Week 30

Week 30

Feb. 2-8, 2026

Monday

The temp for last night got down to 33. It broke the record here in fort Myers. The record was set in 1909. 

We went to brunch and then had to return our rental car. It's a little windier than we'd like, but we decided to go ahead and leave. We are stir crazy!!!  We sick of waiting for good weather .  There were no boats out in the miserable mile. So that made that passage a piece of cake. Usually it's very stressful with so many boaters flying all around. It felt weird to be moving again. The water wasn't too rough. The waves were 2-4 footers. We traveled 29 nautical miles to an anchorage in Naples, FL. Last week we were on the streets touring the fancy houses, today we anchored behind the houses on Billionaires row.

We had a video call with Elise to sing happy birthday to Jireh! He's 6 today. It's hard to believe how fast the kids grow up! We sure miss our grandkids, and kids. 😀 

Tuesday

We left this morning around 8 for our passage to key west. Since the weather was pretty good we decided to skip shark river and go straight to the keys. It was a 102 nautical mile cruise. We got in at 3 pm. It was pretty roley poley with tons of crab pots. It was super hard to see them in the big swells, so pretty stressful. I don't usually get seasick, but today I (Allison) got nauseated. We're sure glad to have that behind us. We didn't have a buddy boat. We went pretty fast the whole way. We got fuel and then went out to the Fleming key anchorage for the night.

Wednesday

We only had to travel a couple of miles to get around Flemming key and to Garrison Bight marina. We got set up and checked in and then walked to old town key west to meet Brad and Julie from Bad Parents for the afternoon. We haven't seen them since Michigan! We met at the Sloppy Joe House for lunch. Apparently key west is the birth place of sloppy joes. There is live music everywhere! The sloppy joes were pretty good. 

We walked to the home of Ernest Hemingway. He lived here in the 1930s and is where he wrote most of his books. It's one of the oldest homes in key west and has the largest in-ground swimming pool still to this day. There are over 60 cats at the home, and they have a genetic mutation of having 6 toes on the front feet. They live at the house and are cared for. No one is allowed to take them off the property!! 

We then walked to the gulf side to mile marker 0, the beginning of highway 1 , the longest highway.  We also went to the marker for the southern most point in the U.S. We walked through an old schoolhouse that the Cuban cigar makers built for their children. It was k-6th and a beautiful old building.  It is a key location for Cuban patriots and the struggle for independence.

We walked past the Pan Am headquarters. The first over seas international flight was from key west to Cuba.

We walked over to the cruise ship dock and watched a Celebrity ship cast off while we are dinner on the dock. We walked back to the marina. Lots of walking today. It was a perfect weather walking day. Finally not a freezing day. The temp was around 70 but with the humidity it felt like about 78. So nice!!! There's also chickens and rosters roaming around. It's like Kauai. No one is allowed to harm them. It's a huge fine. 

We taught our institute class tonight and called it a day.

Thursday

It was a beautiful morning. We decided to do some boat chores and take advantage of the clear skies. The boat was just covered in salt after that crossing. So I washed the whole thing down and cleaned the windows. Ed started buffing the starboard side of the boat. I got the sealant on right as the clouds were rolling in and the wind was picking up. It started to rain before I could really polish it off. 

We braved the wind and met 3 other looper couples for dinner. We had a nice time with them. 

Friday

Today was a beautiful perfect day. We walked to old town for lunch and touring. Our first stop was the maritime museum. We learned about Mel Fisher who found an old Spanish ship the Atocha. It took him 16 years. It's the largest find in the 20th century, and was worth $400 million in 1985! 

We met Brad and Julie to go to the Little White House. It was part of the naval base and then Pres. Truman came to key west and fell in love with it here. He modified the building and used it for his vacation spot. The grounds are beautiful. It was super interesting to learn more about Pres. Truman.

We did some window shopping and walked back to the boat. We met two of the looper boats on our dock. We met the couple that we have seen a few times from Salty Mittens. They are super nice. The other couple is brand new starting from Louisiana. 

Saturday

We had an eventful morning. We were getting off the boat to go to town and i dropped my phone in the water. My brand new birthday phone! I got my swim suit and mask on to look for the phone. It was only 6 feet deep and the water was quite clear. I couldn't find it and was so worried it was under the sand. Then Ed spotted it more to the side and under the boat from where I was looking. I accidently brushed against the barnacles coming up and have several scrapes, but I got my phone.  I'm so grateful to have my phone. Ed was able to clean it all up and it works fine.

We took a hop on hop off bus tour today. We learned that for 86 yrs key west was the richest city per capita in the u.s. from salvaging shipwrecks.  There was a John Wayne movie made about the shipwreck industry in Key West called Reap the wild winds.  Then in the 1930s the city became poorest in the country. The government almost decided to evacuate everyone. Then they came up with the idea to use tourism to bring it back to life. They built 2 hotels and an aquarium. 

5 miles off the coast is a barrier reef. The waves crash there so the waters here in the beaches of the islands are relativity calm. It's the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world. 

Southern most house in the continental U.S. is down on the point. It's now a hotel and café on the beach and we are lunch there.  

We went to the state park where the old fort Zachary Taylor is restored.

After our tour we did a grocery run. We then watched a John Wayne the movie Reap the Wild Wind. It's about salvaging the ships here in key west. It's one of the few John Wayne movies where he's not the hero.

 

Sunday

We took an Uber ride to church, but we were able to get a ride home from a member. 

We did a few things to get the boat ready to leave in the morning.

We watched the super bowl. We chose to watch the alternative turning point USA half time show on YouTube. It was very good and patriotic.

See you next week.