Key West Diary

Sunrise looking east off our sundeck.

We arrived in Key West on December 29.

On January 1st we drove six hours north to Vero Beach, Florida to see our good friends and mentors Chris and Alyse Caldwell and attend their annual New Years Day Open House. Since we are soooo bad at remembering to take some pictures for the blog when celebrating with friends and family, we only have one picture to share from the Open House. I'll let Sara explain it.😃

Sara here...

Chris and Alyse lived and worked on their boat for 17 years. They are now CLODS  (cruisers living on dirt). They are very proud of their new home and the remodeling they have done. To celebrate their newly remodeled bathroom and six foot soaking tub, Chris is taking pictures of all of their friends sitting in the new tub. At least the friends that are willing...

You really have to know Chris to appreciate this next picture.  

(CaptainChrisYachtServices.com).

On January 4th we met up with my cousin Cindy's great friends Kim and Rod Durham, who just happened to be vacationing in Key West. Since they had been following our blog and wanted to meet us, we met them for lunch at a "local" bar and grill called the Hogfish.

A great time was had by all, and we especially enjoyed swapping stories about Cindy and Mark!😃 (See, I told you you should have been there Cindy).

Living in the tropics we have many critters down here. From Manatees living in the water to Iguanas hanging out around the parking lot at the marina. This juvenile Iguana didn't seem to be the least bit scared of me.

The night of January 4th we attended a performance of the play titled "The Price", written by Arthur Miller. The play was put on by the FRINGE Theater of Key West. It is called the Fringe because the small audience (only 40 people at this play) is interspersed among the props on the Fringe of the stage. The actors walk among the audience as they are performing. The other unique thing about this performing arts company is that they scout out locations that align with the setting of the play. In this case, the play revolves around two estranged brothers who are sorting through all of the family furniture and heirlooms in the attic of their fathers home after he has died. So, our play took place in the Garret or "attic" of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. The play has been called one of Miller's masterpieces and was certainly a great performance. Our only complaint was that being in the attic of this building, on the fifth floor, in downtown Key West at 8 o'clock, the temperature outside was still in the high seventies and there was no air  conditioning. To say it was stifling was an understatement. There were a few fans running and they passed out hand fans to the audience, but one audience member succumbed to the heat and the paramedics had to be called. Luckily, it occurred right before intermission and they were able to revive him so that the "show could go on" at the end of intermission. What an interesting evening!