Nature in the Canal: Manatees snd Portuguese Man-O-War 02/23/2019

While making breakfast this morning Randy called me outside to see the Portuguese Man-O-War. It had captured a small fish. It’s natures way but still sad to see the fish struggle to get free. Randy looked but the fish was too far gone to survive. While outside we also noticed a large manatee in the canal. Such gentle giants. It seems like we only see them on very hot and calm days

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Islamadora and Marathon: Robbie’s and Sunset Grille 02/22/2019

We met Tim and Julie at Marker 88 Restaurant, 88000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, on their way to the Keys. We introduced them to hogfish which I think they both liked. We stopped at Robbie’s Marina, 77552 Overseas Highway, in the Lower Macumbie Key in Islamorada This place was voted the #1 place for tourists. Randy had to try one of their Bloody Mary’s. I did not like their “dirty” flavor. In addition to the restaurant and shops, you can rent boats, paddle boards, kayaks, and even feed the tarpons at Robbie’s. We decided to not pay the admission fee to feed the tarpons but still saw some on the charter boat docks. The charters were successful as they were cleaning lots of fish on the cleaning tables. This brought in the pelicans, Tarpon and sharks to feed on the scraps. There was even a Great Egret cleaning up the small scraps.

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Geiger Key Marina Fish Camp Restaurant and RV Park 02/21/2019

We had this place on our list to try so it was great when Larry and Karen invited us to join them for dinner at Geiger Key Marina, 5 Geiger Road, Big Coppitt Key. Their website says it all; “An Old Florida Fish Camp. The way the Keys used to be.” You could rent paddle boards, kayaks or boats; charter fishing trips, enjoy the view, listen to live music or have a wonderful meal at Geiger Key.

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Little Palm Island 2/03/2019

We are more than halfway through our first winter season in the Keys and we finally made it out to Little Palm Island (3 miles off little Torch Key) on Sunday afternoon. Little Palm Island Resort and Spa was destroyed by Hurricane Irma and has not yet reopened. However, the sand spit was full of boats enoying low tide. I am not sure if this spot will be available for boaters once the resort reopens but we will be making a few more trips out to enjoy the sandy spit at Little Palm before we leave this Spring.

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Portuguese Man-of-War 01/24/2019

The wind shifted and was blowing directly into our canal. This change in wind direction brought in some floating grass and lots of Porutuguese Man-of -War. They are beautiful creatures but sure dont want to get stung by any of them. There were several of them just slightly smaller than my fist but there were hundred about the size of my thumb nail. The larger one had tentacles about 2’ long.

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Islamorada: Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina and Lazy Days Restaurant 01/17/2019

We spent the afternoon on Islamorada (pronounced I-La-Morada) this afternoon. The name Islamorada or “Island Home” came from early Spanish explorers in the area. It is nicknamed “Purple Isle” since morada can also mean purple. The Village of Islamorada is comprised of six islands including Plantation Key, Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Lower Matecumbe Key and the offshore islands of Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key.

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