Highways and Fairways

Quick Hello from Ft Myers

The good news, we had four free camping nights, one at the golf course but sadly (and the bad news) the balance at the RV repair shop.  Our pillows were mere feet from the onramp to I 75 so free sleep doesn't equal sound sleep.  After mostly resolving our mechanical issues and first maintenance (yikes, these things are expensive!), we are set up in Fort Myers for a little more than a week.  While the coach was being serviced we spent the day driving around checking out RV parks.  Our first choice was a referral from Bill and Julie, Red Coconut which has spots on the beach (very rare).  Unfortunately we needed to book our spot in 2006, ugh.  Our second choice didn't have availability (Gulf Waters) until Monday so we found this place for 3 nights until we get there next week:

These folks take their shuffleboard very seriously!

We're having fabulous weather (high 70's) so it's been killing me to not be golfing all of these days.  We are set up to play Renaissance tomorrow afternoon and Cedar Hammock with Mary Jo on Friday.  We're trying to line up a couple more rounds with clubs we visited last time that stuck out for us (me) on our tours...Gulf Harbour with the bar in the Ladies Locker Room and Quail Creek, the one with a group of traveling women competitive golfers.

It's also time again to get the little man shaved and his mohawk spruced up...

High on the list is to buy a new camera.  In addition to the first RV going kaput on this trip, we've had to replace the computer and now the camera.  Photos on this blog were taken with a crappy $20 Walgreens camera since my Coolpix decided it had had enough of this trip.

I promised a "quick" hello, so I'll end this now and will report back when I have good pictures of fairways.

Juanita
 

We're suffering from Key sickness

We hear that's what happens when it's time to leave the Keys and you're just not ready to go.

In response to Denise who asked about renting a campsite by the water for a month at a time, sure!  It's only $5000 a month for your own 6 x 10 slab of concrete!

We left the Keys in the rain on Monday and when the RV repair place couldn't fit us in until Wednesday we talked Redland Golf and Country Club in Florida City into letting us sleep in their parking lot.  Of course it meant we would HAVE to golf at their club on Tuesday morning, dang it all.  They were incredibly accomodating.  When we arrived after their kitchen had closed the bartender made us salads for dinner.  When Mike whined about us not being able to pick up his favorite TV stations from their parking lot, they invited us to feel at home on their screened in patio...just turn the lights off when we leave.

We were finally able to let Peanut and Pepper run free for an evening, though neither of them liked the temperature in the pool and decided to join us for "24".

Before going to bed I was able to hit 100 balls at the driving range steps from our coach.

The course itself was not quite worth the $32 we paid to play, but free accomodations and incredibly gracious hosts made the experience wonderful for us.

About the only thing you could hit on this course (besides other golfers) was this cellular tower.

 

We're holed up now at an RV repair shop in Ft. Myers and hope to be hooked up at a nice RV resort nearby later this week.

Until then next time, stay warm!

 
 
 

Final Day at the Southern Most Point of U.S.

It's actually very well marked:

After a breakfast of Key Lime pie, we began our last Key West day with a short walk on the beach.  That's Mike after noticing that the hottie in the G string had a very hairy chest...

Then we were off to explore some of the OTHER sights.  We saw Ernie's cottage:

Bobby Frost's place:

And of course we did the Duval Crawl with all of the other fannie packing tourists...

If I'd known Mike was going to force me to shop I'd have stayed back at the campground and finished my ironing!  It may have been cocktail-induced, but Mike found the most hilarious tee-shirt and HAD to have it:

We found a place to stop in to catch a little of the football game.  What we found there (Lazy Gecko) was the best smoked fish dip and cuban bread that I've ever had (only I suppose).

Mike loves it here and wishes we could stay a lot longer.  Problem is it is ridiculously expensive.  He offered to get a job if I'd let us stay...

Can't blame him.  Check out this beautiful water...

We had been warned that Key West was crime-ridden and dirty and not a place to visit.  We found it to be the opposite, clean and fun.  Of course we're not ones to close the town down so we probably missed much of the craziness!

A couple of food worthy notes...Mike had awesome snails in a bread bowl at an old Irish Pub (Finnegan's Wake) off the beaten path, which oddly enough is the Southern most Brown's Backers Fan club. 

