What have we been up to?

Just an up-date as to some of the things we have been up to the past couple weeks here in Key West FL. As I have said before the touristy things will have to be in a separate blog someday, but here are some things we have been doing that I will share now.
Key West being a small island with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east we have a great opportunity to see some amazing sunrises and sunsets. The problem with the sunrises is they come way too early in the morning for us to see them, but we do get to watch the sunsets
Like this one we took some pictures of from in front of our Kountry Star here in Sigsbee Campground.



I love it when the sun reflects off the clouds causing the bright orange colors.

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Although we haven't had the courage to try this we do get to watch as others fly above the water. the boat pulls them along and the parachute takes them up into the air. 20 years ago I would have been out there doing this, along with the ones that use the wind, a parachute, and a surf board to glide across the water.



Marcia is big into collecting sea shells, and we have rented kayaks to ease along the water to spot them at times. Now she has started snorkeling so she can get a better view of the bottom so she can spot the shells. Here in Key West it is illegal to take any conch shell that still has a conch in it, but as we are told if it is empty you can take it.
Marcia went out to get herself a snorkeling outfit. She bought a "shorty" wet suit, and a "dive flag" down town, and the snorkel, fins, and mask at the Navy Exchange. It is a law that you have to have a dive flag floating when you are diving or snorkeling around here. I guess that keeps boats from running over you.






Now this is the first time Marcia has ever tried snorkeling, and without having any instructions I think she is doing pretty well. I do think we will need to find her some others to snorkel with her, and no it won't be me. I don't want to see what is down there, if she sees anything interesting that I might like to see she can take a picture of it.

Today we did the kayak and as the tide was going out the water was not very deep so we just got out and walked. We were about 100-200 feet from the shore and the water wasn't even knee deep. I did confirm the reason I don't want to see things on the bottom when I spotted a sand shark resting in the sand right in front of me. I'm glad they are not aggressive and that I seen it before it scared the ****out of me.

Any one around Key West will tell you there are no shells around Key West, they will say you have to go to the west side of FL to find shells.That didn't stop us from looking, and we did manage to find a few nice shells, (empty ones) that Marcia will clean up and show off in some way or another.

Now being on an island gives you ample opportunities to fish, you can go on a charter boat that will take you anywhere you want to go for the right price, or you can fish from many of the bridges, or you can do as this guy did and fish from the bank.
We were eating dinner and saw this guy through the front windshield pulling one in. I had to go out and watch as he fought the little rascal.

Once he had landed the fish and I saw it I thought it was a stingray, but he insisted it was a skate. Now I don't know what the difference is but he chose to cut this one up and use it as bait to try to catch more fish.




Life on Key West can be a lot more than hitting every bar on the island, or spending all of your kids inheritance on boat rides, para-sailing, buying souvenirs or taking the tours.

Until the next time, be safe and ENJOY........