Island Grass Music Festival

We like to attend music festivals. The Island Grass Music Festival was the one of the season for us. Held on Big Pine to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, the festival also included a Conch Chowder Cook Off.

C. W. Colt backed  by Kim and Joe Doerfel

The music was great, with some local favorites who really pleased the crowd. One band of interest to us was the Doerfel Family. I've blogged about them before. This is the third year we have seen them. Boy have they grown up, physically and musically. They were great and have really developed a unique sound, blending hard rock with bluegrass. Unique!

Piper Road Spring Band

Bobby D and the No Slack Living Room Band

Howard Livingston

Brian Roberts

The Doerfel Family

Exercise!

After breakfast, we went to the Tiki Hut for Yoga. We've been attending faithfully since returning to the harbor on January 6, having missed once so we could go to the Nautical Flea market on Big Pine. Last Thursday, Yoga was canceled due to cold weather. It was in the low 60's and windy.

We both enjoy the Yoga sessions. Although we follow the directions, I wonder if we are doing the poses to maximum effect. When we get home, we'll have to check out places where we can get lessons so we an continue to learn and develop some Yoga skills.

After the Yoga session, we went back to the boat for lunch and a little relaxation. Following our short respite, we hoped on the bikes and pedaled about 9 miles to Curry Hammock State Park. We arrived at around 1400 hours after a 50 minute ride. The entry fee for pedestrians and bicyclists is $2.50. We passed on entering, thinking we'll do that some day when we get there earlier in the day. We're looking forward to exploring the park.

We were back aboard SUNSHINE by 1600 hours and sat out in the cockpit for an hour or so,watching the dinghy traffic. It was a gorgeous afternoon, bright , sunny without a cloud in the sky. The wind was almost nonexistent so boats were lying on their moorings at different angles creating the look of chaos in the harbor. A bit of a bread keeps all the boats facing in pretty much the same direction giving the harbor the appearance of order.

Anna Marie made Chicken Paprika for dinner and after we enjoyed to meal, we fired up the generator and watched a couple of DVD's before hitting the sack.

The View from Our Back Porch!

Here are a few pics of what we get to look as we enjoy breakfast.

Bocce, a Fish Fry and Mayor Snead Goes up the Mast!

The day agreed out as most do, with breakfast and the Cruiser's Net. It's Friday and that means Bocce Ball. The numbers of people interested in playing is steadily growing, with four new teams adding to the four that started a few weeks ago.

Mayor Ginger Snead is up S/V About Time's mast
 to sign the Marathon Burgee

At 1500 hours, Mayor Ginger Snead, who reportedly is afraid of heights, was hoisted up the mast of S/V About Time. The Mayor participated in this event in support of the Cruiser's Net Relay for Life Team's effort to raise money for cancer research. She went up the mast to sign the new Marathon pennant. The pennants are on sale for $20.00.

After attending a workshop on water makers, we went to the local Methodist Church for the first fish fry of the season. We attended two fries last year. They were great and today's fry did not disappoint.

Back on the boat, we settled in for a movie and some popcorn.

Routine!

More Of the Same!

Well, our routine is fairly well established. It's Tuesday, so it must be Yoga time. After Yoga, we went back to the boat for lunch, then back to shore for a walk. The walk was interrupted after 15 minutes when I remembered that Anna Marie wanted to go to the craft meeting. We shuffled back to the marina where we found the craft group in full swing.

I spent the time in the TV room. After an hour, the craft group was over and we restarted our walk. This time we walked a little over a mile to the Red Box at Winn Dixie to return the rental movie. After a quick beverage, we made our way back the boat.

We are trying to eat all of our meals inboard because we are way over budget for meals out. We're trying to get this category under control. We did good today, we'll have to wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that Diver Mike, our neighbor aboard S/V Prime Interest, scrubbed the growth off our bottom. Once again, SUNSHINE is clean!

Liquid Sunshine On the Way

We got out for a little bike ride today. The weather forecast suggests there's a 50% chance for liquid sunshine and thunderstorms this evening, tomorrow afternoon, evening and Wednesday. It may be our last bike ride for awhile.

We usually shop at Publix, but today, we thought we'd check out the Winn Dixie, where we bought a few groceries and a bag of charcoal. Publix is a little bit nicer and probably more popular with the boating community because it is a bit closer to the marina.

The Beat Goes On!

Our active schedule continues. Besides Yoga (3x/week), Bocce Ball (1x/week), daily walks and/or bike rides, we also found time for another trip to Key West to watch the sailboat races not to mention a trip to Big Pine Key for the annual nauticaal flea market and the weekly flea market. The crew from Hielan' Lass made the latter two events possible as they offered to drive us there.

Upcoming events include a trip to the community theater to see "A Bad Year for Tomatoes." We also scored tickets to the Tennessee Williams Theater for an evening with Noel Paul Stooky (Paul, of Peter, Paul and Mary). That event is scheduled for mid February. We're really looking forward to it!

I'm experimenting with a new blog feature from AccuWeather. It's supposed to give the weather conditions here in Marathon. Let's see if it works. Click either the "forecast" or "Maps" link.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps