2013-10 Jolly Roger in the Florida Keys

We arrived in Marathon FL on October 1 and started work the very next day. Contracted for the winter (busy season), we worked near full-time and were pretty exhausted at the end of most work days. Concrete work, laying new sod, painting, repairing boat dock....it was hard work in the humidity...
 
                                              but every evening, a fabulous sunset reward.



One of our first and best sunsets at Jolly Roger

Unfortunately, I was hit very hard by the local varmints, called no-see-ems, sand fleas, biting knats....no matter what you call 'em, they are buggers! They rarely bit Gary, but my legs were covered with at least 60 bites, looked like I had chicken pox and these bites took months to heal. Spent hours researching online, tried many suggestions...only thing which "sort of" worked was BenGay. So I walked round for months smelling like menthol.

It was an unusually hot and humid October (in fact, the whole winter was record breaking heat). We still managed to explore the keys a bit on our days off. We quickly discovered...
the best "happy hour" - not for drinks but for wings and shrimp, Sparky's Landing

Sparky's Landing for 25 cent wings and peel-n-eat shrimp

 and the best "sandy beach", Sombrero Beach

White sands and palms at Sombrero Beach in Marathon

and the famous "nude beach", Coco Plum Beach

And the coolest Lego collection in the keys at The Hurricane

And even some wolves in the keys...

We decided to buy an annual membership to Dolphin Reseach Center because it was just a few doors down and we knew we would stop in there frequently. Really enjoyed getting to know the dolphins, trainers, and watching the on-going research.





Also spent some time relaxing at Jolly Roger...

Our resident "spiny lobster" under the seawall



Resident Ibis flock

And many more fantastic sunsets...