Old Friends....Here and There!!

Well it has been a whirlwind down here which is why I'm so tardy with the blog - when old friends are in town there are just lots of better things to do than sit at a computer screen and blog - it's time to play!!! First into town was our friend Captain Laura who lives up in Tampa but was in town with some friends for a weekend. Capt Laura was the one who came down to Rock Hall, MD when we first got Gypsies to show us a thing or two (or a hundred) about our new boat - 7,600 miles under our keel later we are still friends and really thankful we had such a great teacher and now have such a great friend!!! Despite the rain and wind (which seems to be ever present this winter in KW - what's up with that??), we had a party on Gypsies - I know, there's a shocker!!

One of these days we'll actually get some nice weather so we can all hang out up on the flybridge - but that was not to be the other night. No matter - we had a great time catching up and having fun!!

We had a free day to ourselves so took the scooters into town for some fun and festivities - starting out at Guy Harveys, we then stopped into Irish Kevin's to see Bil Krauss who was as fun as always!

Bil Krauss

The place was hopping with the usual collection of drunk tourists off the cruise ships who had no hope of making it to even 2:00 pm before passing out given their state of sobriety when we got there around noon!!! Bil was having a field day with many of them but especially the guy with the bright purple mohawk who sat at one of the front tables (now that's just asking for it!!!!) We had lunch with Bil at Fogarty's, one of our favorite Duval people watching haunts, and then finally got over to Kelly's Caribbean Bar and Grill for some happy hour wings and brewed ales (this is Kelly McGinnis' joint and the southernmost brewery)

Kelly's

- the thai chili wings rocked although it is unclear whether they top Schooner Wharf's Caribbean spice wings - I think much more field research will be needed to resolve this one!!!

Happy Hour at Kelly's

A T-shirt at the Southernmost Brewery

The next day our great friends from Kennebunkport, ME, Francesca and John Spain who drove down from their winter pad in Sebring, FL, arrived in town for a several day stay, just in time I might add for the weekly sunset party on Coconuts which we decided to have despite the threatening weather!!! John and Francesca got to bundle up and meet all our dock buddies while enjoying some wonderful appetizers including some delicious Key West pink shrimp thanks to Loie!!!



Bootsie loved having Aunt Francesca to play with in the morning as the boat rooster struck again!!! After many pots of coffee for John, we trekked into town for the Duval Crawl although we strayed off the beaten path somewhat as well - lunch at Fogarty's,

Lunch at Fogarty's

music at Irish Kevins, a walk along the docks with coldies at Schooner while listening to Michael McCloud where we showed them the historic southernmost broken cleat,

The Southernmost Broken Cleat...Only in Key West!

a little hat fashion show by Doug at Fast Buck Freddies (he was channeling Bob from September Song who we think has a hat fetish - missing you guys!),



and then we finally wound up over at Kelly's for happy hour wings.

Thai Chili Wings at Kelly's

But the night was not over until we headed down to the sunset pier to hear a little of Scott and Dave's gig!!! If today sounds eerily like the other day and many days before, well that's life in KW - it's pretty much just one fun day after another but when you have friends in town, it's even better!!!! The next day was surprisingly beautiful so we took full advantage of the sun and warmth with a pool day - we haven't had nearly enough of those lately!!! That afternoon we met the dock gang at the Green Parrot for sound check to hear Jason Ricci, a very hip harmonica player and his band. The Green Parrot has this great thing where some of their bands will play for an hour or so around 5:30 for a "sound check" and then again that night at 10 - for us old farts that means we get to hear some seriously great music and not have to stay up until way past our bedtimes - only kidding - maybe!

Jason Ricci Performs at the Green Parrot

We dodged the raindrops to run over to Fogarty's again for dinner - Francesca really likes it there!!! After a great dinner where the boys had a ball swapping iphone aps and getting a little silly,

John Demonstrates One of His iPhone Apps

John was gracious enough to run back for the truck and pick us up out front so we didn't get drenched!!! Now that's friendship!!!

Unfortunately on Saturday we had to say goodbye to Francesca and John - we were headed up to Tampa for several days and they were headed back to Sebring for the the rest of the winter. The really, really hard part was leaving Bootsie for several days - she was not happy with us although our friends Jill and Brett had promised to take good care of her and spend lots of time with her!!! We tag-teamed our way up through the Keys and had a final goodbye lunch at John's favorite all time restaurant - Cracker Barrel!!! We had such a wonderful time with those guys catching up and just having fun - we plan on doing it again before they head north in the spring (after all we never had time to make it to the drag queen show at Aqua - we've learned our lesson, it is a drag queen show not a tranny show!!! Thanks for clarifying that Aqua with your comment to our last blog!!) Thanks guys for coming down to see us and for all the wonderful citrus!!!