 Last night our campground neighbors told us of a local hot spot, Hogfish Bar & Grill, that is walking distance from our RV.  The fish tacos and hogfish sandwich as well as the overall ambiance were fabulous.  Great spot for our RV friends if they're staying at Boyd's.

Not sure when you'll hear from me again.  After we find an RV repair shop, we're headed back to Naples where we'll hopefully see our Rock Hill buds, Bill and Mary.  I'm also anxious to meet Mary Jo and Greg who have kindly invited us to play Cedar Hammock, a private club in Naples.

We hope all are well!

 
 
 
 
 

Key West Golf Club

Considering the limited amount of available real estate in Key West, this golf course made good use of what it had to work with on this Par 70 Rees Jones course.  Take special note of the driving range in the picture below--the batting cage next to the club house.  If you aren't careful you could lose your head in that thing as one of our dear friends did when he last played here, well, his favorite driver's head.  If you're right handed do not swing next to a left handed golfer as these are pretty tight quarters! 

For a short course we were challenged by all kinds of things:

The usual water and the not so usual wildlife:

That was a novel way for Mike to lose a golf ball!  Big scaredy cat refused to retrieve his ball from a silly iguana!  And balls are precious to him, so to speak.

We were challenged by this noisy thing who wanted to wake us up in the middle of every back swing:

I thought they only cockle doodle doo at daylight!  Boy was I wrong.

We were lucky enough to be paired with Ray and Linda from Alabama, a very fun couple!

Note the damn mangroves Rees put between us and the pin on this par 3!

We only made it to the second hole before Ray was inducted into the Birdie Horsey Club, and was he ever a sport!

He enjoyed himself so much he didn't want to give Wilbur back...

It was ideal 80 degrees with a slight breeze to keep us cool and seemed like the perfect occasion to pull out my "5 O'Clock Somewhere" shirt (BIG thanks to Jody!):

Even with that get up, I didn't have the gawkers on the tee box like Mike did :

Note the painted blue coconut tee marker!  I shooed this dude away so Mike could tee off.

We thoroughly enjoyed the course, though the Bermuda greens were odd in the way that they rolled.  Perhaps the hard jagged slick greens match the coral reef they are built upon?

Here are shots from some of the more enjoyable holes:

The price to play was reasonable if you don't mind teeing off at 1:30.  The four of us managed to get in all 19 holes before this (you know I couldn't let you off without at least one of these):

We have one more day in paradise before we head out to find a Winnebago Repair shop, sigh.  At least it's sitll under warranty!

Go Saints, or Colts, or Vikings, or Jets...who cares, Steelers are out!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Breakfast in Key West

Best cheerios I've ever tasted...

Coffee is even more satisfying on a 76 degree morning on the water...

 

After the scenic drive over the 7 mile bridge (seen here from the restaurant next door to our last campground in Marathon):

We arrived at Boyd's, one of the two Key West campgrounds, and opted for this lovely waterfront spot:

 
  

We'll be here only three nights but we're trying to take full advantage of our waterfront digs.  It didn't take Mike long to make friends while I stepped inside the coach.  Someone has already taken my chair!

 

That's Juaquina and Maccarena, campers from next door, and very charming neighbors.

After setting up camp yesterday we went swimming and then explored Key West around sunset when Mallory Square was bustling with fabulous street acts:

I promise you, Glen, he is NOT setting the flag on fire!  His fire juggling act on a highrise unicycle was well in front of our nation's flag.

We met one of Felippe's relatives (my grand dog):

Being my first time in Key West, I had no idea how many people flock to the square to take in the sunset from the US' southern most spot:

All Hell nearly broke loose when Captain Stubing decided to pull and stop the Love Boat directly in front of this sunset starved crowd:

He did eventually pull it around in time for us to catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset (sick of them yet?):

Heading out the door to Ket West Golf Club--yippee skippee!  Now we'll be able to say that we golfed the southern most golf course in the U.S.  Now of course I'm going to want to golf the northern most course!  Hey one of the World Am folks invited us to their course in Alaska--who knows!?

