On Thursday we went to the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon. There they train and raise dolphins to study their habits and movements. They had many different lagoons with the dolphins spread out among them.
Back at the campground they had a country western singer who entertained at the pool in the late afternoon and evening.
Friday was the Goombay Festival in Key West. It is a street fair type of venue where there are food and craft booths lining the street. There was a stage there as well catering to the Caribbean type of music. This kicks off the Fantasy Fest at Key West which runs for ten days.
Saturday we went out to breakfast at The Wooden Spoon in Marathon. Then we drove around the northern side of Marathon Key.
We have just been relaxing the last week here in the Keys. Have made been lounging in the pool and have made short trips to go grocery shopping, out to eat and just driving around looking at the scenery.
Did something a little different today. We planned on driving from our campground on Ohio Key to Key Largo and return. Well my wife says she saw a review on a restaurant in Key Largo made by Guy Fieri from The Food Network. So we all agreed on going there for lunch. On our way to Key Largo and once there we found out it was East of Key Largo and North, a total distance of about 22 miles. Ok no problem so we continued on and found it to be in the middle of nowhere. Well maybe not in the middle of nowhere as we had to go thru a toll booth and pay $1.00 in tolls to get the last half mile to the restaurant. So here we are at Alabama Jacks, a restaurant not like most restaurants. It is completely open, meaning there are no outside walls except for the kitchen and the bathrooms. It is next to a channel in the lower South East corner of the Everglades. Simple chairs and tables for seating and a simple single two sided menu. Our group of four had a crab cake sandwich, with two crab cakes on it, chicken fingers, with 5 large chicken fingers, wings, twelve large chicken wings, and a conch fritter as big as a plate. The servings were very large in comparison to other restaurants we have been to in the Keys. We were all filled to the top after consuming the meal. Our only complaint was the waitress put all four meals on one bill. Lets get real here, doesn't it seem obvious if there are two couples sitting at a table that the waitress would ask if there will probably be two bills. There I go thinking again.
Have had a couple of easy rest full days. Gary and I addressed the steps that stuck closed again. Finally convinced them to extend. Will have to study them further but they are out now. I installed an additional outlet just below the sink so I could plug in our night light. Had the night light plugged into the plug at the rear of the counter but the counter made a big shadow on the floor. Now the whole floor is illuminated. A very big improvement. I am going to install an additional outlet on the left side of the kitchen counter as well, like the one on the dinette.
Today we visited Key West. We took the trolley tour of the city. Had supper at the Sloppy Joes Pub restaurant.
Here we are in the keys. We will be here until November 1 then we go back to Lake Wales for the remainder of the winter.
Left Lake Wales at 8:00 AM this morning for the Keys. About a six hour drive. Got half way there and pulled off the shoulder of the road behind the couple we are spending the winter with. Engine stops and will not restart. Had trouble with the instrument cluster earlier in the morning. So while I am trying to get service or a tow to a repair facility, which took an hour and a half, Gary our friend started to call Tiffin and try to diagnose the problem while I was on the phone. Well after trying a couple of things he was told to check, low and behold he fixed the problem. A great Thank You to Gary for helping me to get back on the road and to the Keys. We got to the Campground in the Keys at about 3:40 PM. Got set up and went to supper. It was a long day and am tired but we made it to our destination and all is well.