Doug and I road trip together pretty well so the 8 hour drive to Tampa passed before we knew it - well OK our butts knew it but we were in good spirits!! A wonderful dinner at the bar at PF Changs was a great way to kick off our visit!! The next night was the Superbowl which we spent munching on delivery pizza and fries in our hotel room - go Saints!!! We were in complete sympatico with the who dat nation so while we had some tough moments in that first quarter, the rest of the game was just awesome!!! Good thing the walls were thick because we got quite boisterous!!! What a game and we even got to see Peytie Pie throw his helmet!!!! If you can't guess, being from New England we are not real big Manning fans!!! The Tampa trip was a whirlwind but we did sneak in an evening to catch up with our friends Todd and Brenda on Life's2Short who were in St. Pete - we last saw them over in the Bahamas back in June!!! We hung out for a couple beers at the house where they are staying for the winter (Life's2Short is tied up in the canal out back!!) and then hit Crabby Bill's for some great seafood - after all we had wheels so we could venture out!!!

Todd, Brenda and Doug at Crabby Bill's

Dinner at Crabby Bill's

It was way fun to see those guys and catch up on everything - they plan on heading down our way sometime in March/April so we can't wait to show them around KW!! See you soon guys!!! We had hoped to catch up again with Capt Laura who lives in Tampa but just simply ran out of time - too many friends, too little time!!! next chance we get!!!

Finally, as if that wasn't enough fun and games for one week, on our way home to KW from Tampa we stopped in at Sarasota to see our friends Stephanie and Bob (and Cassie and Godiva too!!!) on September Song - yippee the gang was back together even if just for one night!!!! Man it was so good to see those guys - after lots of hugs and kisses (especially from Cassie and Godiva!!) we had a great time catching up and making plans for their trip south later in March to KW!!!! Joe from Sea Pearl was also in the marina so joined the festivities - we even got to see his boat dog Salty!!! We dodged the raindrops for a quick walk into town for some cannolis (what are the odds of Bob finding the local bakery in town - pretty darn good!) - wish we could have spent more time there since Sarasota looked like a really cool town to explore with lots of local color, funky ethnic restaurants and dive bars side by side with wonderful stores and galleries - next time through!!

A Bicycle on the Streets of Sarasota

For now we had way too little time to spend renewing the party with our bestest boat buddies ever!!! After several rounds of app's in the pilothouse, chef Stephanie outdid herself with some linguine and clam sauce (Joe had brought the clams fresh from Pine Island!!!) - the night was way too short to have all the fun we wanted to although we sure did give it the college try!

Dinner is Being Prepared in the Galley on September Song

Dinner on September Song

While it was sad to say goodbye in the morning - at least we know we'll see them soon on their way south!!! We have yet another date for a drag queen show!!!! Thanks for everything guys - see you soon!!

The drive home yesterday was long (why does it always seem longer on the way home??) so we broke it up with stops at Walmart (there aren't any in the Keys so we take advantage of them when we have a car and can!!!) and a late lunch at Hog Heaven in Islamorada!! We arrived home back at Gypsies just in time for the sunset party on Coconuts which had been moved inside due to the cold weather - but we didn't have it in us! Yes you heard that right!! We had lots of time and loving to make up for with the Bootser after being gone for so long - although she told us that Uncle Brett and Aunt Jill had taken really good care of her (thanks so much guys!!!!)

Bootsie Letting Us Know She's Still a Little Mad at Us

We spent the night watching a movie with Bootsie on a blanket in our laps feeding her treats and giving her lots of love!!! She is almost over being mad at us - almost!! The boat rooster and I spent lots of quality time last night so I think we are good!!!!

Today is a stay at home, love Bootsie and try to catch up on boat chores day - we had thought about going to the Miami boat show but the four hour drive back up the Keys was not in our cards for today!!! The first time you do that drive it is fun and pretty, the second time it's OK but after that, it's just a pain in the butt!!! Maybe we'll go tomorrow but then again maybe we won't - we'll just have to see how the spirit moves us.