Well, our adventure is almost at its end. Today, around 9:30 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 30 minute rainshower, we were pretty successful. We saw an absolutely amazing sunset (thanks to the thunderstorm). ... read more

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 Costa Rica. I think that Pamela and I have celebrated every birthday together since they moved in next door to us almost 9 years ago! After our spa treatments and a relaxing visit to the jacuzzi, we headed back to the Conch Harbor pool where we met up with our boys. While we were off being pampered, the boys took the dingy out and snorkeled ... read more

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 boat there when we arrived, but within an hour, there were 3 or 4 of those huge catamarans filled with people. Fortunately, we were off in our own little corner of the reef. After snorkeling for a while, we changed moorings and went over to the back side of the reef where the water was like ... read more

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 watch a movie. We headed down to Duval Street for the evening. We stopped in for a drink at Island Dogs and then made our way over to the Grand, an old 3 story maison with excellent food. Another great day!... read more

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 hungry. We strolled for shells for a few and then were on our way to Marathon. We approached the 7 mile bridge around 3 p.m. and got anchored outside Boot Key Harbor by 4 p.m. There are several other boats in the anchorage. We went to dinner at a place called Frosty's in Marathon. They had delicious fish dip and our dinner ... read more