Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Key West, Fl

     We enjoyed a nice quiet weekend here in Key West.  Friday night we wandered over to Geiger Key Marina which looks like it's going to be one of Debbie's favorite haunts.  They do a great job of welcoming everyone, and tonight they had live music.  He guitar player played lots of "oldies" from the 60's & 70's including some Johnny Cash tunes, and had a great toast in between songs.  He liked to hold up his glass and announce to everyone to drink on "three"!  Then he'd hollar "three"! Don't know what happened to 1&2, but after the first one, we all caught on quite quickly.  I even went with the hog fish platter which certainly surprised Debbie since I'm not much of a fish connoisseur.
     Debbie broke the cardinal rule about talking to strangers, and invited a group of people to sit with us since tables were getting scarce.  It's just picnic tables, so what's the harm.  The girl warned us that there were several included in their party, to which I responded, "we'll have to cuddle then" or something like that. Marie sat right down and was soon joined by her partner Mary, Mary's mother from Colorado and a mother/son duo.  I don't remember the relationship to the group the mother/son duo was but she may have been a sister to Mary.  Anyway....they were very pleasant and we had a great time visiting and swapping stories. Marie is an electrical engineer and is quite familiar with the north country, having spent time as far north as Rouses Point.  They live in New Jersey now.  Debbie was able to coax an invitation over to their house for a kayak trip.  Seems like they have several kayaks at their rental.  Haven't got over there yet, but they're only a mile or so away.  
   

Saturday we decided to return to Key West and do the touristy thing again.  We wandered down to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and ran into the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, WHEC 35.  She's now a museum, having been decommissioned in 1988. She had quite an amazing history, having seen action back into WW II.  She claims to be the only Coast Guard vessel to have sunk a German U-boat.  

 She was launched in 1936, having cost around $2 million to build.  Her service to the country continued beyond the Vietnam War, actively patrolling the Caribbean on search and rescue missions involving Cubans fleeing the the U.S. and interdiction of tons of marijuana destined to the U.S.

     After touring the Ingham, we wandered over to Duval Street to to check out some of the shops and find a little bite to eat.  Debbie like to work those tourist maps, and located a beach  here at Fort Zachary Taylor.  Doing a little research, she found that there was some great snorkeling off the beach and there was plenty of shade for me.  Everyone knows how I love the beach!  Anyway, we decided to check it out on Sunday.

Before head to Saturday Evening Mass, we just had to wander around the Key West Cemetery.  I'm thinking Debbie wants to do the Ghost tour around Key West before we leave also.
     Sunday we hit the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor.  I think it's going to be Debbie's favorite place in America.  $2 to get in and $5 to park the car.  That's quite a bargain for KW.  The water was great / lots of fish around to view while snorkeling. That was until Debbie ran into a barracuda.  He kinda got her attention.  We saw a ray jump out of the water just a short distance from where we were swimming.  That was pretty neat.  They had showers, snack bar and lots of pine trees offering lots of shade for me. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me on this trip, but we'll be returning on Tuesday for another visit.  I'll get lots of pictures.  Tonight (Monday) we'll be heading out for a sundown cruise off of Key West on a 37' catamaran.  Drinks and snacks and live music included.  Should be a great time.