Day 209 Sunday, January 15, 2023
Stock Island
Still not comfortable with public transportation we opted to Uber to church at The Basilica of St. Mary, Star of the Sea. The Basilica was the first Catholic parish in South Florida and the 3rd oldest Catholic parish in all of Florida. The Basilica includes a school, meditation garden, a grotto celebrating Our Lady of Lourdes, outdoor Stations of the Cross, the Perpetual Adoration Chapel and a gift shop. The church was packed with parishioners, ushers directing the standing room only crowd. The music was beautiful.
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto was built by Sister Louise Gabriel who survived 3 major hurricanes. By building the grotto she sought protection from the Blessed Mary against future hurricanes. There hasn't been a severe storm on Key West since the Grotto was built in 1922.
Jerry and I enjoyed a walk around Key West and ended up at Southernmost on the Beach for lunch. We have been there on past visits to Key West.
This rooster joined us for lunch.
Home still decorated for Christmas
After walking Duval Street to Mallory Square we Ubered back to the boat in time to see our friends on Arion arrive. Time to enjoy beach tales with Arlene, Al, Danny, Susan, Rocky and Deb (Danny's sister and hubby). All fun except when I discovered the MULTIPLE No See Um bites I experienced. I feel like bait.
Beach view of the former Tiki Hut bar and docks at the marina. They were destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Day 210 Monday, January 16, 2023
Time to figure out transportation. Bike ride to Key West was on the agenda to check out the traffic and see how long it would take to get to church. Forty five minutes and 5.5 miles later we have our route figured out. No more $$ to get to church.
The dreaded crab pots are built around the corner from our marina.
We met our friends at the pool and made plans for cards on Phil-N-Wild after a dinner of salad and chicken penne pasta in marinara sauce.
Day 211 Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Today we headed by bus to Key West with Arlene and Al. The bus is a great deal - only 50 cents each way for seniors.
Al and Jerry waiting for the bus. Don't stand in the grass -- fire ants!
We walked to Duval Street, found some ice cream and took our pictures at the southern tip marker. This is a very popular tourist stop. There is even a web cam where you can wave to family or check out all the visitors. Recently, illegal immigrants were caught on camera as they came ashore there. They were immediately met by border protection officers.
Banyan tree
We introduced Arlene and Al to Willie T's and were joined by Susan, Danny, Deb and Rocky. They had driven in earlier in the day to check out some of the tourist attractions. Sloppy Joe's for dinner with Al and Arlene where we tried out their famous Sloppy Joe sandwich. It was tasty and definitely messy; I like the North Country version better.
Al, Arlene and Susan
The Mile 0 marker is at the end of Interstate 1 that runs from Key West to Fort Kent, Maine. The highway is 2,370 miles long and is the longest north - south road in the US. Jerry has been at both ends!!
More adventure for the day -- we hopped a ride on the Perry Hotel shuttle back to Stock Island. (Don't tell!!) We still needed to walk 30 minutes from the hotel to our marina but it was well lit. The end of a very fun day.
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