Tammy here....
We were going to start waxing the boat but by the time we got up and had breakfast, we realized we really didn't have much time before the chili cook-off started and we decided that we really needed a day off just to play. Now I know a lot of you think that's all we do, but we really do keep ourselves very busy on the boat! Anyways, Colleen spent the morning perfecting her chili as she had entered the competition and from what we had heard, people take their chili very seriously down here in the Keys.
So at 2:00 pm (yes I know the game didn't start until 6:30 but it was 5:00 somewhere!) we all headed down the dock to Docksides. Having borrowed a big crockpot from Vicki on Tide Hiker, Colleen got positioned to dole out her chili, complete with onions and cheese, to the hundreds of hungry tasters/judges.
Meanwhile Doug, John and I scoped out and laid claim to a big picnic table that would be our home for the next 8 1/2 hours making sure it had a great vantage point to watch the game later. 
What it also gave us was front row seats to listen to the band that was playing, the Florida Straits. 
Although a little loud (OK a lot loud but after a couple pitchers of beer we didn't really care), the band was great - OK not Springsteen great but we are at a little dive down in the Keys so what do you expect??? They played some great tunes from Clapton and Neil Young to ZZ Top and a whole lot of blues and other stuff in between. A highlight was when the Rocketman (the bongo player) and Tommy Tunes (the lead singer and guitar player) called up to the stage a 91 year old trumpet player who jammed with the band and told some jokes - I hope I'm vertical let alone doing what I love at 91!!
The band called some others up to jam with them - a harmonica player and the Hoochie Koochie Man (I kid you not - you can't make this stuff up unless you're Carl Hiaasen) were great, although Popeye we could have done without. We even had an 8 year old tambourine player - the next generation - rocking it up on the stage. Even Roy, the dockmaster, got up there and surprised everyone with his talent - he was actually really good - yes Roy, we do love ya!! 
The sun was shining, the chili was great, we were on the water, and the live music was rocking - the afternoon was shaping up to be pretty spectacular!And the characters were out in force - there were dreads and more ponytails and earrings (on guys) than I've ever seen in one place - Doug fits right in down here! There were dogs and parrots running wild - one (of the dogs) even looked like Yoda! And the chili contest brought out the crazies in force!!
There were 15 chili entries (half mild and half hot) so everyone was running back and forth to taste more chili, drink some beer, taste more chili, drink more beer....and so the afternoon went! Unfortunately Colleen didn't win, but she gave it a valiant run - maybe she would have if Vicki and Norm had gotten there in time to vote....but we'll never know for sure....All this and then we had the game too!! Even though our Pats weren't in it this year - come on, when Brady went down, did you really think they'd wind up as good as they were??? After a few audio miscues, they got the game on the big screen and we had prime seats. Norm and Vicki joined us and the party kicked into a different gear.
Norm was a Pittsburgh fan and yet we still let him sit at our table - John was quietly routing for Pittsburgh too since his daughter's fiance is a huge Steeler fan, but Colleen Doug and I made up for them by cheering for Arizona as loud as we could. Come on, wouldn't it have been really cool to see such an underdog win???? And they almost did, but not quite...bummer. Once the tequila shots started to flow, you knew no good could come of that and it was probably time to start thinking about leaving!! So once the game ended, we meandered back to the boat, happy to have survived the afternoon/evening of revelry. Yesterday will be a tough day to top, but the Florida Straits are back playing at Docksides next Sunday and something tells me, we'll have front row seats....
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