Until next time...it's nothing but work, work, work!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Our new favorite RV Spot!

After much research, Mike found us a terrific stop for Marathon--the half way spot between Key Largo and Key West (100 miles is just too far to drive in one day).  Knight's Key is reasonably priced and just what we'd been searching for in the Keys.   Onsite we have a Tiki Bar serving wine, mud slides and $1.75 draft beer...

Fish is delivered straight off the fishing boats to our campground:

The Pelicans also call this campground home.  They stay close for the leftovers from the fishermen:

Besides the normal game of shuffleboard and horse shoes, here you can play a favorite drinking game, brass ring on a string (or whatever it's called).  The way it works is you throw a ring on a string at a hook on the post and hope it stays hooked.  Entertainment is cheap to folks like us:

You are seeing that amazing sunset, right?  Don't worry, I have more! 

They have a few cannons around that were pulled off of civil war ships sunk just off the Keys:

We ventured out yesterday for the famous Lobster Reuben only served at Keys Fishery, where our Campground Concierge (Bill) said it was big enough for two.  Of course we corrected him because not only did Mike eat the whole thing, he also had some of my Conch Fritters and shrimp:

I wanted to make sure you saw both sides of his tee shirt  :)  Can you tell he is beginning to get camera-irritated?

On our drive into town yesterday I spotted this place:

While Mike enjoyed the $3.00 breakfast offered at our resort's cafe, I jumped at the chance to play this 9 hole par three course.  Short course (they don't have a lot of land to work with here) and a great chance to practice my chipping since hitting the greens wasn't working out so well.  And oh the greens.  Nothing is dormant here and I'm sure they mow the greens once a week whether they need it or not.

I played with some great folks.  Jeff is a local scuba instructor, Neil is a fishing guide in Key West who made the 100 mile round trip just to play this course (?), and Jerry who retired to the Keys 5 years ago.   Pictured also is Neil's caddie and official scorekeeper, Casey:

Jeff needlessly apologized for his play as he hadn't picked up a club in a year.  I didn't get a lot of sympathy when I whined about not playing for 6 whole days!  It was a fun 9 holes and should keep me stable until I play again in Key West on Saturday.

OK, now for those promised sunset pics, which we were told are better from our RV resort than from Key West:

 

 
 
 Thanks for endulging us...

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Islamorada

Just killing time in Paradise until I can golf again!  We visited Islamorada yesterday and unless you're into this:

it's pretty much the same old blah blah white sandy beach and yada yada umbrella drinks.  Swimming was out...

Brrr, but the beach made for beautiful picture ops and more mangrove trails:

We somehow managed to find a bar in a quaint fishing marina...

Wondering what that is in front of the bar?

Yep, a pirate ship.  The owner, a spry 75 year old who always wanted such a vessel and recently had this one built, also owns this luxury water limo:

You want to see more of this, right?  Everybody did...

Funny stuff in Islamorada!  Next time we'll bring our fishing gear as this town is touted as being the fishing capital of the world.

We topped off our final night in Key Largo at a cool place with our new friends, Bill and Julie.

 Mike had spotted a dive restaraunt while shopping for fish the night before that he wanted to try.  Oddly enough they close on TUESDAYS!?  We walked a little bit and found the Glass Bottom Bar-- sort of makes up for passing on the glass bottom boat tours!

 

The food was pretty good and it was the first place that was really hopping since we arrived in the Keys, well, other than our campground on Saturday night.  This place had all kinds of party animals:

Even the Great Dane liked the glass bottom ambiance!

We're pulling up stakes this morning heading further South.  We'll spend a couple of days in Marathon before we hit Key West--where I get to golf!!!!  Thankfully Dave from the World Am is shipping out golf balls so we'll be replenished soon!  A big thank you to Mary Jo for acting as our drop for the balls!

Have a great day!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

No Golf today... thanks to John Pennecamp

Still in Key Largo and trying to do something besides golf (why?).  We arrived this morning with choices of what to do at this Coral Reef State Park (John Pennecamp) and oh, what to do?

We could rent scuba equipment and dive...

But Mike may be tempted to break the law and reach for one of the spotted spiny lobsters...

