Grab a comfy seat and cup of coffee.
My son, Daniel and his girlfriend, Christina visited us all the way from Eagle River, Alaska. Their visit lasted two weeks and if we didn't know how to take pictures before, we certainly do now.
We took ALOT of photos and I'll share some with you here.
ARRIVAL
After a few airports and long hours, they arrived. We met up with them about 9pm est on the 31st of October. We walked over to the Conch Republic Restaurant so they could relax, unwind and grab a bite to eat. Naturally, we couldn't leave without taking a selfie - our first one of many.
On The Boat
Here's a small collection of photos on Sanibel during their visit.
Space was tight. during the day most everyone stayed in the cockpit. The evening we played Mexican train or exploding kittens in the saloon and for sleeping, Daniel and Christina shared the space in the V-berth while Brittany slept in the saloon. We would shuffle bags and suitcases around as need to make space.
Not sure what Christina was looking at.
We ate well. I fixed big breakfast and supper meals every day. The last few days Daniel and Christina took over for me Our breakfasts alternated between pancakes, eggs, sausage patties and hash browns, french Toast, biscuits and gravy and corned beef hash and eggs.Lunches consisted of cold sandwiches and for supper, we ate pork tenderloin, hamburgers, homemade chicken pot pie, burritos and pizza just to name a few.
Yummy!
Here Christina is fixing both pancakes and biscuits and gravy.
Daniel is chowing down on his favorite: biscuits and gravy.
I think this was his birthday breakfast
We were all on the deck watching the boat races.
Nice racing boat going by.
Time for another selfie.
Walking Around Town
We did a lot of walking around town. Sometimes we had a purpose like going to do laundry, getting groceries and shopping and other times we were walking to see the sights and for something to do. Either way, we were together in beautiful sunny Florida.
This guy!
I wonder if Alaska is on that post.
Walking the dock.
Selfie.
Tall ship for the tourists.
The tarpon are large; about the size of an adult leg.
Cruise ship. They stop in Key West nearly every day. Sometimes there are several per day.
See Brittany to the left - that's just how big these ships are, Evan the anchors are bigger than we are.
The famous Marilyn Monroe pose. This sculpture is outside the movie theater.
This is a well-known truck. I've posted numerous photos of it through the years.
The root system of the trees in southern Florida is really cool.
Yummy - Daniel didn't want a cake for his birthday, so we went for ice cream. I failed to get a picture of the birthday boy, but here's Christina with her shake.
Souvenirs
The train.
I took this photo for my uncle who owned a service station named "Mac's".
And more souvenirs.
Arriving at the dinghy dock; Jimi is tieing up.
This is on Mallory square. Every evening street performers entertain the tourists.
We call this Frenchman the Crazy Cat Guy. He trains about five cats to do tricks. He talks during the show, but no one can understand him. The funniest part is when he leans forward, opens his mouth wide and lets out a really loud 'blah/scream'. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but that's the reason Jimi and I call him the crazy cat guy.
Our second to last night, we went to Mr. Z's pizza, which is, unquestionably, the best pizza in town.
Bicycles For A Day
We rented bicycles and traveled nearly the entire island.
Daniel at Mile 0 on Hwy 1.
We started off with breakfast sandwiches at the Cuban Coffee Queen.
Hungry and waiting for fooood.
Brittany made friends with a local.
Yet another group selfie with my selfie stick. I was armed and ready for the day.
This is the motto for Mel Fisher. We were at the Mel Fisher museum and toured the retail store where samples of the treasure he found lives.
I was wearing my widow's mite necklace and the sales lady recognized it immediately. That's the first time anyone has and I felt so special.
Yes, we did have fun!
These next set of four pictures are of a Cuban chug. The last of the four photos explains it's history.
What's over there?
This is a new piece, I hadn't seen before.
These sculptures are done by a local artist.
Brittany makes friends wherever she goes.
What do you see Daniel?
Jimi has been caught pickpocketing.
Brittany had a chance to make a friend here, but instead she tried to take a bite
from this little girl's sandwich. Lol
There are giants among us.
This is what happens when you try to take a bite of someone else's sandwich.
A large fish will take a bite out of you.
Waiting in line a for a picture at the Southern Most Point.
The Southern Most Point with my selfie stick. :-)
On the pier with our bikes.
Lunch on the beach.
Time for another photo.
Jimi was photo ready.
Daniel was not and said, "don't take my picture."
"Stop taking my picture"
"Ok fine, You can take my picture". Mom wins!
Stopped to talk to this parrot for a while. He hollered at us when we left.
With my phone and selfie stick ready, I asked everyone to take a picture of them riding their bike.
Me up first.
Brittany's debut.
Jimi reaches for the sky.
Daniel's in competition.
Christina, having the gang behind her, wins the prize for the best shot.
Aren't they cute?
Local art.
Island Exploring
We sailed out to the Marquesas Keys and anchored for a few days. While there, we explored an island. This island had one lonely palm tree and the rest was thick brush.
I believe the sign said it was a wildlife preserve or something.
Daniel playing with his GoPro on a self-made selfie stick.
Dinghy ride to the island.
Jelly fish - we saw quite a lot of them.
Lonely but healthy palm tree.
Another jelly fish. Daniel put his GoPro under water to video tape it.
Talking and walking along.
We find all kinds of things on the beach.
Dragon fly hanging on in the wind.
One of many Cuban chugs on the beach. We found at least six on this beach alone. Many still have provisions, clothing, and backpacks. It reminds me how everything has a story behind it and I wish I knew what they were.
Jimi took some video of the chugs we found.
There weren't too many birds on the beach, which seemed odd.
An engine on the beach.
See the earth really is round...oh ya and this in Daniel and Christina.
Boat Parade
The last weekend of their visit was the World Boat Racing Event. If you watched it on NBC Sports, you probably saw us and Sanibel. This set of pictures is the parade the night before the competition. Participants loaded up their boats and drove them down Duval Street, well actually the parked them on Duval so we could gawk at them. Some were so large, they had to be transported on their side.
Yes, it's pink and I love pink, but it's not so much my style. However, it would be perfect for Christina.
This is Miss Geico - my vote.
Boat Races
And then there were the races. We anchored in a prime, front row spot the night before. Hundreds of other boats joined us and our front row spot became mid row. It was ok though because we weren't harassed by the Coast Guard.
There's more on the races here.
And here's a video I found on Youtube from the race event.
These are the NBC Sports coverage of the event.
We could possibly be in one of these. The helicopter flow over us a couple of time and shot their cameras straight at us.
Daniel on the spreaders on the main mast,
Not so many boats around us yet.
This is a great aerial of Sanibel.
Jimi took some great photos of the races below.
Diving, Swimming and Lobster Hunting
We took a day and sailed to the reef for some snorkeling and lobster hunting. Christina was a bit sea sick and stayed on the boat to sleep. I wasn't physically able to snorkel due to an unknown illness, so the fun was left up to Daniel, Brittany, and Jimi.
Coming back from the reefs.
Ha-ha this pelican came by Sanibel begging for snacks just like a puppy would.
I didn't have anything for him.
A Past Time of Pool
We spent roughly three or four evening at Schooner's Warf playing pool. We had the entire room to ourselves. It was pretty much just right for us.
Daniel coaching Christina.
Brittany's got this.
Partners.
I'm not sure what was going on here, but I do know it's nothing like it looks. We all had a great time.
It's wonderful what the camera captures and when.
Jimi always wins.
The End
Ok, by the last night, we were all kind of tired and poopy.
The three of us took our last selfie together at sunset
For fourteen days we went non-stop.
These pictures are only a small portion of the photos taken and not including the dozens of video clips we took. Speaking for myself, it was a fabulous and incredible trip and a true honor for me ti have the kids come all the way from Alaska. I hope they enjoyed their vacation as much as I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment