http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cooper/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cooper en-us Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:23:30 +0000 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:23:30 +0000 On Saturday morning around 11 a.m. we left the basin at Key West Bight and headed back home. We were all very sad to be leaving because we had an amazing time. The journey home would take us 30 hours and fortunately we had calm winds and a calm seas so the journey was pleasant. It's been an amazing vacation. Stay tuned for next year's journey http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/blog-404069.html Today we did a deep sea fishing trip with Mr. Z Craig and Steve. We had so much luck with them last year we thought we would try it again. We actually had the best day out on the water catching 7 or 8 dolphin. Mitchell caught the first fish of the day since he had never caught a dolphin before. He got it all the way up to the boat but it got off. Josh boated the first fish on the bo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-403397.html Today was truly a highlight of the trip. After breakfast at the famous Pepe's we decided to take the sailboat out to go snorkeling at the reef. The first stop was Western Dry Rocks just a few miles west of Sand Key Lighthouse. The water was perfectly clear and it was a beautiful day for snorkeling. We spent about 90 minutes snorkeling around the reef and enjoying the afternoon. We saw som http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-403116.html Today we decided to be land bound for a little while and play tourist all around Key West. We hit Harpoon Harry's diner for breakfast and then headed over to the Pirate Museum. At Pirate Soul we learned all about the life of being a pirate. We saw all of the cool swords and treasures as well as learned about some of the most famous pirates in history. We went to the Wrecking Museum next http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-402823.html After the long sail yesterday we dropped anchor just off the Barracuda Keys around midnight. We woke to the beautiful sunrise and a gorgeous beach. We hopped in the dingy and we rode over to the beach for a dip. There is a gorgeous limestone rock up the pass and we decided to dingy over and snorkel around it. There were a few grouper hanging around the rocks. Caroline found a Starfish and http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-402396.html On Memorial Day Scott woke up before daylight and Jamie joined him topside to start the long journey to the keys. The plan was to go to Snipe Point off the Barracuda Keys just east of Key West about 11 miles. We'll spend the morning snorkeling on Tuesday and then head in to Key West. The sail down was long but peaceful. The seas and winds cooperated and despite the kids claiming boredom http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-402258.html On Sunday morning we left Venice and the Crow's Nest and headed south to Boca Grande pass. There we find one of our favorite spots home of the original authentic Cheeseburger in Paradise Cabbage Key. On the way in Boca Grande pass we stopped to anchor off the beach at Caya Costa and took a dip. The drfitwood made great tools for sandcastles and the shells provided a lot of entertain http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Pine-Island/blog-402255.html Today we picked up the anchor around 9 a.m. to start our journey to the Crow's Nest in Venice. About an hour into the trip we all got emails telling us that the weather wouldn't hold out and there would be no baseball games today. We called the grandmas and made arrangments for the kids to meet us this afternoon in Venice. After a breezy sail we tied up at the dock around 130 p.m. The ki http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Sarasota/blog-401521.html After a morning filled with shopping loading and lunch at the Irish Pub the adult Coopers and McCombs were ready to set sail. We left the St. Petersburg Marina around 3 p.m. and started the journey south. We had a week filled with rain rain and more rain so we were a little leary about the weather but thought we saw a break in the clouds so we took it. We dropped anchor off Mar Vista http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Anna-Maria/blog-401271.html Well this will be the last entry. We took turns staying up all night and standing watch and here we are less than an hour from home. It seems like just yesterday we were packing up and heading out. Hard to believe that 16 days have passed We had a great time and hope all of our friends enjoyed viewing our blog http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/St-Petersburg/blog-285480.html Well our adventure is almost at its end. Today around 930 a.m. we set sail out of Key West Harbor and plan to make the 28 hour journey back home to St. Petersburg. We had a pretty windy morning and we were able to sail almost all day. We made it to the Everglades right around time for one of those nasty thunderstorms. We turned a circle to try to stay out of it and other than about a 3 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/blog-285478.html Today is our last full day in Key West. We started the day with breakfast at Pepe's a local gourmet breakfast spot where we started with mimosas and fresh strawberries. After breakfast we decided to play tourists of Key West. We walked into town and hopped on the World Famous Conch Train Scott's mom would be proud. The kids were a little leary at first but they really enjoyed it. T http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-284840.html Some of you may know that Pamela and I share the same birthday June 6th. We awoke today to the sound of Happy Birthday. After a relaxing breakfast at Harpoon Harry's our husband's treated us to massages and facials at the Pier House Carribean Spa. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable way to spend our birthdays. We were reminded of our birthday last year which we celebrated together in C http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-284538.html Today started out very early...as in 6 a.m. We decided that we would do a half day fishing charter because Josh was itching to go fishing. We made plans with Mr. Z and headed out around 645 a.m. Josh was so excited he could hardly get to sleep last night. We caught 15 dolphin Most were fairly small but they were definitely biting. After a while we decided that we would only keep http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-284146.html Today was just all around another great day. After breakfast and cleaning up we decided to take the sailboat out to Sand Key Lighthouse where there is another portion of the huge reef that lays a few miles off the Keys all the way down. The lighthouse reef is just as amazing as Looe Key. It only takes about an hour to get to Sand Key from Key West so it was not a bad trip.We were the only http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-283850.html Today started out as lazily as the rest of our trip. After our clean laundry arrived that's right I'm on vacation and I sent our laundry out to fluff and fold where they pick up wash fold and deliver all your clean clothes we hit Harpoon Harry's for breakfast. After breakfast we loaded up the dingy piled on the sunscreen and headed out to sea for a cruise. We were in search of a snorke http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-283453.html Well today was one of the laziest days yet. The boys got up and rushed down to the Ron Jon Surf Shop to pick up a paddle ball set and hit the pool. I actually got to lay in bed and relax until well after 10 a.m. Unheard of for me We had lunch and spent the afternoon by the pool at the Conch Harbor Marina where we are staying. Once we'd had enough we headed back to the boat to relax and http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-283042.html Today started with a trip into Marathon. We needed to pick up some fuel filters as Scott realized that one of the problems we had was that we got some fuel with a little too much water so we are going through filters faster than you can imagine. After some blueberry pancakes on board we took the dingy to the Marathon City dingy dock where they charge 13 a day Can you imagine for the pr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-282681.html On Saturday morning we took a ride up the Shark River in the dingy. After that we decided that it was time to head to the Keys. We planned to make a quick stop at Cape Sable which is the southernmost beach on mainland Florida. We got ashore but decided pretty quickly that despite the gorgeous shells we just couldn't stay. The deer flies were in full bloom and we could tell they were h http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Marathon/blog-282305.html Early Friday morning May 30th we decided to head out from Naples Yacht Club and head toward the Shark River. The Shark River is on the lower west coast of the Everglades so as you can imagine there are a lot of mangroves. It is truly beautiful there. The journey would take just about all day as it is about 60 miles south of Naples.No sooner did we leave the channel in Naples and head in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Everglades-National-Park/blog-282301.html