Forget that.  We'll just take a few pictures of what we would have seen down under while walking through the aquarium.

We could have a nice picnic on the serene Sound:

But we didn't bring anything to eat, so forget that idea.

We could take a tour and see the coral reef from the glass bottom boat:

But the tour wasn't leaving for several hours and I have the patience of a gnat.

The park was beautiful...

We opted to canoe through the mangroves and this girl had never been on a canoe before.  I really thought it would be like kayaking, something I'm not all that terrible at.  Wrong!  They say that Alternate Shot is a precursor for divorce court, but that's kindergarten compared to canoeing with the one you love.

It started out innocently enough...

Until we pushed away from the dock.  I had no idea how unstable these things are.  I worried constantly about the fate of my camera, cell phone, and wallet after we inevitably topple over into the water.  Mike tried to get me to turn around for a photo op, but I would have no part of it as I gingerly maneuvered through the dead fish infested waters (more casualties of the cold snap)...

Check out those white knuckles on the oar!  I did eventually grow sea legs but that didn't solve the problem of navigating through a mangrove maze similar to any corn maze in Iowa!  When we couldn't agree on which direction would get us home, we recruited this kind couple to act as our guide back to base (FYI, I was right!):

They were accomplished kayakers from upstate New York and take this blow-up vessel on all of their road trips.  Thank God we ran into them (quite literally)!

After our "three hour tour" we eventually found the right path home and I could finally turn around and smile...

It was a fun way to spend the day, when we weren't squabbling.  However I think I'll stick to viewing the mangroves from the tee box at Ocean Reef!

Afterward the dogs had a nice romp at the dog park, aka basketball court, with Bill and Julie's fur kids, Nicki and Paris:

And for the record, our new friends are BILL and Julie (not Jim and Julie as I'd errantly written in my last blog--what a way to start a new friendship!).

We plan to explore Islamorada tomorrow.  Until we find a place to buy golf balls (lots) for Mike, we're on a temporary sabbatical from the links.  JK.

Thanks for continuing to share our journey!

Juanita and Mike
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ocean Reef

We happily accepted Heath's invitation to play at Ocean Reef yesterday in sunny 73 degree weather.  The club has two courses and we opted for the tougher of the two, The Hammock.  Although a relatively short course, it played for us every bit to its 150 slope for Mike and 140 for me.  Why?  Holes like this I suppose:

Not friendly to a fading drive.  Then of course there were the two Mangrove holes (note the mats on the tee boxes):

This one was shaved down a bit, the other one, not so much...

We were very fortunate to be hooked up with Jim and L.A. from Philadelphia.  In addition to having one of the coolest golf carts ever...

yep...a 57 Chevy, they made us homesick for our good friends in Barefoot, Sandy and Jay.  L.A. was a dead ringer in many respects for Sandy.  They share a similar sense of humor and after Jim's three romps on the birdie horsey:

L.A. suggested that she be allowed to take a "Peanut Par" ride after a brilliantly saved par on a tough hole:

Fun people!!!

The course was beautifully laid out with trees I wanted to climb or swing under:

We also saw what I think may be the state's mascot, sigh,

Mike allowed him to swim away with his ball.

The greens rolled well, but were sloping and fast.  3 Putts were the norm, well, for me.

If you get an opportunity to experience Ocean Reef, in addition to all of the fabulous amenities referenced in yesterday's post, it is well worth the golf.

Embrace the challenges.

And afterward... enjoy the:

We had a great time with Jim and L.A.  We took notes over shrimp and oysters on where to play in Florida.  Another noteworthy "small world" anecdote...  We were telling them about the home and community I love in Bradenton and it turns out they go there every year for the Member-Guest.  One of their best friends has lived there for 6 or 7 years and loves the golf and the community.  We now have a contact to discuss our concerns over the developer's financial issues.  Jim is of the opinion that it may not be as bad as we think.  Hopefully we'll hook up with their buddy on our way back through next month. 

We loved Ocean Reef and if we can swing a social membership there once we settle down, life would be sweet!

