as good as ALA CARTE. I won't post the names because the sensor would remove them but they are both local and have a loyal following. I vow to keep looking and I will report back occasionally.