TWO NIGHT RULE.....

After spending not one, not two, not three, BUT FOUR nights in Key West we now have a new "Two Night Rule." I told CTM that even if I beg to stay more than 2 nights in Key West....JUST SAY NO! Here are some more photos of Meeting of the Minds.....

BEACH BASH ON SATURDAY :)

From 2010-11-11

ANOTHER SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH JIM MORRIS :)

From 2010-11-11

HOWARD LIVINGSTON AND THE MILE MARKER 24 BAND MAKING MARGARITAS WITH HIS JOHNSON OUTBOARD MOTOR HE HAS CONVERTED TO A BLENDER....(A side note....CTM purchased an old 1958 Johnson outboard motor about a month ago :) CP, get ready and put some salt on your margarita glass!!)

From 2010-11-11

COULDN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THE NAME ON THE DANCER....25 YEARS FROM NOW??????

From 2010-11-11

HOWARD IS PRETTY LUCKY...HE HAS TWO LOLAS!!!

From 2010-11-11

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

WALL OF FAME

We have been in Key West since Wednesday :) Wow! It is a dirty job but someone has to do it!!! We are here for the Meeting of the Minds....annual Parrot Head convention. While shopping in the Mini Mart I was able to grab a photo for my "Wall of Fame" with Jimmy's favorite "Sista" Miss Lucy Anne Buffett!

From 2010-11-06

And...here's the Street Fest....they block off Duval Street in front of Margaritaville for this....IMAGINE THAT!!!

From 2010-11-06

We polished off a few drinks and finished our day at Schooner Wharf Bar while listening to our favorite entertainer....Mr. Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band!

From 2010-11-06

Unfortunately we had to report to our shift on security detail at 8:00 a.m. this morning! What the heck???? Who is up at 8:00 a.m. in Key West????? Now we know....NOBODY BUT US!!!!!

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

"WHALER FOR A DINGHY"

"I may not have the biggest boat in the marina but I've got a Whaler for a dinghy!" If I have heard this Pat Dailey quote once I have heard it one thousand times!!! CTM has been on a mission for the past 3 years to find a little Boston Whaler for back country fishing and bar hopping. He has dragged me all over the place looking at used Whalers. This latest "dragging" started with the rental car screw up. Yes, when we got to the rental car counter in Fort Lauderdale they did not have the economy (meaning cheapest) car I had booked. So....they gave us a brand new Tahoe that only had 400 miles on it and still has that new car smell! The first thing CTM did when we walked out to get it was look to see if it had a hitch....IT DID!!! I could see that his cogs were turning and I could see some more "dragging" in my future. When we went to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show last weekend we went via Miami Lakes to look at a Whaler CTM had spotted on Craig's List. Well, it was PERFECT so we bought it! Here is our new baby "T/T Feeding Frenzy III."

From My Documents

One of our stipulations was that Carlos, now the previous owner, meet us in Florida City (northern end of the Keys) so we could avoid towing her through Miami. He graciously agreed! So....we met him at 10:00 a.m. in the Wal Mart parking lot in Florida City, did a little shopping at Wal Mart for Whaler supplies, stopped by West Marine for more Whaler supplies, stopped by Eye Catcher Signs so she could officially get her name, stopped at Caribe for more Whaler supplies, dropped her at Sandy Cove Marina for safe keeping until Sunday, threw our clothes together to head to Key West for Meeting of the Minds (more on this later), stopped in Marathon at the Department of Revenue and did all of the paperwork, stopped at No Name Pub for some shrimp pizza and a couple of celebratory beers, and then on to Key West to drink 25 celebratory rum drinks and catch Jim Morris at Hogsbreath!!! Phew!!!!! What a day!

We have been in Key West now for two days and spending the morning licking our wounds. Will be here until Sunday when we will head back up to normalcy and to pick up our new baby. We ALMOST miss our new baby as much as Lola Bean....NOT!!!!! Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

TUNA BITES......

There is nothing better than fresh lightly seared tuna as an appetizer. Well....we caught a nice Blackfin Tuna but unfortunately a Shark was holding on to our tuna when we got him to the boat :( Mr. Shark got his "tuna bites" and we didn't!!!!!!

From 2010-11-02

Another reason in a LONG list why I don't like to swim in the ocean!!!!
Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

B.O.A.T.

For you boaters...you know what B.O.A.T stands for.... So in an effort to save on maintenance CTM has spent a couple of days working on Feeding Frenzy III. The first thing we noticed after being away for 2 1/2 months is that the boat had an odor inside. We discovered that the bilge pump had burned out so there was stagnent water down in the bilge....YISH!!!! It was kind of like performing a medical precedure.....CTM was the doctor and I was the nurse :) I did a lot of fetchin', wipin', and soothin'! Only a couple of hours and $100 later we were back in business. Now...on to changing the oil. My cogs were turning for a post on this blog while this was all going on and obviously I needed some photos of the process. Here is CTM's "quit screwing around and hand me that wrench" look!!!!

