I have no earthly idea what I did to this computer on the last entry but it seems the only way to cure it was to quit and start Part Two. So to continue our story we had just escaped the pirates and…
We made it all the way to Anchorage! No, we did not overshoot our destination and go to Alaska; we went to Anchorage Marina located on Jewfish Creek Pass at the base of Hwy A1A on the north tip of Key Largo. This is a great marina. We are docked right behind the pool. There is a tennis court, shuffleboard, jacuzzi, restaurant and tiki bar.
We met two sweet ladies from Cape Cod at dinner. They have a time share here. Hope they are now reading the blog.
Now to the Red Letter Day. We awoke to noise on the dock where a number of people were staring into the water and taking pictures. Soon we joined them and saw two Key West Manatees drinking freshwater from a leaking pipe. You can attract them like this with a hose but that is illegal. A leaking pipe is OK. It appeared to be a mother and older calf. They are great gentle creatures and unafraid of people. The small one had several propeller scars on its back.
Today was a day to run a few errends and we only had our bikes. So up the ramp to Hwy A1A bridge and into town. We would ultimately ride 15 miles and Jan would accuse me several times of tricking her but I assure you that was not the case. I told her it was 4-5 miles to West Marine and it was. Then a gal at West Marine told us it was only a mile to K-Mart but it turned out to be closer to three. Anywaay Jan did just fine and we rode at her pace.
At West Marine I had to straighten out a return problem from the 31st when I had asked Pam Maley to return a bag of items. She did but the receipt did not show but two out of three so I had called and told the store I would be there in a few days when I was closer.
The Manager was not very customer friendly and asked how he would know she actually returned those items. I counted ten and explained: 1. I was a retired judge and not in the habit of lying about $16.64; 2. I had just ridden one of their Port Runner bikes from Anchorage Marine in traffic and I was serious about this; 3. All he had to do was use his computerized inventory. He said that if the items were not scanned in then there would be no record. I told him that was precisely my point. Check the computer and see how many it says you have and then we will go and count how many you actually have and if you are overstocked on the two items then they are the ones Pam returned. Voila! I won.
Then off to K-Mart, there are no Walmarts in the Keys, where we overbought. By that I mean we picked up some items that would not fit in our backpacks.
On the return trip we just threw money away right and left. We picked up holding tank cleaner at True Value, bought Jan a pair of Colombia sandals at the Sandal Factory Outlet and ate at one of our prior favorites The Fish House.
As we were riding back down the highway we heard someone shouting STOP. Now here is a coincidence. Ron and Jan Baysden from Dawsonville, GA were running toward us. Jan had spotted us and screamed for Ron to pull the car over. She said there goes Cbay. Now the Baysdens know us through our daughter Karen. Karen cuts Jan’s hair at Lava Salon in Dawsonville and we learned of their loop in 2010 from Karen. We caught up on the side of the road. They are docked over on the Atlantic side and waiting for a weather window to cross over to Bimini. Goes to show you cannot go anywhere or do anything without being spotted so be careful out there.
As we approached the marina under the bridge I paused to look at the “mother of all Chicken Boats”. These old hippie dippies squat here and are a blight on the landscape. No-one does anything about it and if we parked Cbay here we would get a ticket in a few days.
As I left there were some observers across the road that may know more about what is on that boat that I do.
Finally the end.
