Ketch Up

We spent Thanksgiving with the FL family in St. Pete, good times were had by all. Great food, lots of laughs, and time spent just catching up!

Turns out my cousin has a passion for thrift store shopping as well, it was so nice to have a buddy to spend way to long looking at everything in the store-twice.

We went fishing-or atleast attempted to do so...my FL cousin had low expectations being that Bill and I are "yankees."

"Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a life time. "

Still working on our "life time" skills. Bill hooked mostly rocks, and I let the fish get away with the bait almost every time. I am determined to become an excellent fisherwoman, practice starts again this week, reels in the shop being re-spun (need the right tools to do the job).

After Thanksgiving we knew we had to leave the St. Pete area, but we didn't have a clue of where to go next. Benjamin Franklin said "fish and company stink after three days." I wanted to catch fish not be one-it was time to move on. So we did what we always do when we don't know where our life is going-we look at boats (usually online) but this time we headed to marinas, contacted sellers, and crawled around in boats, something with both love to do. Thought we might buy one in Satellite Beach, but decided to walk away, to much of a financial risk.

Again-where to go and what to do? The west is cold this time of year, and if we weren't going to be living on the ocean I wanted to at least be in spitting distance to salt water, Bill felt the same way.

The Keys Disease had gotten into both our systems, and so we conclude the best move would obviously be to live in the FL Keys for the winter, why not right? So apartment hunting we went, up and down the Keys, and arrived at a nice quaint little beach shack of a studio, on a canal in Key Largo.

400 square feet seemed like a palace compared to the RV, along with double the amount of deck space, and dockage for our "some day soon" boat, all for the right price! Not to mention a real shower stall!

We may not be living on a sailboat just yet, but for now I am content to eat a...

Cheeseburger in Paradise
Medium rare with mustard be nice
Heaven on Earth with an onion slice
I'm just a Cheeseburger in Paradise

I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer
Well good God almighty which way do I steer for my

Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffet)

Dear Santa

So I know I should catch you up on Thanksgiving, but I wanted to share my Santa wish list with you, as I am now starting to listen to Christmas music and get in the spirit! All I want for Christmas is for people to live more; being alive and living are two very different things. Do what you love, and love what you do. Live in the present. As my favorite fortune cookie reads, one which I saved and read every day "Life does not get better by chance it gets better by change." Make yourself happy, you deserve to be happy everyday!


Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think. ~Chinese Proverb

Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. ~Wayne Dyer

To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions. ~William James

One Month, time well spent

It has been one month to the day since I blogged last, sorry for the delay, however the time has been spent experiencing new and exciting places;

Jacksonville FL we visited with cousins and Uncle Den...we always have a good time with our FL family. We played with the children, ate grits, and enjoyed many laughs. After a few days we got the itch and headed further south. Getting the itch to hit the road again is quite an awesome feeling. It is the first time I was craving the act of movement and exploration rather then being really nervous about where we would go next!

We headed to St. Augustine for a day (been there before) and decided to B-line it to Miami for a free concert. We drove down A1A and saw dolphins swimming by as we picnicked, and jumping the surf while we waded in the water at Smyrna Beach.

We reached South Beach Miami for a free Zac Brown concert on the beach. We were right up dead center in front of the stage, barefoot and dancing to "Free", couldn't have been any better.... but it got even better; those standing around us were very friendly people. We learned more about the band from a hardcore fan, about Miami and FL in general from a local, and each got a free beer!

After traveling through Miami (Manhattan with palm trees) we decided we have no burning desire to live in such an over crowded city, where life moves way to fast. So we hit the road again, this time...Key West was the destination!!!

Stopped off in Key Largo at Snapper's which is an excellent resturant/bar that my cousin runs. I had never been there and hands down had the best Key Lime Pie (even after we made our way through the rest of the Keys). I also ate the Vera Cruz Hogfish (local fish) which was delicious. Snapper's is on the water and has a nice laid back feel, check it out if your ever in Key Largo.

We then slept at Jolly Rogger's on Marathon Key, Breezy Pines on Big Pine Key, and Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine. Jolly Rogger's we were parked right on the Gulf it was beautiful. At Bahia Honda we stayed on the Atlantic side and it was stunning (rated #1 beach in the US multiple times), check it out.

We traveled into Key West our first two full days, and it was like we had walked into the Caribbean while still standing on US soil. We rented a Hobie Cat and sailed off the beach into the Atlantic for an hour. The following day we took a Stand Up Paddle Boarding lesson/tour with Megan at SUP Key West. This is my new favorite sport, seriously you get to walk on water, freakin awesome. We went through mangrove tunnels, crossed little bays, went under bridges, learned about the wildlife; pelicans, sea cucumbers, and the locals. Mangroves take in salt water and deposit the salt out through warts on the skin of their roots. Nature amazes me more and more. Read about the mangroves and you will understand how awesome mother nature is. Go to this page managroves and scroll down for pictures, definitions, and descriptions. We celebrated our SUP experience at Irish Kevin's with some impressive live music, beer, and laughter...great night capped off with another sampling a Key Lime Pie!

We were hesitant to leave Key West b/c we knew we had to visit again and don't know how long it will be till we return. Thankgiving and family was around the corner and it was time to make our way to some homemade food and good times with the fam!

I took my Dad's advice, I'm not spending my time taking pictures, I am spending my time really seeing the world through my eyes, and experiencing things that are worth a thousand words.

(for all those who like pic updates, don't worry I'm still taking a few)