Another Island Visit

 

Florida Keys, (high 79, low 68)

 

It looks like there will be no boating for the next two days, as rain is predicted.   It might be a good time to rest and maybe get caught up on some long neglected chores.  I really need to vacuum before the cat hair takes over.

Al is on day 4 of his cold and seems to be feeling better.  I have managed to fight it off so far, but I have been sneezing like crazy, so I know it’s trying to get me.  We went into Marathon yesterday morning for a few groceries and a refill on our Echinacea.

We have to cross the 7 Mile Bridge to go to Marathon, so of course we noticed how calm and pretty the water was.  We stopped along the bridge by Pigeon Key  and took a few pictures.  

You can walk or ride a bicycle along the old bridge directly to Pigeon Key, which is about 2 miles each way.

They are working on completing the bike trail that will eventually run the length of the Keys.

This is a portion along the water below the Pigeon Key bridge.

Parking is free at all of these little waterside parks, and that’s one thing I love about the Keys.  In many parts of Florida, you have to pay to take a walk in a park.  That aggravates me.

These people were looking at the rocky shoreline, probably wondering, like we were how it would be to snorkel there.

Once we saw how calm the water was, Al decided he felt good enough to take the boat out.  We figured, we could go back to Money Key and sit in our chairs under the trees and relax.

Unfortunately, our deserted little island was not deserted at all. 

It wasn’t like there was no room for us, but we like our islands all to ourselves, so we decided to look for another one.  Unfortunately, the other islands in the area are just mangrove islands with no beach area.

We did find this little island that had it’s own dock.  It turns out there was a house on the island, but trees and shrubs were so overgrown, you could barely see the house.  We didn’t find the name of the island. 

As we got into the shallows, we noticed this island was a rookery and there were birds of all kinds there.  Maybe we’ll call it Bird Island.

The dock made a nice resting place. 

We stayed offshore so we wouldn’t disturb any nesting birds.

I threw our some of my sandwich scraps and of course the seagulls noticed. 

Unfortunately the calm seas we saw earlier had changed by the time we got out in the boat.  The wind and seas had picked up and it wasn’t a great day.   We didn’t stay out too long, but at least we got out on the water for a little while.

 

Thanks to all of you that comments about cell phones.  What I’m looking for is something that will be cheaper than the $17 monthly we pay for Al’s phone.  He so rarely uses it, that we hate to spend that much for maybe one call a month.   We will keep our Verizon plan with my unlimited data on my Android phone, and for now, we’ll also keep our Verizon Mifi.   I just want to lower our bill, especially since we lost our 22% discount.   We don’t often need a second phone, so that’s why we’re looking for something cheap.  We don’t need another smart phone or texting capabilities.   I think you can buy a cheap phone and then just add minutes when needed., and I also believe you can choose Verizon, Sprint, or whatever service you want.   So…..any guidance on this type of phone?   It will only be used as a backup and on the rare occasion we’re not together, since my Android is our main phone.

 

Since we’ve been here in the Keys, Al and I have been busy working on another project and we may be ready to tell you soon.   Stay tuned.