Casa Cudjoe Week 3

The fun and laughter continue at Casa Cudjoe. Week three brought us long time friends Debbie and John, from Starbuck, MN. Liz and Debbie have been buddies since 7th grade.

Jeff (John's brother) and Barb (went to college with Liz and Debbie) also came from Starbuck.

The weather has been sunny and in the 70's so we've been enjoying the pool.

Here are the four of them on the beach at Bahai Honda State Park. The beach was crowded when we were there in contrast to the sparse crowds we saw earlier this month.

We walked on the old bridge at the park to get this picture. In front is the beach and marina on the Florida Bay side and at the top of the picture is the ocean.

Flying high over Cudjoe Key is Fat Albert, a 175' tethered blimp that uses radar to monitor boat and air traffic for illegal activity. It also broadcasts TV Marti to Cuba. Fat Albert was down for our first two weeks here, but they launched him this week. Here's a link to a great story about Fat Albert if you want to read more...dunno if its true, but it's a pretty entertaining tale. http://www.balloonlife.com/publications/balloon_life/9701/fatalber.htm

On our Shingebiss boat ride this week, it was calm enough to finally get close to the American Shoals lighthouse. This lighthouse is one of several that run along the reef about 5 miles off the Atlantic shore of the Keys.

We found another great bike route on Sugarloaf Key. It's a loop road closed to cars and was originally built for a development that never happened. The road crosses over this inlet and great party spot.

John and Jeff have been fishing, last night we cooked up their daily catch. Tonight we are having a shrimp and lobster dinner with seafood purchased down the road. Just as on the boat, our best meals continue to be the ones we cook ourselves and this week Debbie has treated us with several of her culinary delights. We are really enjoying this part of our trip and we all love the Keys. Here's a picture of the house taken from the vacant lot across the canal. We're spending alot of our time hanging out right near that umbrella you see on the deck, next to the pool.

Today, Steve finally taught me how to drive the dinghy and here we are, with him in the bow and me at the helm. He didn't think I could pull start it, but (surprise !) I did it.