12/26/2010 CHRISTMAS IS DONE IN KEY WEST

SUNDAY
TOTAL MILES TRAVELED TODAY:  0 NM


Dan had a rough night, waking up half way through with a sore throat and fever. He crept up to the salon and was kept company by the gusting wind and a several hours of pelting rain. Thankfully, he woke up feeling better.

Tree is gone and the lights are down. It’s done! Christmas is officially over on the Quest. Now we shall be in training for New Years Eve.

Dan installed the inverter and completed some of the necessary wiring. He also removed the water pump from the starboard engine (yes the same one he replaced this summer in New Haven with a rebuilt pump) and will install the new one when we pick it up tomorrow. I worked on oiling much of the wood, a never unending job.

DAN WORKING ON THE PUMP CHANGE OUT

All our chores done for the day, we all set out to find some good afternoon music. First stop was the famous Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street. The piano player did not strike our fancy, so we quickly moved on. Next we ducked into Captain Tony's of Jimmy Buffett fame and took photos of the personal bar stools of some well known patrons.

Image by dstemple via Flickr

SLOPPY JOE'S BAR

Image by milan.boers via Flickr

CAPTAIN TONY'S

BUSINESS CARDS WALLPAPER CAPTAIN TONY'S

Moving on to the pier for some sunset music, we were discouraged by the cold, gusting winds and clouded in sky. Forget it! This blow here in Key West is starting to wear into my “sunny-warm” time! We opted to head back to the Schooner Wharf and found a lively and entertaining group just setting up.

The Doerfel family, with 10 kids, originates from Buffalo, NY. Five guys and the one daughter make up the standard group, 2 younger ones sang a couple of cute songs too.  They travel the US in a huge motor home with their parents, home school and entertain at a variety of venues. They were fabulous! The youngest of the standard 6 was the 12 year old, rocking drummer. The oldest was 22, married, father of one and his fingers danced on the electric banjo. One boy played an electric mandolin; another strummed the acoustic guitar, and Brother Joe made the stand-up bass come alive. The lone sister had a dynamic voice and played the electric fiddle like it was on fire! These kids were awesome musicians and entertainers! Dan and I bailed before their final set but Steven hung out until the bitter-cold end.

THE DOERFELS