January 2020 –
As we settle in to our slip at Sombrero Marina, we discovered that life in the Keys is not like anywhere else. Certainly not like the west coast of Florida, with its glitzy cities like Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and not like the polished upscale resort towns of Sanibel, Naples, or Marco Island. It’s much more casual, unpretentious, come-as-you-are. The nearby Dockside bar has an interesting array of …characters… who hang out long before the nightly entertainment starts (and in fact, some ARE the entertainment!)
Most of the larger boats have cruised here from somewhere colder, to hang out for the winter, and some older boats seem to have gotten stuck here for many winters, and perhaps never left. We meet quite a few Loopers that we have cruised with before, and some new ones we hadn’t met. Warm days, comfortably cool nights, wind (and more wind), sunsets (and more sunsets), pelicans and manatees, exploring the local happy hour landscape. Riding bikes to the beach (and the store, or to restaurants), using the dinghy to go exploring, putting our bar stocks to good use, it’s like every day is Saturday.
Oh, sure, there are the boat projects, and the general life things that get in the way, too. ‘So, I’ll get to updating my blog later/tomorrow/next week…’
Until then, it’s just sunrise, projects, relax, play, sunset. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…
