February 10 Sugarloaf Key

February 10
Sugarloaf Key, Florida

2010

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February
   28   Sunday, Party Day! It’s a bright sunny but cool morning. Our party starts at 3pm today so we headed to play horseshoes around noon. Dave Aaron is playing today. He is a country guy we have seen a few times and really enjoy his music.

   27   This morning is bright and sunny and much warmer than it’s been. We took a nice walk around the lake and ran into a jokers game. We played a little then took a break and played again tonight.

   26   This morning is sunny but cold. I did some TCI work and John regreased the cow brakes. We took a walk to watch sunset. It was really beautiful tonight. A few clouds really makes a difference. Now we got ready for movie night. Tonight’s features are Serious Moonlight with Meg Ryan and Tim Hutton also Righteous Kill with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Since it’s really nippy out tonight, the movies are inside. We had a good crowd and got there early to get our couch. Both were good movies.

   25   This morning is sunny and 60 degrees, but with 35 mile an hour winds, so it’s cold. We are getting our laundry done. Tax season is here and I spent some getting our tax stuff organized and scanning it into the computer. John was doing maintenance stuff outside. After dinner we walked up to the ice cream social and then there was a joker’s tournament. I was paired up with Marty and we came in 2^nd place.

   24   This morning is warm but rainy. We are working on some computer stuff. The sun came out and we took a walk around the lake visited with some campers and headed back to the cow. Good thing. The sky is getting darker and we here the thunder. The rain is back big time. We got our rain ponchos out to walk over for Texas Holdem. Tonight we had 6 players, Jim, George, Nate, John, Pat and me. We played two games. John won the 1^st and I came in 2^nd. Pat won the 2^nd and I came in 2^nd. It’s now on the schedule, so Wednesday is Texas Holdem night.

   23   This morning we had to say our goodbyes. Candy and Traci are on their way home. We had a great time with them, but then we always do. We’ll see them again later this spring up in Maryland.
         We got organized and did some computer projects. Then we headed over to the clubhouse. Marty and Floyd are already cooking up ribs on the grill. Later John volunteered to help Dale cut and make the French fries. We had one quick jokers game and then had to get to organizing for dinner. There was about 65 people for the rib dinner. Like always we were stuffed. There were ribs, coleslaw, French fries and homemade bread pudding. After dinner we were going to ground ourselves, but they got us going on jokers so we stayed and played.

   22   This morning is warm but raining. We had coffee at the cow and then went to the clubhouse for more coffee and doughnuts. We decided to go to breakfast to Sugarloaf Lodge. Lot’s of people had the same idea and they were very crowded and slow. We took a walk around the lodge after breakfast. It’s still raining and probably will be the whole day.
          We decided to head to Key West. We looked for the zoo on Stock Island and found it was only open on certain Sundays. We did stop at the animal shelter and visited with some of the cats. We continued on into Key West and made a quick stop at Sears so I could have my glasses repaired. Then we drove into downtown and parked in our area at Grinnell and Fleming. We walked down to Simonton heading to the winery. We walked by the Pelican Poop store and stopped to check it out. I found my Guatemala wallet I’ve been looking for. They have a little historic garden tour we checked out. It had some beautiful flowers and a waterfall.
           Then we continued on to winery at 103 Simonton. We did some wine tasting. Back out to the street. It’s still raining and we walked around wharf and ended up at Schooner Wharf Bar. Michael McCloud was performing but on break. We had a couple beers and listened to a few songs then moved on to Finnegan’s Wake. Fiona from our campground performs here sometimes so we wanted to check it out. We had some Irish garlic bread and a drink and then headed back to Big Red. On the way back to Sugarloaf, we drove past Smathers Beach.
        It’s happy hour time at Mangrove Mamas so we stopped there. After a few drinks and appetizers, we drove back to the campground and then regrouped and walked over to the KOA for bingo. Even though we had rain, it was a great day.

   21   After coffee and bagels. We decided to hike to the burned out bridge. I went just past the KOA where the road ends, but John, Candy and Traci continued on. I ended up doing about 3 miles, but they did a little over 6 miles. Along the way they saw an Iguana and a snake. When I got back I got our stuff together and headed over to the pool. It’s a bright sunny day and I’m soaking up some sun.
        Today is our Sunday Party and the band Chicken Wire is playing. The kids got back and we all hung out at the pool for a while. Then some rain moved in and we moved to the clubhouse. We took a walk around the lake and out to the point. It’s raining off and on. Candy and Traci headed back to the cow and John and I hung around the clubhouse. Chuck was teaching jokers to a few new-bees, so I helped. Then we all had a couple joker games. Candy and Traci had grounded themselves in the cow. They needed a break from all the fun.

   20   Today is a much warmer and sunnier day. We all took a walk around the lake. We headed out to the Big Pine Flea Market. Since it was a nice day it was crowded. We drove over to the Blue Hole hoping to see some Key Deer. We did see a few big iguanas and the ranger was there and pointed out a female gator. We hiked around and then went to the nature trail down the road. We did a little hike there. We did see a Key Deer along the road.
          Now we are ready for the beach. We went to Veterans Park at MM 40 for a beach afternoon. John and Traci walked out along the sand trail and Candy and I did beach investigating. Then I found a nice spot of sand for some sun and a nap. John had the same idea. Candy and Traci headed out in the water. We all enjoyed the water, scenery and sun.
          Now we headed back to Big Pine and got key lime treats. We stopped at our old campground, Breezy Pine to try to find the Key Deer. We saw some of our camper friends but no deer. We still walked around and then finally found a couple. One was a buck. After a few photos we headed back to the cow. We got some wine and walked over to the clubhouse to watch sunset. Now were all ready for dinner. I had made a scallop parmesan dinner in the crockpot. So we ate and then we were all done and just relaxed in the cow.

   19   Today is a little damp and cold. We all had coffee and bagels. We took a nice walk around lake to show Candy and Traci our campground. We visited with a few people along the way. We decided today would be a great day to spend in Key West.
          We headed to the Truman Center and the Eco Discovery Museum. We really enjoyed it. We headed out to Duval and up to the roof on the Holiday Inn. From up here you have a beautiful 360 degree view of Key West. We moseyed on down Duval and checked out Captain Tony’s Saloon and then to Ricks. We really like Ricks. We had some cocktails (of course) and listened to some music. Now on to Mallory Square to see the performers and sunset. Well no sunset tonight. It’s overcast, windy and very cool.
         We walked on down toward the wharf area. We got to Schooner Wharf and found a table near the stage and had some drinks and dinner. There was a reggae band playing. We headed on back towards Duval and then back to the Truman Center to get Big Red. We had a really good time on our Key West Day.

   18   Today Candy and Traci are coming to visit. We headed up to Big Pine to pick up some groceries. We relaxed around the cow and then headed over to the ice cream social. Candy and Traci were supposed to arrive by now, but there is an accident on Hwy 1 at the 7 mile bridge and it’s closed. So John and I played in the jokers tournament after ice cream. Still no Candy and Traci. The bridge is now open and they finally made it around 11pm.

   17   Today is our anniversary. We took our coffees and walked around the lake and then visited with people at the clubhouse. We did some cleaning and organizing at the cow to get ready for our friends Candy and Traci that are coming in tomorrow. We have not been to Square Grouper Restaurant, so we headed over there for dinner. We got there early just as they were opening up for the evening. It didn’t take long and it was pretty crowded. Dinner was really good. I had the Tuna Asian Style and John had the Macadamia Crusted Snapper.
         We regrouped when we got back and headed over to the clubhouse. Tonight is another Texas Holdem night. We had 8 players. Ron won the 1^st game and John came in 2^nd. John beat me out by just a few chips on the 2^nd game. So he took 1^st and I took 2^nd.

   16   This morning is rainy and cool. John cleaned Big Red and I updated our photos, journal and website. There was a jokers game at 1pm so off we went. We played until around 430pm then headed back to the cow to reorganize. Tonight Marty, Floyd and Caroline are cooking a Pork Roast Dinner, so we got our potluck dish were bringing and our wine and headed back. There was quite a crowd. We had tons of food and I was stuffed. Marty was starting a fire over by the horseshoe pits. Marty calls this his hollow log fire. He stands a hollow log upright then shoves pine branches down in the hollow part. It was a really nice fire.

   15   While our laundry was working, we enjoyed coffee and doughnuts and chatted with friends. We got done and now it’s horseshoe time. We had our largest crowd so far. There were 10 teams. Pat and I were 1 and John was paired with Frisbee. Today Pat and I were ultimate losers, but I did have 6 ringers including a 6 pack. John and Frisbee won 1 game, the game they beat us. John had 1 ringer.
        The keg from yesterday was still kicking so people enjoyed a cold beer in the much needed warm sunshine during the games. We headed over to the KOA for bingo. There was quite a crowd from happy hour, but they were heading to Boondocks for food. John didn’t play, but we had 8 of us playing. No one at our table won but we had a good time.

   14   Happy Valentines Day. This morning is cool but dry. Today is our Sunday Party, but a little different. It’s the Daytona 500 today so no band. Craig is running a pool which we got in. John and I don’t know much about Nascar racing, but we learned a lot today. The park cooked ribs left over from our big party yesterday. People brought dishes, so we had another big feast. We ended up winning 15.00.

   13   Today is our BIG Party! OK, first let me give you the details and then I’ll tell you our adventures.

This concert is a benefit for the Habitat for Humanity in the Lower Keys. It’s “Charity Concert in the Park”. The Key West Parrothead Club and Lazy Lakes RV Resort are organizing the event. It’s at our campground Lazy Lakes RV Resort in Sugarloaf Key. The concert started at 1pm and went until around 9pm. Here is the lineup:

CW Colt – Caribbean Country Blues Master

www.piratetreasures.com

The Horse Pistols – Where country meets a loud guitar and they party

Chris Cook – A mix between Marvin Gaye, Delbert McClinton, The Allman Brothers with a little Merle Haggard mixed in
www.chriscookmusic.com

Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 – Nationally Recognized Trop Rock Artist of the year.
www.milemarker24.com

Cowboy Troy – Yawlternative Music Pioneer who appears regularly with Big and Rich

www.cowboytroy.com

Mac McAnally – Member of Jimmy Buffets Band the Coral Reefers and 2010 Grammy Nominated Best Country Collaboration with Kenny Chesney for “Down the Road”

www.macmcanally.com

Jerry Jeff Walker – Legendary Singer/Songwriter who wrote and performed top hits Mr. Bojangles and LA Freeway.

www.jerryjeff.com

John and I belong to the Milwaukee Area Parrothead Association (MAPA). In our time down here we have met a lot of the Key West Parrotheads and know them well. John and I volunteered to help out during the event. We were on security and helped out in all different areas. Especially up by the stage, backstage and the point. The staff at Lazy Lakes worked very hard getting the park ready for the event. George and Darlene from the KWPC (Key West Parrothead Club) worked hard organizing everything including the volunteers the day of the event.

We were having a great time. Since we were helping behind stage, we met Eddie. He was in charge of cooking and making sure everything was set for all the musicians backstage. He also played percussion with Chris Cook on stage. Eddie makes some killer homemade Sangria. He offered us some and when ever we saw him he kept refilling our glasses.

We were only supposed to be on until 330pm. George came over and asked us if we would like a special assignment. Well, the one we currently had was pretty good so we said we’re open, what is it. Come to find out it was GREAT! We got a once in a lifetime treat.

Joe the owner of Lazy Lakes needed someone to drive to Key West to pick up Jerry Jeff Walker at his hotel and they asked us. So that was so very cool! When we got to the hotel we waited in the lobby then saw Jerry Jeff talking to Alfonso which is a local musician that plays at various venues around Key West. I went up to introduce ourselves and let Jerry Jeff know we were his ride. He got up and gave me a big hug and asked if John could take care of his guitar. On our ½ hour ride to the campground, we all talked about when he would travel down here. For a while he owned a house on Summerland Key. We talked about his Camp Belize Program and just chatted about music and his work with different performers like Willie Nelson, Dennis Wolfe and others. He is just so nice and this was such a great opportunity for us.
We dropped him off at the clubhouse, parked big red and then took his guitar and stuff over to the clubhouse.

We should have been off duty now, but who cares, we were having too much fun. Howard was just finishing up and Mac McAnally was going to be coming up. Hey, security gets to be right at the stage, backstage, in the clubhouse with the performers and help to escort them up. What a great gig. We were right there for Mac and then helped with the escort for Jerry Jeff. After the concert was over and people were heading home, we stopped at the clubhouse and there were a ton of leftover food for the performers. Video Dave and Norm were chugging the Pirates Rum so we had some ribs, rum, cheese and stuff. Then we put some away for tomorrows Sunday Party. Party, Party, Party. Life’s rough, but somebody has to do it. What a Day!!!!

The link to see all our photos click here. Video Dave's link to his photos click here and here.

   12   This morning is warm and sunny. John put up our bird feeder the other day. The birds are starting to migrate north again so we started seeing them. We were having our coffee outside and heard the call. Pretty soon, we had lots of birds including two red headed woodpeckers. I’m doing some TCI stuff this morning and John is washing the outside of the cow. We headed to Big Pine to get supplies for Saturday and Sunday since our Big Party is tomorrow. Then we hung around the campground.

   11   When I got up, John had the kitchen counter covered with his salsa supplies. He was in the kitchen. It’s a sunny morning but cool about 57 degrees. I know, I know, we have nothing to snivel about since up North it’s about 15 this morning. We took our walk around the lake and visited with people along the way. We played a game of horseshoes to practice a little. I did terrible. John did OK. Tonight is Thursday so ice cream social. Since it’s cool, there weren’t many people. We started a game of jokers and ended up with 10 people.

   10   This morning is a little cool and windy. We took a walk around the lake and checked out Dale and Chuck still working on the pier for this coming Saturday’s party. We stopped at the clubhouse and then back to the cow. We were going to go fishing, but it’s cool and very windy. So we decided to head into Key West for some shopping. We got back and read a bit.
      Tonight Nels and Joanne is having an anniversary party and we’re invited. They are providing a shrimp dinner. We headed over to the clubhouse and a few people were cooking, and a few had done a great job decorating. Nels and Joanne are married 62 years. There were 75 to 100 people from the campground there. Jerry and Fiona played guitars and we all sang Happy Anniversary and then Let me call you sweetheart. The shrimp dinner was great and there was a big cake. We had a great time and then headed back to the cow.

   9   A beautiful morning. About 72 with a slight breeze and a few clouds. After coffee on the verandah, we took a walk around the lake. We always stop at the clubhouse and say Hi to whoever is there. Today we found out the LL4 (Lazy Lakes 4) will be launched at 117pm this afternoon. So we will be there to catch the action. The LL4 is a rebuilt pontoon boat that will be used this weekend for the BIG PARTY to transport the musicians across the lake onto the point where the stage will be set up. After the launching, we decided to start a joker’s game.
       The keg from Sunday was still not gone, so people were trying to finish it. After jokers, we had dinner. Our neighbor Mark was over so he ate with us. Then we were going again. At 7pm, I had organized a 10.00 buy in Texas Holdem game. The first game we had 8 people the 2^nd game we had 9 people. Each game lasted about 2 ½ hours. It worked out really well and people want to do it again. We ended up back at the cow around 1am.

