We broke out our little dinghy and headed for the shore. We found a little Bay side restaurant called The Quay that allowed us to dock at their pier while we ate at their restaurant, of course, and did some shopping. We had to walk two miles into town so that we could get a new inverter at West Marine. At least we are getting our exercise. We called Willie and Heidi but they had to work night and day at the Ocean Reef Club. They are tennis pros there and give lots of lessons and help run tournaments, so they work lots of hours. Willie asked us to call again at dinner time when he would have a break for a while, so we ate at The Quay again and called him. Ruth and Big Willie will be flying in from Milwaukee on December 26 and we plan to spend some time with them.

December 24 - 25, 1999:

Again today we dinghied in to shore and this time walked to the K-Mart, about 1.5 miles from The Quay. We bought 8 large blocks of ice and I finally convinced Mark to purchase a little luggage tow on wheels so that we can get more provisions and not have to carry them. I worked pretty well. We also bought a few Christmas presents for each other and Up Works a word game for us to play. I have been putting a Christmas puzzle together, but I finished it so it was time for something new. We walked back to The Quay and called Willie, we made arrangements to meet Willie and Heidi at the Quay for Christmas Eve dinner. We planned on going out to Sankaty in the dinghy, put the ice in the box and leave the gifts on board, then head back to The Quay for dinner. It was extremely windy and the seas were also really bad. I got drenched and the boat rocked too much from side to side. By the time we made it back to the Sankaty, I decided that I was not going to go in it for a long time. I'd had it. It would have been dangerous and irresponsible to go back in the dinghy, so we called Willie at the pro shop and cancelled. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day rocking and rolling in the boat afraid to go to shore in the dinghy. We played games and I made a beans and rice dish with chicken that was really good, but it sure didn't seem like Christmas, we were really bummed. We called our sons and talked a little, which made us feel better. We joined Maritel that allows us to call from the boat VHF marine radio for $ 1.49/minute. It isn't for regular communication, but when you can't get to land, it comes in handy. It only costs $50- a year and is good all up and down the East coast and the Great Lakes as well as Florida. Not a bad deal, or at least while we sat water-bound we thought so.

Big Willie and Ruth's plane came in very early in the morning on December 26, and they came and picked us up from Anchorage Resort and Marina where we are staying for a while so that we can connect easily while we are visiting. We went over to a house that they are staying at for part of their stay. Willie is house sitting and watching a cute little yapping dog named Snooks. The house is right out of Better Homes and Gardens, even nicer than that. It has ceramic tile floors throughout the house and a wide open floor plan with gigantic ceilings. The pool and hot tub is all screened in and we sat out their in the sun opening our presents which came in the mail. All of sudden it felt like Christmas, with the familiar friendly faces of our relatives and the messages from the ones back home. Margaret, my sister, sent me homemade cookies and candies for a taste of home. They were wonderful and transported us to Christmas. Thank you Margaret ! We received packages of dry soup mixes from Regina, the perfect gift for the cruisiers. Thank you Reg! Ruth gave us the usual bars of Swiss Chocolate, of yes - Now its Christmas.

That evening we went to the Fish House for dinner with Big Willie, Ruth, Little Willie ( this is ridiculous to still call him this, he is getting married next September and is all grown up, but it distinguishes him from his dad without using Junior),

Heidi, and their friends Darcy and John. We had a great time!

December 26, 1999:

Last night we slept in Willie's room at the club and were picked up this morning early to go to Key West with Big Willie, Ruth, and Heidi. We rented a big double mattress and Heidi and I layed on the beach and soaked up the intermittent rays. We even took it for a ride out into the water, Heidi kicking us all the way. We met a friend of Heidi's there that has a Pizza stand and makes big bucks settling the pizza for $ 3.00 a slice. Sounds like a lot but its right in line with other prices here in this over-priced paradise. We had some and I can see why they do so well. Really authentic Italian pizza. We stayed for the Celebration of the Sunset and watched all the little acts; like the magician, the fire thrower, and the unicycle act. We had a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade at a stand owned by the mother of the girl at the Pizza stand. I forgot their names, sorry Heidi.

This brought back memories of the time that Mark and I came down to the Keys with the boys back in 1982. I took a class on the Florida Keys and we brought the whole family down for a vacation while I went off to snorkel at nearby Looe Key. We went to the Celebration of the Sunset and it hasn't changed much; even the Cookie Lady was there. She was riding a grown up tricycle, all decorated with fake flowers and with large square tolehouse cookies clipped to her cycle with clothes pins. She calls out "Cookies, The best Chocolate Chip Tolehouse Cookies" for sale. Those cookies costs $3.00 each and the most ridiculous thing is that after hearing the price, people still buy them. She must make a mint with her little scam. I see everything here through different eyes. I was all so exotic to me before, but now I see beneath it all. It is really funny how jaded we become with age.

After the sunset and all the beautiful pictures were taken of the old clipper sailboats sailing across the bay in the sunset, we drove back towards Key Largo. We stopped at PaPa Joe's Restaurant in Islamorada for dinner. The food was outstanding but the service was terrible. We all made fun of it and had a good sense of humor about it which made the evening enjoyable. I had coconut shrimp with mango chutney and sea food bisque which was absolutely outstanding. Others had blackened dolphin and cobia, Island chicken and conch chowder. We are planning taking Ruth, and Mara, Little Willie's fiance, for a sailboat ride around 1:30 P.M. tomorrow.

December 28, 1999: