Monday, March 23, 2015

Sell Your Stuff, Keep the Dog, Live on an Island

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 85, low 72)

 

Here in the Florida Keys, everybody “lives on and island.”   The Florida Keys consist of a string of many islands starting in Key Largo and ending about 100 miles down in Key West.  We are on the island called Cudjoe Key, which is in the lower Keys.  There are hundreds of unnamed and uninhabited islands, as well as  hundreds of islands which are being started every day with just a single drifting piece of a mangrove bush.

There is a popular local musician here by the name of Howard Livingston.    He came down here to retire, but was inspired to start writing music.  His music is kind of the Jimmy Buffet style. 

His favorite saying is “sell your stuff, keep the dog, and live on an island.”  Which he does.  A few months back the Tv show “Buy the Beach” featured him and his wife looking to purchase an island.   They have two Golden Retrievers which they apparently he and his wife dearly love. Golden Retrievers are our favorite dogs ( as well as Shelties, thanks to sweet little Finney and Binney)

Every time Howard and his band play,  the crowds are crazy and we have a difficult time getting a place to park or a seat at the bar.

He was playing last Saturday at the Koa RV park on Sugarloaf Key, where our friends Kathy and Rick are staying.  After dinner at the Square Grouper and a visit here to Venture Out, we all drove back to their place with hopes of finding a place to park.  Fortunately, we were able to park on their site, but a seat in the bar was not available.   We enjoyed listening to the band and watching a 96 year old woman dancing and enjoying her birthday celebration.  He puts on a great show with songs like “Magic in Key West” and “Blame it on the Margaritas.”

Howard always does a thing where he makes a margarita in an old Johnson boat motor.  He rigged it up with a blender on top that’s powered by the motor.  The highest bidder gets the margarita, and the proceeds go to Care Camp, for kids with cancer.  The highest bidder was $5500.  I neglected to bring my camera, so you’ll have to check out Ricks blog for pictures of our evening.

 

Speaking of Golden Retrievers, this is who we came across the other night while waiting for sunset.

IMG_9079

She was enjoying playing fetch while waiting for the sun to set.

IMG_9075

A couple nights before, we arrived a little late, but got a few interesting pictures.

sunset

Sunsets are popular in the Keys.   :)

IMG_9068

The weather has been perfect for boating, so yesterday decided to head out for a little fishing.  The Overseas Highway or Highway 1, divide the waters into what’s called the Atlantic side,  and the back country side.  Venture out is on the Atlantic side, so when we leave here we can turn right for the channel leading to the reefs, or left and cross under the bridge leading us through Kemp Channel, and out to deep water.  It starts out being fairly shallow, the visibility is not as good, but its a good place to fish and lobster.

We went back to a spot we found last year, but unfortunately another boat was sitting there, so we had to pick a different spot.   We anchored, I read,  Al fished, we ate our vegan eggless “egg” salad sandwiches.

IMG_9093

Al got a few bites and one big bite which bent his rod.  Unfortunately, he lost that fish so we never knew what monster he had briefly hooked.

The fish finder was showing some big fish right below the boat, but he never hooked one of them.

The only thing he got was a baby  grunt, and quite a bit of sea grass.

IMG_9094

We had a good time anyway.  

Today is therapy day and then a board meeting at the clubhouse, so no boating today.   He is changing his PT to twice a week, down from three times, so we’ll have more boating days.   :)

18 comments:

  1. Using the small camera doesn't get the quality of pictures we both enjoy using so unfortunately only a few good ones turned out. We truly enjoyed the evening and hopefully we'll get another visit in before we have to leave.
    If Al does hook a big fish you might have to take over landing it.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and I was just admiring the nice small size of your camera. No big fish here. :)

      Delete
  2. Sounds like a great time listening to the music.
    And getting out in your boat great therapy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So are you guys going to buy an island and keep the cat?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll definitely keep the cat.....but until my lottery numbers hit, I don't think we'll be buying an island.

      Delete
  4. Love the photos and the dog! I'm planning on some Gulf fishing in May. I hope to catch something!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's always fun to catch something, even if you do have to throw it back.

      Delete
  5. LOL at your title before I even read the post. Love it! Sounds like the headline in one of those magazines advising us all what to do. Love those sunset pictures. I've never heard of a fish finder. Rick and Kathy are right, you'd better not hope for a fish that's too big for Al's shoulder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No worries about Al catching too big of a fish. The size in the photograph was about the norm. :)

      I think his shoulder can handle that fish, don't you?

      Delete
  6. I like "Blame it on the Margaritas" sounds like a plan.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a happy dog! And thanks for the shout-out to Finney
    KarenInTheWoods and Steveio
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like a plan but I think you might need a bit of money in order to buy an island in the Keys! ;-)

    The sunsets are always so beautiful there.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. If you sell enough of those square groupers, you should have plenty of cash to buy your own island... ;c)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ahh, Island life would be nice. Love that show on HGTV about buying an island.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Also missing the Keys! We were there in December and thought it was a wonderful place! Wish I could be there every winter like you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks like you had another great time at a Howard Livingston show/concert. Good for him on the fund raising margarita blender thing. I think he also plays for the annual Habitat fundraiser in Key West every year.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great blog, hope to see you again this winter.
    Cheers,
    Howie and Cyndy

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave comments. We love to read them! To contact me directly you can send e-mail to rvtravels2@yahoo.com