Last night we strolled our park.  What sets this place apart from other RV resorts, many motor homes tow fishing boats rather than cars:

The weekends hop around here and we enjoyed the Cuban music playing along our stroll.  We made new friends in Jim and Julie from Indiana who graciously invited us in for drinks and lively conversation:

 

They have a place on Siesta Key as well as have a realtor for us to meet in Bradenton to help us with my dream home there (ahh, the stars are lining up--well, except for selling the other house part).  They are a lot of fun and we hope to spend more time with them here as well as in Sarasota next month.

No golfing in the near future, whah.  But try not to feel too sorry for us :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Key Largo, Montego, Baby why don't we go...

Ahhhhh, down to only one light jacket!  We are so happy to be in the Keys, even though we only made it to the first one, Key Largo.  The drive here from Naples reminded me of the drive through the CA desert.  Like the CA desert, we saw a lot of the same thing, only completely different.  Fiftiesh straight miles of the Everglades...

If you can't tell, those are airboats that take you on really cool rides through the Everglades.  But I couldn't get Mike to slow down to do more than take a really weak picture, much less take a ride on one!

We found a terrific RV park along the bay in Key Largo and we're parked here for a whole week.  Mike immediately got on the horn with Hal and Mattie, parents of childhood best buddy, Dave, from his Pittsburgh days.  Hal and Mattie still live in PA and come to Key Largo for the winter...every year for 25 years.  They were thrilled to hear from Mike and wasted no time inviting us over to their place for dinner.

Mattie loves the golf cart that came with their place and took us on a tour of their beautiful community:

Don't they make a lovely couple?

Mattie may have been too much for Mike...

On the tour we some some interesting wild life...

They might wake us up a little earlier than we like, so I suppose it's OK that we're still too young to call this place home. 

We also saw another interesting tow vehicle that made us think of our pal, Mike C in Rock Hill (combining two of his most favorite things):

It really is starting to look like a vacation...

Until today when Mike made me get back to work at interviewing a country club, Ocean Reef, and again checking out real estate.  It really was an amazing club, complete with a yacht club, two incredible golf courses, a beach club, free range golf carts, etc....And all of this can be yours for a mere $215,000 initiation fee:

 

Heath, the membership director, was kind enough to invite us for breakfast (best pancakes I've ever had: Lemon Yogurt) but Mike was underdressed in his mock turtle neck golf shirt.  The hostess brought this shirt to him so that he could share a meal with us:

Ocean Reef is the only course that has been able to build a course through the Mangroves and they have done a wonderful job of maintaining the integrity of the natural habitat:

Only tee box I've seen in which you tee off from a mat!  Thanks to Heath, we'll be playing the course in the morning so I'll have a more thorough review of this hole and the rest of the course.
 

After our complete club house and facility tour, Joanne opened doors for us in the real estate market of Ocean Reef:

And oh what an education we got.  For just under $900,000 you too can be the proud owner of this property (2 bedrooms, 1000 square feet):

We will be considering the social membership only as real estate (equity) ownership opportunities just won't work for us.  Seems to be another community that hasn't been affected by current economic conditions.  Nonetheless we are grateful to Joanne and Mattie for introducing us to this one of a kind community.

Tonight Hal and Mattie invited us to their weekly Tiki Party at the home of their friends, Martha and Bob.  What a fun group!

Martha, shown above with Mattie, is an accomplished poet and you can find her latest book of poetry at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Heart-Needs-Know/dp/098014180X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Not to be out-"famed", her husband carries around with him an issue of GQ Magazine from a few months back, not because of this photo of Michael Jackson, "the early years":

No, he is a VERY proud grandfather.  With good reason.  His grandson, a star football player with Columbia (but studying there on an academic scholarship), was featured in this particular issue of GQ with Aaron Andrews (ESPN Reporter):

We keep meeting such interesting people on this escapade of ours!  The whole gang was a lot of fun and very welcoming of these gypsies:

Mike ran into another Steeler fan from his old neighborhood (apparently Bernie's gorgeous daughters threw the best parties in Peter's Township, but Bernie didn't know that...until now):

We had a wonderful evening.  We got more recommendations on place to see and courses to play.  Can't wait to play Ocean Reef tomorrow!!!! 

Stay tuned!