Bill and Cathy McArthur Summer/Fall 2004: 14

   We traveled to Alex and Phil's for 2 nights during mid-November to celebrate Bridget's 2nd Birthday. Stacey and Bill flew in from Atlanta and also stayed for 2 nights. Phil's brother Craig stayed over on Friday night, so we slept in the RV in sub-30 degree temperatures. On Saturday, Tom and Katie and Phil's parents and grandmother, Meemaw, arrived in time for the birthday celebration and dinner. It was a lot of fun watching Erin help Bridget open her presents and it's always great to get together with family. Bill and Stacey returned with us in order to celebrate their 1st Anniversary by staying in Congress Hall. We felt honored to be able to share their celebration with dinner at Union Park (our last with Chris Hubert as the chef) and at the Blue Pig in Congress Hall. We had stored their wedding cake top in our freezer for the year and enjoyed sharing that with them on their Anniversary.

     On Tuesday, November 16 we left at 1:00 AM (yes, an hour after midnight) to drive to the Florida Keys for a couple of weeks. We had easy driving and were below Washington DC by 5:00 AM as the rush hour traffic thickened. We stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and took an hour's nap in a rest area during mid-morning. Refreshed, we drove a total of almost 1000 miles and stayed (free) at a truck stop south of Jacksonville, Florida. We slept in until 5:00 AM and headed south; we discovered that our alternator had stopped charging the coach battery. We accomplished our goal of having lunch at Hobo's in Key Largo at 12:30 PM. We drove on down to the Fiesta Key KOA Campground and set up in a campsite very close to the water. Bill remembered his day of infamy during the Rum Runner 2001 when he was dumped from his kayak as he neared Fiesta Key. This stay was much happier and far more relaxing. We watched a beautiful sunset from our campsite had dinner in the RV and turned in fairly early. Cathy was beginning to develop a cold (from Bridget?) and wasn't looking forward to our planned 20 mile hike the next day. Early the next morning, Bill decided to go with the flow of the Keys and just enjoy a relaxing day. We had a relaxing breakfast with a water view followed by some weightlifting. Afterward we took a walk/run down Long Key. Cathy walked 6 miles while Bill ran for 3.1 miles and walked for almost 5 miles. We broke camp and drove toward Key West. We ate lunch at Boondocks on Ramrod Key (mm 27.5) which we highly recommend, especially the conch chowder. We arrived at Boyd's Campground (mm 5) on Stock Island around 2:00 PM. Our campsite was right on the beach, a few feet from the water. We took our time setting up camp and then took a walk around the depressed and depressing Stock Island. The Island is covered with rusty trailers which we suspect will eventually be replaced by condos with water views. We had another relaxing dinner in the RV and then watched the Virginia Tech/Maryland football game. On Friday, we did our annual circumambulation of Key West; this time we had some additional mileage on Stock Island to add to the total. To compensate, we didn't walk into the Bahaman Village, but bordered our track with Duval Street. We lunched at the Schooner Wharf Bar which never changes. Cathy's cold and her back were bothering her, but she made it through the 12 mile walk. Cathy couldn't eat dinner, so Bill cooked Red Beans and Rice in the RV. On Saturday morning, Cathy's cousin Ruth Ann and her husband Harry picked us up and we drove to Fort Zachary Taylor on Key West to view the Offshore Powerboat Races (seen by Bill and his friend Howie in 2001 ). The course goes right by the state park's jetty where we set up to watch the 3 races for the day (10:00, 12:30, 2:00). We heard a report that one of the boats had a maximum speed of 150 mph and we heard of average speeds around 100 mph. The boats were from 20 to 50 feet from us as they roared by. We arrived back at the campground around 4:30 PM and, later, walked in the rain to dinner at Cafe Sole on Southard Street which is our newest favorite restaurant in Key West. We took the bus back ($1 exact change). On Sunday morning, we walked in the Key West to watch the power boat races. We ate brunch at the Rooftop Restaurant near Mallory Square (very good). We watched the races from Mallory Square and got a different point of view since we were near the tight turn in the inlet. We caught a bus back to the campground and Ruth Ann and Harry picked us up to go to dinner at Blue Heaven which used to be our favorite Key West Restaurant. Each year, Blue Heaven become a bit less rustic and more like any other touristy restaurant; Bill thinks that they've reached their goal and no longer are of interest to us. They had a very annoying 4 piece musical group which retarded conversation; their traditional corn bread was replaced by anemic mini corn muffins; there were no chickens or cats roaming among the tables. On Monday, we drove to Ruth Ann and Harry's home on Sugarloaf Key. Bill and Harry spent a great day fishing from Harry's boat; Cathy and Ruth Ann went to water aerobics and lunch in Key West. We enjoyed a feast of the catch of the day (pompano) and some halibut left over from Harry and Ruth Ann's summer trip to Alaska. Tuesday was supposed to be a nice day weatherwise, but it rained off and on all day and then rained most of the night. We began with a run/walk past Smathers Beach and extended it to a walk to Duval Street, where we ate lunch at Croissants de France. We did some browsing and shopping and worked our way past the Historic Seaport. We tired of walking in some hard rain and finally caught a bus about 3 miles from the campground. We walked about 10 total miles. We pan-fried fish from Monday since it was too wet to use the grill. It rained so hard overnight that we ran our air conditioner for the first time so we could close our roof vents and side windows. Dawn broke on Wednesday revealing a gorgeous day, but, in the tropics, rain isn't far away. We drove to Publix for some shopping and then drove to Big Pine Key for bike riding and to use the Internet Cafe there. We grilled the rest of the fish from Monday for dinner. We look forward to Thanksgiving at Ruth Ann and Harry's and to Happy Holidays 2004.

        Bill and Cathy