Holidays In Marathon!

It's hard to believe we have been in Marathon for just over two weeks now. We were both very tired when we arrived but have managed to do several maintenance jobs in spite of it.

I started back at Castaway's Restaurant the Friday after Christmas. It has been great to see all my friends there and it didn't take me long to get back into the swing. We had a very busy night last night, New Year's Eve. Larry joined me after things settled down and we ate before ringing in the New Year with the gang. It made for a late night so we haven't left the boat as of yet today. I have to work tonight and will go to shore for a shower before leaving for Castaway's.

It was different staying here in Marathon for Christmas. We joined our friends Pete and Dee (S/V Windlass) at Dockside Bar and Grill for a gathering of cruisers and a pot luck dinner, complete with live music. They had a full place and had to turn away several people. If you brought a dish to pass your dinner was free. If you didn't you paid $10 each. What a deal! Dockside provided turkey, roast pig and ham. If you went away hunger it was your own fault. I believe a good time was had by all.

The picture shows our new dinghy (inflatable roll up) we bought in Virginia off another cruiser. Larry in the picture has our Mercury 3.3 on it but has since bought a used Mariner 8 hp off another cruiser down here. He was test driving it but we have to wait for our registration to arrive before we can use it full time. We are also having the new engine tuned up at a local boat shop tomorrow. I'll be taking this dinghy to work at night and Larry doesn't want to have to rescue me late at night. I appreciate that.

We have made two trips to Sombrero Beach so far and intend to get ourselves there more often this season. The picture was a sand igloo some beach goer had sculpted. I'm not sure if they just had a good sense of humor or longed for some snow for the Holidays. Our second visit to the beach we were amazed a how crowed it was. We decided to wait until after the Holidays to make a return trip.