Sunshine Key Area

Thought I would show you around a little. Sunshine Key is actually Ohio Key and is located at the eastern end of the "7 Mile Bridge"which incidentally is a great place to fish. The bridge itself is reasonably new having replaced the old bridge in the late 70's. The older parts of the bridge that are still intact offer places to fish from or walk . The water is relatively shallow and there is usually lots to see including dolphin, rays, fish and after a heavy wind Portugese Man of war jelly fish.The beach off the western edge of the key although not many swim there.The picture below was taken on the old bridge facing the campground. Note the walkers and the always present pelican waiting for someone to catch a fish for him. Note the rail for the bridge is made from old railroad rail from the original bridge which was built for Flagler's railroad to Key West.
The campground takes up half of the Key with the other half being a wildlife sanctuary. There is a large marina with a boat launch, bait & fishing shop, dive shop and fuel station. Below is the water entrance to the marina.
One of the groups that we have seen on a regular basis is the Wandering Wheels bicycle tour group that stops regularly on their ride from Key Largo to Key West. The group is very mixed relative to age and they only go shorter distances stopping here among other places to eat and sleep. They have support vehicles that follow and go ahead for setup.


Although the bicycling is kind of neat, we enjoy our many activities including another dinner and fun at the club house. Here we are with Matt and Alice enjoying.

Sunshine Key

We arrived here at Sunshine Key a little over week ago and it seems like were home. Seeing old friends we have met over the years and catching up on all the gossip has been fun. Time is flying and I haven't been able to keep up with this blog but I thought by posting a bunch of pictures you might get some idea of whats been happening.

At the helm of our new boat

Out in the Atlantic for the first time.

The drawbridge at Boot Key (Marathon)

The old bridge and channel from the Gulf to the Atlantic

Our old boat....now belonging to Alice (above) and Matt from Long Island

Matt & Alice...Grumpy (Marvin) and Joann at the dinner dance.

Three wise (?) men
Dancing the night away

Marge and I with our clothes line project.

Oops! Not my fault the truck was parked at Home Depot and someone was late for work....Really!!

More soon!

Christmas and the New Year

Where to start.....

We flew home for the Holidays and stayed 15 days and nights catching up on everything from Doctors and Dentists to seeing old friends and trying to do far too much. Something different will be planned for next year although I am not sure what yet. It sure was busy!Molly, our granddaughter doing her imitation of the "Grinch"

The kids of course make Christmas something to behold, I even got to play trains with them.

Thats "spiderman Jack" helping Grandpa with the trains

Another special event over the Holidays was our neighbors and old friends celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary with a dinner and many special friends

Art and Jean Laurie

Its always good to spend time with friends but we were anxious to get back to warm climates and pick up that new boat we ordered. Our flight back Friday was delayed but Saturday morning bright and early we were there to pickup our new boat....three hours later our friends the Armstrongs joined us on our maiden voyage.

The "Captain and his Mate"

Next stop is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for a few days of familiarizing our selves with the boat with a little exploring on the side, then on to Sunshine Key and familiar waters.