They Moved My Sun

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 85, low 73)

 

We had big plans yesterday.

“Plan A” was to go boating.  My Weatherbug App showed it was going to be windy, but it didn’t feel too windy here at the RV, so took a ride “uptown” to Big Pine Key to check out the seas.   If you drive over the bridges, you can check out the sea conditions on both the Atlantic and back country side.   There were some big rollers coming in and it didn’t look like a good boating day at all.   We had lunch, went to the grocery store and  took a ride down some back roads.  By this time, we noticed the seas had started calming down, so we decided to take the boat out.

By the time we put the boat into the water, we both pretty much knew it was going to be too choppy and windy.  Our marina is in a little protected cove, so you don’t always know the conditions until you get offshore.

We cruised out through the channel markers out to open water and anchored the boat while we decided what our next plan was.  It was rough and windy and we knew we weren’t going to go any further.  Al wanted to try to find his missing anchor, but it was not a good day for that either.  He wasn’t in the mood to fish, so after a short time, we decided to head back home and figure out what  we would do for “plan B.”

 

Since we had been wanting to get back down to Key West for the sunset celebration  we decided this might be our best chance.

We hung around the Rv for a while, and had happy hour out on the patio.  The breeze was nice and cool and we felt it would be a nice night to watch the sun set into the Atlantic.

We had never gone down to KW quite this late, so we were gambling we could find a place to park.  We decided we were too lazy to walk from the free parking lot Sue told us about, so we bit the bullet and went over to the $4 per hour spot.  There was a line of cars waiting to turn into the parking lot, so things didn’t look good.  We drove around the lot once with no luck, but on the second trip around, someone left and we snatched their sight!  Score one!

It was pretty crowded on Mallory square even though there were no cruise ships in port.  We haven’t yet figured out when it’s the slow season here in the Keys.  The snowbirds have mostly left, but now I think a lot of Floridians have come since May is cheaper and it’s before hurricane season. 

As soon as we walked onto Mallory Square, we noticed the sun had moved from where it usually is and it was going to set right behind a little island, and not into the water.   Bummer!  That and the fact that there were no clouds in the sky, would make for a less than spectacular sunset.

We didn’t think of it before, but as the seasons change, the sun does not set in quite the same place.  We decided not to wait for the sun to set and walked over to Duval Street.  Duval is where many of the bars are located and many of them have live music. It’s fun to walk around and listen to all the different musicians.  We walked around a while, listening to music.  I was looking for a place to have dinner. Al was looking for the place we found last time that sold the best fudge.   It’s always fun to people watch too.

Al found his fudge, but I never found a restaurant since they got busy once the sun went down.

We decided to head to the other side of Key West and find a place to eat where there were less people, so we walked back to Mallory Square to the parking lot.  We caught the ending act of a few street performers.  

As we walked over to the water, we came across a couple having a fight.  We couldn’t help overhear it.  She ended up going one direction and he tried to give her some money for a cab or something.  She told him she didn’t need his money and would find her way back.   We couldn’t help but smile….since we’ve been there before a time or two!  I hope she found her hotel room.

Then, we saw another interesting couple.  She was a middle age woman and definitely not a beauty.  She had her “photographer” with her and she was directing him as he was taking photos of her.   She would get into a model type pose, smile big and he would snap a picture.  This happened time and time again, but we never saw her take his picture or try to get one of them together!   It was kind of funny, watching her try to be a model.  

 

We called it a day/night and ended up having dinner at Five Guys Hamburgers. 

I didn’t take any sunset pictures last night, but here are a few from when the sun set where it was supposed to!

Howard Livingston has a song called There’s always magic in Key West.    We found out there is NOT always magic in Key West.

 

We’re hoping for a better day today.  First on the agenda is take kitty Chatty back to the Vet for a check up, then hopefully out in the boat! 

Wish us luck for calm seas and clear waters!