Day 279 - In Marathon, FL
Day 279: Monday, January 30th: We slept in again this morning, had a big breakfast, and then got the bikes down to do some touring and shopping. Bill fussed with the panniers getting the bikes ready:
The huge mural painted on the wall of K-Mart amazed us. It was a Guy Harvey painting and over 300 feet long. The sidewalk at the bottom of the pictures is the standard size one you would expect from a big store like K-Mart. It took several frames to see the entire mural:
We were slack-jawed at the enormity of it!
We shopped until we dropped. We bought groceries, marine items, booze, we got haircuts (yes, both of us), and toured the area; it was a fun day. By the way, the daytime temperature was in the high 80s. One could get used to this January weather!
Back at the marina we got some pictures of the area. Here's a view of the main marina building with Integrity in her slip:
This particular marina in Marathon used to allow "boathouses." These are floating homes, of sorts, catering to a certain clientele. Hurricane Wilma messed these up and gave the term "waterfront property" a new meaning:
This is a dockside view. Can you imagine the problems involved with cleaning up this mess? No one claims to own them, no one wants them here, no one wants to haul them away, etc., but they host homeless people, animals and bugs. Shudder!
We sensed the Floridians are tired of hurricanes. They speak of them in a tired voice, eyes cast downward. We saw this bumper sticker on too many vehicles:
The marina did have its redeeming aspects. There was this "outdoor" laundry with nice tropical planters:
…and the nearby coconut palms:
This fellow was fishing on the bow of a nearby boat:
Looking out into the Boot Key Basin one sees many, many boats anchored and moored to balls. This is a very popular area to spend lots of time:
Looking out the mouth of the harbor you see the many fishermen coming in with the catch of the day:
It had been a productive and interesting day! Tomorrow, we'll have to leave as the marina was full.
Position tonight: N24 42.258 W081 06.474
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