Exploring Marathon

Boot Key Harbor City Marina is a really well-organized facility. There are an incredible number of boats in the harbor and yet things run quite smoothly here. For the price of your mooring ball, you have the use of two large dinghy docks, with separate sides for soft and hard dinghies, a large number of private shower rooms (although they could use some maintenance), TVs, internet, cruisers library, laundry, outside tiki bar area, and once a week pumpout from your mooring. They have a pumpout boat and you are scheduled for a particular day when you sign up for a week of mooring. There is also a cruisers' net on the VHF at 9:00 every morning where, if you are so inclined, you can get all the latest on what's happening in the harbor. The weather has been rowdy most of the week we have been here so there has not been much socializing going on. We're thinking that will change this weekend when it's supposed to be calmer and there is a seafood festival happening right next to the marina.

There are lots of things to see and do around here. We visited Sombrero Beach recently.   It's a nice sandy stretch of beach with one end bordering on Sister Creek.  There are some palms for shade, bathrooms, picnic tables, etc.  We were able to ride our bikes over there and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.  If we had some chairs, a picnic lunch, and maybe a little less wind, it would have been just about perfect.

Atlantic side of the park

Overlooking the park

A look down the old bridge

Tom's son Aaron and his wife Lauren are visiting us for a few days.  Since they have a car, we drove over to Bahia Honda State Park for an adventure.  The wind was howling so we had to find something else interesting to do besides sailing.  This park has a tiny harbor where smaller sailboats can dock.  There are campsites and cabins to rent, a concession stand, and some trails, one of which leads up to the old bridge that was part of Henry Flagler's railroad.

The tiki bar at Salty's

After exploring the park's trails for a couple hours, we thought a little lunch and a cold beer were in order, so we stopped at a place on the way home called Salty's.  Slow service, but the food was good and the ambiance was "keysie."