Happy New Year to everyone! Unfortunately, the cold weather has hit Key West and we are bundled up wishing the warm weather would return. So, grab yourself a warm cup of hot chocolate and sit back and enjoy our New Year’s blog post. I hope the next time we post to the blog, it will be warmer and sunnier in Key West. Until then, we hope you will enjoy our latest chilly adventures.
Oyster Races
In my summer blog, you may recall me telling you about the Oyster Races at Pepe’s restaurant every Monday and Friday. Well, on Monday, December 28th, we went to the Oyster races to see if we could win $425 dollars. Admiral Sandy won a chance to pick a key to the money box and the emcee offered her a deal of $25 shucking dollars to give up her key. Admiral Sandy took the deal and was happy to find out that she made a good decision when her key didn’t open the money box lock! So, we had $25 to spend at Pepe’s! Since we go to Pepe’s a lot, it was great to win the money! By the way, the guy that had the winning key took the deal and was disappointed when he found out that his key opened the lock! That’s ok, that just means we all have a chance to win $450 at the next race! If you ever visit Key West, be sure to visit Pepe’s and try to win money in their Oyster Race: http://www.pepescafe.net/
Sunset on the Hook
Dave and Sharon invited Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy to enjoy cocktails, appetizers and sunset on their boat Naughton that is anchored off Fleming Key. Since they have a Gordon Setter on their boat, I had to stay behind and guard our boat.
Here is a picture of Naughton:
Captain Dave and Sharon:
Pat (from Homeward Bound) and Kerri (the Gordon Setter):
Sunset from Naughton:
View of Homeward Bound from Naughton:
It was hard work taking care of the boat while Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy were away. But, I found ways to entertain myself by eating half of a container of treats that I had received for Christmas! Yummy! By the time Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy returned, I was full and sleepy.
Note from Admiral Sandy: On a sailboat, it is a real challenge to find safe places for food and treats that Coconut can’t reach. She has always been such a chow hound, I was shocked to see that she only ate half of the treats. I guess she really does have a limit to how much she will eat… unless it is bacon.
Mary and Mike Add to the Fun
Our friends Mary and Mike drove down from Jacksonville Beach to spend New Years with us on Morgan Glory! I really love Mary and Mike because they give me lots of treats!
Key West sunset the night Mary and Mike arrived:
New Year’s Eve sunrise:
Pilots N Paws
On New Year’s Eve day, we met a pilot named Jeff who is with Pilots N Paws. Jeff adopted his lab mix Rocky from a litter of puppies that came from a shelter in Huntsville, Alabama. Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy adopted me May 1, 1999 from the same shelter in Huntsville, Alabama! It’s a small world!
Jeff and Rocky:
Rocky (he is such a handsome guy):
Pilots N Paws is a great organization where pilots donate their time to fly animals in need of rescue to other locations where they can be adopted. Because of the wonderful pilots, many animals are being saved from high kill shelters where they would die and are transported to areas where the animals can find a forever home. Please visit their web site http://www.pilotsnpaws.org/ and consider making a donation to this very worthy cause!
Thanks, Jeff for all you do for the animals in need!
Walking in a Wiener Wonderland
On New Year’s Eve day, we went to watch the annual Daschund parade. This year, there were 140 daschunds in the parade! Wow, that’s a lot of weenie dogs in one place!
The parade begins:
The parade even had a band!
Weenie dogs of all kinds participated:
Some rode in a boat:
Some rode in a stroller:
Some rode in a wagon:
Many of them were in costumes:
Check out this shirt. The Key West chickens should be very afraid!
Cuban Coffee Queen Time
After watching all the weenie dogs, we were hungry. So we stopped by the Cuban Coffee Queen for one of their great Cuban sandwiches. I really like the Cuban Coffee Queen because they give me ham. I am keeping a close watch on the kitchen in hopes I will get some ham:
New Year’s Eve Festivities Begin at the Schooner Wharf
10 years ago, we spent New Year’s Eve at the Schooner Wharf Bar ringing in the millennium. So, it was only appropriate to spend some time there, listening to Michael McCloud. I love that dogs can hang out at the bar… and get treats at the bar! Thanks Missy, Vikki and Angus for the yummy New Year’s Eve treats!
This is my favorite spot at the bar:
New Year’s Eve Happy Hour at the Turtle Kraals Tower Bar
After leaving the Schooner Wharf Bar, we went to the Turtle Kraals Tower Bar to watch the sun set for the last time in 2009 and enjoy some of the great happy hour food.
(l to r) me, Captain Jim, Mike and Mary:
Last Sunset for 2009
From the Turtle Kraals Tower Bar, we watched the last sunset of 2009. Unfortunately, there was a cruise ship in the way!
Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy:
New Year’s Eve Full Moon
We also watched the full moon rise from the Turtle Kraals Tower Bar. The New Year’s Eve full moon was also known as a blue moon because it was the second full moon of the month:
Countdown to Midnight
There are a lot of things to do in Key West to ring in the New Year: Sloppy Joe’s Bar lowers a conch shell at midnight, 801 Bourbon lowers the drag queen Sushi in a red slipper, and the Schooner Wharf Bar lowers a pirate wench down the mast of the Hallie & Matthew schooner.
Captain Jim, Admiral Sandy, Mary and Mike walked to Duval Street around 10:30pm to see what was happening on Duval. They left me on the boat because they were afraid I might get stepped on because Duval Street was expected to be busy. They found Duval Street packed with people and people were throwing beads to everyone on the street from porches overlooking Duval. Admiral Sandy said it reminded her of Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve.
Admiral Sandy also told me about a performer named Jeep and his dog Mo that entertained the Duval Street crowd. The man played a banjo and his golden retriever went around to the crowd collecting dollar bills in his mouth. When he had 5 or 6 dollar bills in his mouth, he would deposit the bills in the guy’s banjo case. Judging from the amount of dollars in the case, this dog was really raking in the bucks for the banjo player. You can see a photo and information about Jeep and Mo: www.sunsetcelebration.org/performers/jeep.htm
Note from Admiral Sandy: First Mate Coconut needs to learn how to beg for money instead of begging for bacon! Wow! With all the bacon begging she does, we could be rich!
Everyone returned from Duval Street a little before midnight so we could all watch the dropping of the wench. Because the wench would be dropping just a few docks from our boat, we didn’t have to go very far for the festivities.
With our champagne bottle ready, we waited for midnight:
Mary and Mike had fun with their party favors:
The wench began dropping from the mast with the lighted countdown numbers:
The New Year revelers after midnight and our first photo of 2010:
New Years Dock Party
After midnight, we went back to our dock where an impromptu dock party formed in front of our boat.
The party crew: (backs to the camera) Captain Randy and Mike; (seated left to right) Captain Jim, Pat, Alex (on a charter sailboat), Emily (Pat and Randy’s daughter) and Mary; (standing left to right) Captain Scott (on the powerboat Octane) and Captain Mike (on a charter sailboat).
I was tired and fell asleep on Captain Jim’s lap. I am not used to being up so late!
Mike got tired and decided to take a nap on the dock. But, Mary wouldn’t let him be a party pooper and blew her party horn to wake him up.
Captain Jim and Pat wearing New Year party hats. The hats look like birds to me, but I am too tired to chase them!
About 2am, Mike and I decided we were done partying and we went to sleep on the boat while the party continued for everyone else:
Sailing into the New Year
On New Year’s Day, the weather was so beautiful, we decided to go sailing. What a great way to spend the first day of the year! Temperatures were in the 70’s and there was a great wind for sailing.
Mike and Mary enjoying the sail:
Morgan Glory under sail:
Thanks to Captain Randy on Homeward Bound for the great photos of Morgan Glory under sail.
Captain Randy had signal flags flying from Homeward Bound that conveyed Happy New Year to all in the anchorage:
Blue Heaven
A good way to start off the New Year is with a great breakfast at Blue Heaven. We took Mary and Mike so they could enjoy the breakfast and watching the chickens run around the tables… I enjoyed the bacon.
Captain Jim teased me by putting a piece of bacon the glass top of our table. I wasn’t really sure how to get to it:
Sunset from The Top
Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy took Mary and Mike to The Top Bar at the top of the Crowne Plaza La Concha on Duval Street. I couldn’t go because they don’t allow dogs. But The Top is one of the best places to watch the sun set.
Mary and Admiral Sandy:
The sunset crew at The Top:
Mike and Mary watching the sunset:
Beautiful sunset:
The chilly sunset crew after the sun has gone down:
View of the Key West lighthouse:
Last Night with Mary and Mike
On Mary and Mike’s last night, Captain Jim and Admiral Sandy took them to El Siboney for the best Cuban food on the island. If you ever make it to Key West, you definitely need to visit El Siboney, 900 Catherine St., http://www.elsiboneyrestaurant.com/.
After a great dinner, everyone had fun playing cards until late in the night:
We had so much fun with Mary and Mike! We are so glad that they drove to Key West to spend some time with us and help us ring in the New Year with laughter and great friends. With such a great start to the year, we are hopeful that 2010 will be a great year for us.
We hope your 2010 has gotten off to a great start! We will be leaving Key West soon, so look for our next blog post about our last week in Key West!
Coconut and Crew
You may join my Yahoo group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coconutandcrew/
Posts
You've been very busy, Coconut. Seems as though your year is off to a great start. Great to spend time with you at the Wharf-- where I was able to see your love of bacon firsthand. Hope it warms up for you soon. Give my love to the Captain and Admiral! Cheers, Julie
ReplyDelete