From 2010-11-02

Now that's a lot of oil!!!!!

From 2010-11-02

Ahhhhh.....mission accomplished....time for a cold beer!!!!!

From 2010-11-02

Catch you on the flip flop.....

CJM

Another Trip Around The Sun....The 60th!!!!

Arrived in Islamorada at 2:30 a.m. Monday, the 25th of October. We layed around for a couple of days recuperating from that butt kickin' we gave Oklahoma and the Homecoming festivities! Still basking in the glow! So....to celebrate CTM's 60th trip around the sun we took Feeding Frenzy III fishing on Wednesday, the 27th. After listening to Cap'n Skip Bradeen's fishing report we thought perhaps we should lay out a package of fish for dinner before we left but I reminded CTM that the first sailfish (of course not edible but fun to catch) he ever caught was on his birthday a few years back so off we went. It was really windy and rough. My theory on those kind of days is to head into the wind until you can't stand it anymore and you will always have a nice ride home....so we did! Not long after we started trolling the shotgun took off like a rocket. Thought....well hoped....it was a Wahoo but turned out to be a really big Bonita. Threw him back and continued on. We did manage to boat a couple of really nice dolphin. Ended up with about 8 pounds of filets so we had fresh Mahi for CTM's 60th birthday dinner at Bentley's.
It was DELISH!

From Recently Updated

I just read that the charges have been dropped against those 30 fans who were arrested for trespassing on the field after the Mizzou game last Saturday. Probably 15,000 fans were on the field and the cops decided to try to make an example out of 30 of them!!!! Deja vu..... I was glad that there weren't any red and white flags flying nearby!!!! I never go to Columbia without a big stash of cash in my pocket....with CTM and "Mini Me" sitting side by side these days I never know when I might need it!!!!

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

SIX PIRATES LOOK AT SIXTY!!!!

We flew into Key West on Wednesday, August 11th and met up with some old college friends, Bob & Susan VanAlmsick and Tom & Carol Deering, for a few days of fun and fishing. By the way we have season football tickets with them and have had for MANY years. Tom's favorite phrase on this trip was, "Now that we are all turning 40"...well, it sure seems like a lot longer than that since we were all in college together :) Notice the title of this post is NOT "Six Pirates Look at Forty!" Need I say more?

From 2010-08-17

Wednesday night we did a little bar hopping. The bars are open in Key West until 4:00 a.m. and needless to say we did not close them down! I guess being "40" has slowed us down a bit. Look at this picture...doesn't Susan look like she knows something that she isn't telling?

From 2010-08-17

Wait a minute....do I see Susan's name on one of those?

From 2010-08-17

You know that story....."What goes on in Key West STAYS in Key West!"

We spent Thursday acting like tourists in Key West..........Pepe's, Michael McCloud, and the Conch Trolley. By the way did you know the highest elevation in Key West is 18 feet above sea level? We got a little altitude sickness when we crossed over it....or maybe it was from the rum the night before? We love the Conch Train and Conch Trolley....always learn something new every time. We headed north to Islamorada in the afternoon and stopped at our new favorite pub...No Name Pub on No Name Key.....the home of the endangered Key Deer. We noticed a dollar bill that said something about KU so we promptly asked for markers and the stapler and buried it well behind two dollar bills with MIZ and ZOU! Sorry Kate!!!! Don't these two have a look of satisfaction on their faces after stapling up the dollar bills???

From 2010-08-17

On the way out we were thrilled to actually see the Key Deer playing around in people's yards like dogs! We have only seen 1 or 2 in all of the years we have been going to the Keys so this was a special treat!

From 2010-08-17

O.K.....notice most of this post has been mostly about eating and drinking. The fishing was incredibly slow! We caught one skinny little dolphin on Friday, caught nothing on Saturday except a buzz :)and some seasick passengers:(, but Sunday we found that "magical piece of debris" on the way in (phew) and caught these fish!

From 2010-08-17

Lazy Days cooked our catch and it was DELISH!!!

Monday was the Vans and Deerings last day so we decided to take the day off and go bar hopping one last time before their departure on Tuesday. We first got our "foundation" (as my good friend Carol says) for our Happy Hour excursion at Hungry Tarpon....fish tacoes and shrimp burritos...DELISH again! Then on to Worldwide Sportsman for some shopping, Zane Gray for drinks, Rum Runners for drinks in the "pods", Island Grill for conch fritters and more drinks, and finally Hog Heaven for some of their fish tacoes, sliders, and more drinks! It was VERY handy that "Our Bob" served as our DD that day (well and every day)! Here is a slideshow of drinks in the "pods."



Tuesday morning we said "goodbye" to the Vans and Deerings :( A good time was had by all and we were sad to see them go. But, CTM and I looked forward to another week in the beautiful Florida Keys and more fishing :) Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM