Mass at San Padro RC Church; Christmas Dinner with Other Cruisers

We woke up at 7:30 a.m. and I made our traditional cinnamon rolls to go with breakfast. We took showers and got ready for mass. Just as we were getting ready to leave, it started to pour! So we put our  raingear on and it was a wet ride to the marina.

We called Dave's Island Taxi for a ride to San Padro Church. It was still pouring rain, not our idea of Christmas in the tropics.

After mass, we walked outside and the sun was bright and shining and it was a glorious day. The church and particularly the grounds were beautiful!

Notice the large fountain outside the church.

This was to the left of the main entrance.

We walked around and I took a bunch of photos. They had a coral grotto dedicated to the Blessed Mother. You could walk the rosary walkway and the prayers were on monuments. They had the stations of the cross on another pathway. There were life-size angels all around that light up at night. The trees were all decorated with lights and ornaments. The gardens were just beautiful.

After mass, we called Dave's Island Taxi and rode back to the marina. Chuck took Jazzy for a quick dinghy ride to get her some exercise, while I made a Caesar Salad for the Dockmaster's Christmas Dinner, up at the marina building.

Everyone brought their own drinks, plates and flatware from their boats. They served ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing and all the trimmings and everyone brought a covered dish, so there was a ton of food. I heard one guy say they made 140 lbs. of turkey!

The event was 1-4 p.m. There was at least 200 people there. It was a good time.

We wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas! We miss you all!

Merry Christmas to All from Marathon!

Merry Christmas to all from Marathon! We're missing everyone, especially at the holiday season, but we're enjoying our trip of a lifetime.

We enjoyed our visit with Doreen. She looks great and it was so good to see her. See photo above with Chucfk and Doreen in dinghy.

We went to the ocean side and walked on the beach and in the community park. We went out to dinner at Castaways last night. It was the best meal we've had in Marathon. I had their Best of the Island award winner of snapper with artichokes, peppers and tomatoes in a light basil cream sauce with new potatoes and mixed vegetables. Chuck had scallops and Doreen had baby back ribs. !Delicious

Patti and I walked all around town today and did some shopping. I did a load of laundry.

Patti cooked lasagna tonight with salad and cuban bread. I took some berries and Angel food cake over. Yum. Chuck wore his Mickey Santa hat and we watched our traditional National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We put Christmas T-shirts on the dogs. Jazzy's says "Rudolph's Got Nothin' On Me" and Sailor's says, "Naughty." Cute.

Tomorrow is a dinner for the cruiser's at 1 p.m.. I'm making 3 dz. deviled eggs to take. We're going to try to catch a cab for 11 a.m. mass at San Padro's Catholic Church.

Merry Christmas to all!

Warming Up in Marathon; Looking forward to Doreen's Visit Tomorrow!

The temperature is slowly warming up in Boot Key Harbor. It was in the low 70s today. I walked to Publix and did a major food shopping. Then I called Dave's Island Taxi, who brought be back to the city marina, where Chuck met us with the dinghy. It was loaded down, let me tell you. I didn't think I was going to fit! Plus, we bought 20 lbs. of ice at the dockmaster's office for the stuff that I knew wasn't going to fit in the refrigerator.

Chuck decorated the boat with blue icicle lights along the railings and LED multi-colored globe lights on the boom and mast. We ran the generator for two hours to light them up. The boat looks pretty.

We heard the kids were concerned that we wouldn't have a Christmas tree. Rest assured, boys, that we have a little Norfolk Pine for a Christmas tree on our table (see photo). It has a silver snowflake and gold bells on it.

We're looking forward to Chuck's sister Doreen's visit tomorrow. She's driving over to spend the day and, hopefully, the night. It's a 3.5 hour drive for her from Naples. We're planning on taking her to dinner.

On Christmas Day, there's a cruiser's dinner from 1-4 p.m., hosted by the dockmaster and his wife. They are serving turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Everyone is taking a covered dish. I'm making three dozen deviled eggs. Patti is making carrot and raisin salad.
It should be a nice time. There's also a dinner at Dockside, but I don't think we're going to that.

Billy got at least one package for us, so we'll try to catch up to him tomorrow.

It was my turn to cook dinner. I tried a new recipe from the one-pan galley meals cookbook for Walnut Chicken over whole grain rice. It was pretty tasty. I cut up three large granny smith apples and added raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and a little butter and baked it in the toaster oven. Topped it with a little ff cool whip. It was delicious!

Overcast, Cooler in Marathon

A cold front came in last night with high winds and the high today was only 74. The cooler temperatures are expected to stay through Christmas.

We had a good day with Billy Kerstetter and his g/f Chrissy. Start in Big Pine Key at the flea market. Went back to his house. Then her house. Very nice and a beautiful view and private marina in their community (notice their "pet" Egret).

Chuck also posed with a banana tree growing in their community in someone's yard.

Got a package from my mom with cookies, candies and nuts. Thanks, Mom!

We stopped for eggs at Winn Dixie, then dinghied to the boat. Left Jazzy on the boat and dinghied to dinner at Dockside. Good band playing. Good company. Good food. Nice evening.

We're hoping to take them sailing early in the week and maybe snorkel. Wish I had taken the camera for a few pix!

Tomorrow: laundry. To those at home, be careful in the snow and have fun!

Windy, Rainy in Boot Key Harbor

We were up at 4:30 a.m. with lightning and rain. Jazzy sensed it coming before it hit and was in full panic mode. I put on her calming collar and in five minutes she calmed right down. I love that collar!

We are getting some rain this morning and winds are around 20 knots, gusting to 25. The brunt of the storm is going around us...again. We've really lucked out with weather this trip.

Patti is cooking tonight, so it will probably be a wet dinghy ride to their boat, which is just on the next mooring ball.

I'm hoping to finish reading my book today. Chuck has a few projects to work on around the boat. I may do a little cleaning. We'll see how the hand handles it.

Tomorrow, we're planning on spending the day with Bill Kerstetter and his girlfriend and will take them to dinner. Sunday I need to replenish supplies at Publix.

Nothing exciting going on. Bought a few things at West Marine for Christmas yesterday. I made an Elf Yourself card of Chuck, me, Patti & Wayne. See link. http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/B3sczuyclBq9lCWl

Moored in Marathon for Christmas

We're on a mooring ball in Marathon's Boot Key Harbor City Marina. There are 225 mooring balls here; no docks except for dinghys. Nice facilities, showers, laundry, etc. but no electric except for our generator so we have to be careful with water and power usage. There's a place where you can fill your portable water tanks in your dinghy. First time we saw that...Chuck's been lifting those 6 gal. tanks every time we're moored and need water.

We left Burdine's at 10:30 a.m. It was sunny and in the 80s. Very humid. Chuck and Wayne were supposed to go fishing with Bill Kerstetter today, but we got away too late and Bill and Chuck missed each other's calls, so Bill went without them. So Chuck and I went to shore and had a picnic lunch with the lunch I had packed them.

Then we decided to explore a little bit. We walked to Home Depot and bought a few things. Then we walked to Publix to get a few things for dinner and K-Mart for Christmas decorations. I bought plastic Christmas balls in dark blue, light blue, irredescent white and gold and blue ribbons and a blue and white garland with snowflakes. My favorite is a Santa that sits on the back of the salon "sofa."

After a while of walking in the heat, Jazzy put on all four brakes every time we hit a patch of shade. So we put her in a cart in Home Depot and walked her all around the store, then to Publix. We found a K-Mart cart at Publix and switched her to that and took her to K-Mart. I didn't have my camera and didn't think to use my phone, so no pictures but it was cute. She got a lot of attention every where we went.

Chuck stopped at the barber shop and got his first haircut since we left home, while Jazzy and I waited in the shade.

We're here on the mooring ball through Christmas. I decorated the inside of the boat for Christmas (see pictures), then made salad, garlic shrimp with penne pasta, Cuban bread and biscotti for dessert.

Tomorrow we'll walk to West Marine for a few things. We'll probably leave Jazzy on the boat. It's too hot for her to walk. She needs a haircut, but my hand isn't ready for that yet. Still healing.

At Burdine's in Marathon

We are at Burdine's Waterfront Marina in Marathon. It was only about 10 miles to get here from Bahia Harbor.

We anchored front and rear in shallow water to take photos yesterday and never moved the boats back to deeper water. Overnight during low tide, the shallow alarm kept going off and it was shallower than the previous low tide.

We tried to pull the back anchor to the front of the boat figuring it would split the difference and pull us to deeper water, but it didn't get a good hold in the coral. So we pulled one anchor and left the other with a fender to mark its location. We then motored to deeper water and reanchored with the plow. Chuck took the dinghy to retrieve the other anchor and fender.

After we were settled again, we took Jazzy and the dinghy to Bahia Honda Park to .buy breakfast and a few souvenir items. The ride over was a little choppy with a following sea. On the way back, I served as the dodger and my back got soaked several times as waves splashed over the bow. Luckily, it was warm already and I was wearing a bathing suit and shorts. I rinsed my shorts out in the sink and hung them on the railing to dry. My pocketbook got drenched too and I washed it in the sink.

We went through seven-mile bridge. When we got to Burdine's in Marathon, I did laundry and tossed the pocketbook in to spin, then dried it with the laundry. I can't believe how much time and money I've spent on doing laundry this trip!

We took naps and then showered for dinner, which we ate on Burdine's upper deck.

We sat and talked for a while and came back to the boats around 9 p.m.

We plan to stay here for two nights, then move to a mooring ball through Christmas. We'll probably hit a few stores tomorrow. I need to buy Christmas decorations for the boat!