Week of January 13th - Dinghy Pub Crawl

The weather here in Marathon has been very nice.  Temperatures are usually cool at night but pleasant during the day.  The sun can actually be quite hot when you are directly in it, however usually there is a breeze which makes it quite nice.  The winter breeze here in the middle keys is often out of the north and half of the time it is windy enough to cause quite a chop on the water.  This makes it just a little unpleasant in the kayak or dinghy.  You have to pick a quiet time of the day so you are not getting splashed or bumped around if going out on the water.

Last Sunday was a perfect dinghy day.  It was in the low 80s and the breeze was very light.  One of our "dock neighbors" Jim Conley on "Shell Belle" organized a dinghy pub crawl for the nice weather.  We had 6 dinghies with a total of 12 people (and one Pengi) that participated.  We started around 10:30 AM and went around the tip of Hog Key (the southwestern end of Marathon and under the 7 mile bridge then into Boot Key Harbor.  .

Pengi is ready to pub crawl

Here we go, six dinghies in a row

Passing under the 7 mile bridge

Our first stop was Burdine's where we sat on the upper deck and had some of their famous french fries.

Burdine's

I had my doubts about the fried key lime pie, but after a taste I am a believer

Next we went just around the corner to Lazy Days for more food and drinks. Everyone had a Bloody Mary, even Pengi ( his was a virgin).

Our last stop was The Sunset Grill at the base of the 7 mile bridge.  This restaurant looks right over the Atlantic toward the west and has great views of the sunsets.  They also have a pool.

The Sunset Grill

It was a fun day out and about with everyone.  Here's hoping for more calm days like this so we can do more dinghy excursions.  It was certainly the highlight of the past week.