Nighttime Stock Island

I took an early break around eleven the other night and wide awake as I was it seemed a ride out to Stock Island was the thing to do.Carol mentioned this was the bar and marina that was depicted in the movie 92 In The Shade. I think it looks better with a Bonneville in front. Stock Island looks dark and full of possibilities, none of which materialized in point of fact.I liked the look of this strange house, boarded up and presenting a blank face to the world. Bernstein Park is the heart of Stock Island recreational possibilities, apparently funded by the family best known for owning Wisteria ("Christmas Tree") Island struggling to develop that island to the max.And in the cool night breeze we could see that our flags were still there. I believe Florida has seen the flags of seven nations flying and now we use the red flag of St Andrew to represent the state that hires a crooked businessman for governor. Oops! I love the name of this street, a reference to Key West's pink gold.

There were large redevelopment plans for this tatty street. Nothing much so far and long may it stay this way. One good result of a messed up economy. Hogfish was open and operating at 11:30 pm. I stopped and went after a picture, not quite the moment for a drink was it...

My favorite eatery of all, and we will return here later for a final breakfast with the super Therese, a Frenchwoman from Alabama once upon a time.

This is the heart of downtown Stock Island, a store and a gathering place.

Headed back to highway one this was the view at the light with a wobbly hand.

This was the rather more prosaic picture I was trying to get.

Twenty four hour gas.

On my way back to the office I stopped at Smathers Beach for a look and a smell of the night sea air. It was lovely and fresh and full of energy:

After my shift was over I had a date to eat breakfast back at El Mocho with my wife and Therese who was picking up a rental car to drive to Miami Airport for her flight home to Paris.The recycle store on Stock Island was worth a stop especially as I was ahead of schedule by a few minutes. And then breakfast, bacon eggs and con leche- $18 for three.

A good way to end a twelve hour shift.

Return To Marvin Key

The plan was to ride Chuck and Wayne's 21-foot boat to Marvin Key, and this time find sand at low tide. Therese, our peripatetic French friend visiting from her home in Holland. Therese likes tropical heat and Florida in winter is better than Holland, though it could be warmer- witness the jacket. Wayne was benefiting from some dog heat (Zuzu or Tootie).
The engine alarm buzzer went off much to the boys' consternation. "It does that every time we get here!" was the lament. I diagnosed over heating and in fact we found a large clump of weed on the 150 hp outboard, accumulated during our run through a shallow channel.
Cheyenne ignored all this commotion and snuggled herself a bed in the cuddy cabin.Captain Crabmore, aka Chuck, was busy navigating, his stubble glinting alluringly in the sharp sunlight. Ah, yes at last Marvin Key at low-ish tide.

Wayne got ready to leap onto the sandbar, dock line in hand, while I disentangled the anchor and it's line. The curvature of the Earth is clearly visible in this picture.

Everyone was ready for a walk after twenty minutes on the boat.

It was a scene worthy of an epic movie this sand bar under the blazing Florida sun. Cheyenne understood the merit of the situation immediately and struck a regal Labrador pose (after relieving herself in the privacy of the mangrove bushes).

Small stick figures pottered about back and forth like characters in a silent play.Therese forgot for a moment that she is a high powered lawyer with a diplomatic passport issued by the United Nations and took off her sandals to go for a walk.The water was running fast and blue in the channel between the islands.

Zuzu and Tootie got into the playing thing.Cheynne struck another of her favorite poses.The water temperature was rather brisk but the Pied Piper of Viszlas was abroad in his green shoes.

The tide was further out, quite visibly, as we walked away from the boat, looking like a rather disreputable bunch of Cuban refugees. well heeled perhaps, but refugees nonetheless.Chuck looking "Australian" according to Wayne, a man who seeks the exotic in his relationships. Wayne assured me Chuck was explaining to Therese and my wife about the most enormous size of his most important attribute in this picture, below:It seemed prudent to put some distance between myself and the rather substantive conversation going on up ahead.Can you believe I live here, or at least within a twenty minutes boat ride of this Paradise?Chuck is rather conservative in his tastes, as evidenced by his footwear:

Therese, heavy in a conversation with Wayne about their mutual experiences living in the Ivory Coast, was wearing her subdued and efficient sandals:Wayne likes electric green Nuthingz:My wife bought these Crocs in Bend, Oregon last summer:I nearly went arse over tip trying to photograph myself walking through the rising tide, so I stopped trying to multi task and paused long enough to record my own footwear in the rising waters of Marvin Key.By now we were all forced to wade every step of the way. The tide was low at 8 am, by now it was closer to ten and high tide was supposed to be at noon. On the Gulf of Mexico side of the islands the tides are totally uneven.Therese was unfazed by this turn of events, she was not planning on drowning as they need her back at the International Court of Justice in the Hague next week.

The boat was where we had left it though water was spilling over the sands by now.Other people were buzzing round like demented blue bottles looking for somewhere to launch their kayak.When all else fails rely on your dog to cheer you up.

She had a rip snorting good time on the sand. It's too bad the family that used to own her never bothered to show Cheyenne how to swim, or how to enjoy herself on the beach.

And as I waxed philosophical about the happiness of my dog the tide contin ued to roll in.When I showed Therese an online manifesto from the right wing nutters complaining about the United Nations wanting to take away people's guns she replied dryly: "And people say the U N never does anything!"We pushed the dogs on board and pushed the boat out into deep water....after retrieving the anchor and the dog water bowl...Somewhere between us and Sugarloaf Key we passed these people out fishing.Just another great day on the water in the Fabulous Florida Keys.