Another great stop on the GS. We have come to really enjoy the longer stops - it really gives you a chance to know the area more like a local than a tourist. We visited many of the familiar Key West haunts and came to love many new ones.
Christmas & New Years were a blast and very different that we've ever experienced. Oh, and that crazy bike ride was one for the books.
Marina was great - just a short walk from everywhere and just outside of the coast guard/naval facility where every morning they played the star spangled banner @ 8:00 am and taps each evening accompanied by several folks in the marna blowing conch shells.
Now it's time to start heading home, so we are looking for some good weather windows. The plan is to hit Marathon, Biscayne Bay and then back up the ICW to Daytona.
Well, we learned that Key West is the 2nd largest New Years celebration in the US, right behind New York City. There are, in fact, several celebrations around town, mostly centered around Duval St. I'm pretty sure that I'm not interested in fighting the NYC crowds after experiencing this crowd. Very polite, well behaved, but just too many dang people for my liking. Give me a bon fire, some good beer and a dozen of my closest peeps and I'm a very happy girl.
After Christmas, The Bourque's dropped us off in Key Largo @ MM 100 with our bikes and backpacks so we could bike back to Key West and the GS. I'm not sure where along the way we lost our minds and decided to do this, but we did. It was a really weird feeling when they drove away and left us standing in the parking lot of our hotel that we couldn't check into for another 4 hours. So, as any resourceful person would do in Key Largo, we found the nearest sports bar with the Patriots game.
We had a great ride over 3 days, and were blessed with fantastic weather (albeit hot) and some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet. We surprised ourselves with how well we ended up managing the ride - but there is no doubt about it -
IT WAS HARD!
WE ARE GLAD WE DID IT!
WON'T DO IT AGAIN - but might do something similar somewhere else.
The Weather is Here, I Wish You Were Beautiful....
What fabulous weather we have had for Christmas! Big blue skies with temps in the upper 80's....
We had a great time with the Bourque's, who joined us for the long weekend, which we kicked off with the annual Santa run on Christmas Eve, a Christmas Day filled with "A Christmas Story" and much wandering through the streets of Key West. Although it was kind of weird being away from the kids for Christmas this year.
The weather on this leg of the trip was a little tricky. Picking up a mooring ball in Titusville in 30+ MPH winds was not for the timid, but once tied up it wasn't too bad. The field is pretty wide open so we were at the mercy of the winds all night and that leads to a noisy nights sleep. From Titusville, we stopped @ Vero Municipal and then West Palm, where we had an fantastic dinner with Marty and Andy. From West Palm we made way for Bahia Mar Marina in Ft. Lauderdale and another weather window that needed to be dealt with. Seems like the good travel days come in 2-day increments, so we decided to stay in Lauderdale an extra day.
Our plans to make it to Key Largo were again cut short by the almighty wind creating some rough water conditions and an unexpected stop in Miami at Miamarina. Which actually ended up being a pretty good stop. Located at the base of the American Airlines Arena (Miami Heat) and a very active promenade with shops, restaurants and night clubs.
Leaving Miami, the wind was still blowing pretty hard with 3-5 footers in Hawks Channel, we opted to stay inside Biscayne Bay and take our chances through Angelfish Creek to Hawks Channel tomorrow which is forecasted to be much nicer. We have heard lots of stories about making the transition from the Bay to the Channel @ Angelfish Creek, some ok and some pretty nerve racking. As it turned out, the anchorage just outside the cut was awesome; clear green protected water, another gorgeous sunset, and a billion stars.
A couple hours after low tide the next day, a very easy pass through the cut. We were worried for nothing, and we have said that if we get to do this again, we would use Angelfish Creek by choice and not because of conditions.
Ride down Hawks Channel, dodging the lobster pots, watching the water get greener and greener as the day went on, was real nice and we made Key West in 2 days with a stop-over in Marathon.
Hard to believe that it's been over a month since our last update and looking back on it, we have certainly covered some ground and had ourselves some fun!
As we left the Chesapeake headed back to the ICW, we needed to make Charleston as quickly as possible to celebrate Jess turning the BIG 30! and it had been over 3 months since we last spent any time with them. So, we hauled ass!
Going through the Great Lock is always interesting - this time it was a full house with about a dozen other boats and a huge barge with us. Headed to Coinjock for the night and to celebrate Dennis' birthday, where he spent time with Slash and the perfect woman.
Myrtle Beach we were guests of Bruno and Michelle for the evening (who are now part of the North Pacific family) and enjoyed a terrific evening catching up.
Bob and Diane our dock mates from Halifax, heard us on the radio and gave us a shout out which provided a surprise visit with them and celebrate Bob's birthday, and Georgetown is always a good stop
Finally Chucktown and a week with the kids! Yea!!!
Hooking back up with Meander's in Chucktown, we made our way to St. Augustine for our annual Thanksgiving celebration. This year it was bigger and better than ever, with our cast of characters growing to 11 strong for dinner and a visit from the Morgan's and Waguespack's on Saturday for the Gator game. All in all 17 people in and out over the holiday weekend. It was really a great time and Dennis & I are thankful for each and every one of you in our lives.
From St. Augustine a quick day trip back to Halifax and a week in Ocala. It was really nice to be home for a few days.
The visit culminated with a blow-out christmas party.
Today we pulled out of Halifax and are making our way to Key West and looking forward to exploring some virgin waters for the Gypsy Soul
Since we didn't spend much time in the Chesapeake on our way north, we wanted to be sure that we took the time on our way home to get to know this amazing place a bit better. Tomorrow we leave Washington DC taking a couple of days to reach the mouth of the Potomac and make way for Charleston. By the time we reach the ICW again, we will have spent 40+ days and traveled over 500 miles in the bay - home to some of the prettiest places we have stopped on this trip.
Upper Chesapeake stops included Havre de Grace, Georgetown, Rock Hall, St. Michaels and a few gorgeous anchorages.
Annapolis which is always a favorite stop - brought some excitement with the potential landfall of Juaquin, a Navy Football game, reconnecting with Meanders for the boat shows and perhaps, best of all, a visit from the Adams & Barcomb's as they gathered and prepared for Colette & Will's wedding.
Washington DC: Not our first visit to DC, but a very different one, in that we really got into the city streets and spent a lot of time visiting the monuments and museums. Seeing the cities by foot has been one of the greatest unexpected experiences of this trip for us. You really get a feel for where you are when you get rid of your car!
Enjoyed several days fishing with Cowboy Charters
