Blogs from Keys, Florida, United States, North America - page 4

A very transit day getting to Florida. Lots of cotton was growing in the fields and also a lot of confederate flags flying. It was more than obvious we were in the Bible Belt as there were several churches in every small town; fairly sizeable and some rather opulent. I think the denominations are mostly Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist. There seems to be a lot of waste in the US, lots of completely unnecessary packaging especially in plastic. Quite frustrating that such a huge country with its vast resources can't get itself together to help eliminate this. Mt Dora to Orlando Rode out to Orlando to BMW to arrange a service and collect a GPS chip. The day was hot and very humid, we were both tired even though we'd only done a short distance. We ... read more

H9HBonjour à tous Il y a 11 mois j'étais au bout de la route (goudronnée) à Fairbanks Alaska. Aujourd'hui je suis à Key West Floride, également au bout de la route, aux deux points les plus diamétralement opposés, des USA, par la route. A vol d'oiseau 6500 km. par la route, 8200 km. Ce matin bonne nouvelle, je peux conserver la chambre, j'étais sur liste d'attente, et la réceptionniste m'applique le prix de la semaine. Ce qui fait comme prévu, je peux aller à Key West et revenir, tranquille sans me prendre la tête, à chercher un hôtel dans l'après midi. Key West est à seulement 80 km de Marathon, mais il faut prévoir, 1h½ à 2h de route selon le trafic. Je ne mettrais qu'une heure et ¼, on est samedi et en partant peu ... read more

Day 5: Kit Ship's Log--Weather: Partly Cloudy, Temps Forecast around 70, Wind north at 15 knots--Sick Bay Report: Dan recovered from cold, Marilyn NOW has the head cold, Capt. Steve back pain slightly better. Last Day at Sea. Since this would be our last day of sailing and we had to drive to Hawks Cay Resort near Marathon Key this evening, we told Capt. Steve that we wanted to get back to the marina around 3:00. That meant we would only get 2 delicious meals from Kathy today. Capt. Steve suggested that we sail to the south to get a full sailing experience since the north wind we've had all week persisted. Marilyn now has Dan's cold just as he has gotten rid of it, as I note in the log. Poor girl. First she has ... read more

Day 4: Kit Ship's Log--Weather: forecast to be partly cloudy, high around 70 with northerly winds and 2 foot seas--Sick Bay Report: Captain Steve still bent over with back pain, Dan's cold almost gone, Bob's right shoulder still hurting and useless. It's Valentine's Day! This morning during our daily briefing with Capt. Steve, we all decided on going back to Stock Island for the evening. Tomorrow would be our last day of sailing. Capt. Steve had other suggestions, but we wanted to walk around on land again. Kathy provided another great breakfast before we got going. We were able to go under sail again. It really is peaceful. On the way, we passed by a very pretty island where they filmed the old TV show, McHale's Navy, starring Ernest Borgnine. It's one of the shows I ... read more

Booked out of our little apartment this morning and headed down The Keys early for lunch, great trip down, lovely lunch at Wahoos on the water in Islamorada between Key Largo and Key West - such a gorgeous spot on the water overlooking a little marina with the resident pelicans giving us a little show. Then drove back up to Fort Lauderdale to book into our Hilton Hotel, its about 400 metres from the ship terminal so just sit back and relax tonight, John taken our car back to Airport, so all set. Very nice the Hilton lady gave us an upgrade to a water view room and gave us a complimentary coupon for internet, so there are some lovely people around! We have officially driven 3,187 miles 5,099 klms, John has done an absolutely wonderful ... read more