   8   This morning is a cool morning. I am catching up on our journal. The last few days have been very hectic. Today we are heading to Big Pine for some grocery shopping then horseshoes. John had 1 ringer and I ended up with 7. I also had a 6 pack. That’s 2 ringers in one turn. We have had enough drinking for a while, so we are going to pass on going to the KOA for happy hour and bingo.

   7   Superbowl Sunday! This morning we were up and out heading to Big Pine Flea Market for John’s salsa supplies. We got back and regrouped then headed down the street to the Sugarloaf Volunteer Fire Department. They are having a fund raiser they do every year. It was packed. CW Colt was performing. He will be at our big party next week. We ran into a lot of people we know, we had a great lunch of BBQ chicken and fried Mahi Mahi. We stopped at Mangrove Mama to get our numbers for the big game then we came back to the campground.
        We joined in another jokers game and then the people started coming for the superbowl party. Party, party, party J. We went to regroup again and get our cheese ball and my bottle of wine. There is a keg today, so John is drinking beer. I worked on doing some pools for each quarter. We had a great time. Congrats Saints!! However the keg wasn’t gone and John, Craig and Frisbee didn’t want that to happen, so they stayed until 1230am to try to finish it. We’ll that didn’t work. It’s ok though, tomorrow is horseshoes so it will get finished up then.

   6   I had to have a couch morning. I had too much fun last night. So after recuperation, we got a call for a joker game starting and off we went.

   5   A few showers before sunrise. Then the sun came out and a warm breeze was blowing. We took our coffees for a walk around the lake and stopped at the clubhouse to visit. We started talking fishing to Marty. Before we knew it, we were in his truck going to check out the places to use our cast net and catch bait. When we got back, Marty was going to teach John how to make a trap to catch pin fish. They were on a mission. I came back to the cow and did a few things and then headed over to see how it was coming. John got his trap all made and now its pool time.
       We soaked up some rays and did some reading. We headed over to Mangrove Mamas for happy hour and met Ted on the road, so we walked up together. After happy hour, John and I walked over to the KOA to meet up with Linda and the group. Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 band is back home and playing at the KOA tonight. As we were walking the lighting was popping. We just made it before the storm let loose. It was fine though, we were under the huge tiki hut and nice and dry.

   4   Today we got up and had our coffee and took a walk around the lake. We ran into Marty and he was going to go fish the Niles Channel Bridge. So we decided we would meet him up there. We did pretty well. We didn’t have any keepers, but we caught Mangrove Snappers, Caravelle Jacks, Puffer Fish and a few others we didn’t know what they were. We did see a couple big sting rays.
       After a few hours we were ready for lunch and headed up to Big Pine Key to No Name Pub. We have wanted to go there. We got a pizza and had a couple cocktails. The place was crowded. Then since we were at Big Pine Key, we stopped to pick up some groceries and then headed back to the cow. Tonight is Ice Cream Social and Jokers.

   3   This morning is a little overcast and cooler. We took a walk around the lake and visited with people along the way.   After a little reading at the cow, we got ready for the big Jokers Tournament tonight. There were 20 people. We didn’t win, but there was a 3 way tie for ultimate loser and I was one of them. So I made my money back and more. The entrance fee was 1.00 and then I won .35.

   2 Still overcast and some rain expected. John is defrosting the fridge and I have some TCI work to do. Tonight is Pizza Night at the clubhouse and then I’m having a Learn Texas Holdem Night. Linda gave us her poker chips and I put together a cheat sheet for the beginners. We had quite a crowd. The pizza was good and then 6 of us started Texas Holdem practice with no buy in. Pretty soon a jokers game started and then a 10.00 buy in Holdem game. We had a great time.

   1   A little rain this morning. We are heading over for laundry. Well today is a rain out. We hung around the cow and John did some reading and I worked on the computer. We ended up with around 7 inches of rain.

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