After a slow start (rough start, should I say?) we made it to our beautiful water side Air B’nB, which I had only rented 2 weeks earlier, when I finally got the OK from all involved that we could see our way clear to come. I had been surprised to find such a wonderful location still available for the incredibly popular Fourth of July Week.

Peter, Ken and I dove straight into the puzzle that I had bought, as I simply don’t have time for such things here in town. You simply don’t want me to start such tasks, because I have such an obsessive personality, that I’d work on that, to the neglect of the other stuff in the store.

We agreed that we needed to get Emma’s scrip filled at Walgreens the next morning and noted that the pharmacy opened at 9 a.m. So, we decided to find a place to eat close by there.

We normally are not “that late” of people, but hey, we were on vacation, so we slept in a bit, and eventually meandered down Marathon to Walgreens, enjoying the beautiful water on both sides of us as well as the other beautiful views, before we dropped her scrip off. Then, we were ready to find breakfast. We located a really cool looking “hole in the wall” breakfast with great reviews close by and pulled up to Marathon Bagel, in the next strip mall down the road.

However, before we could get to the door, two people said, “We’ll save you some steps. We’re not open. Our staff needed a day off, so we’re closed today, but we’re going in to make the bagels, as we sell 900 bagels a day!”

Well, that really piqued our interest. We wished them well, and said, “Well come tomorrow, then, to see what all the hullaballoo is about.” Anyone who sells 900 bagels a day must really be doing something right.

So, we headed across the street to McDonalds, so I could get a McGriddle. Yes, I could get one of those here, but the only time I allow myself to have one is on vacation. It keeps me from eating too many of them, as they are my favorite fast food breakfast item.

So, we sat around the McDonald’s and looked at our phones to determine which activity we should do next. After 1 hour, Emma checked in with the Pharmacy via phone and the scrip wasn’t ready.

So, we opted to hop back onto US Hwy 1, which is really the only road that you can use to get from place to place, and headed to the Aquarium.

We loved it. It was hot, but we decided to feed as many fish as we could. It was fun to watch them leap out of the water to grab the food that we dropped in for them. The lobsters were obviously not hungry, as they simply wouldn’t respond to our attempts to feed them. The most fun things to feed were the rainbow fish and the eels. They raced across the pond to the middle or wherever you threw the food.

It was quite warm, and I did feel sorry for Emma, but we were in no hurry, at all, as we were simply filling time until Emma’s scrip could be ready. We didn’t want to go too far away.

So, we got really, really hot, and welcomed the a/c of the van by the time we had seen all the fish we wanted to see.

We climbed back into the van, cooled off a bit, and Emma checked in again with Walgreens. Still, her scrip wasn’t ready.

We decided to check a couple of local thrift stores, where we actually found probably one of only a few quilters on Marathon. I was looking for a Keys momento that was made in the Keys. But alas, all I could find was something made in China. I left it in the store.

We gave her a card, in hopes that she’ll check out our website and maybe even see this blog. I didn’t take pictures, because it just seemed weird to do it in her small store.

So, we decided to check out the Turtle Hospital. Good ole’ Google. I mean, seriously, these things were just up and down US Hwy 1. Some things were closer to our Air B’nB and some were father away, but it was all a matter of “which direction do we turn when we get out onto US Hwy 1.” Everything was on US Hwy 1, and just about everything we had on our “Vacation Bucket List” was in Marathon.

The Turtle hospital was fascinating, and our tour guide was amazing. Our guide ran a nonstop monologue describing turtles and their habitats. We learned about various types of turtles, and visited the turtle hospital and learned of some of the various diseases that turtles have, and how they help to rehabilitate them.

Near the end of our tour, we got to drop food into a giant (former swimming pool of a motel) that housed about 19 or 20 giant sea turtles who would probably never rehab enough to make it back to the ocean/gulf. I think we spent a good 1.5 hours on that tour, staring at more turtles than I’d ever seen in any one place.

After that, finally Emma’s scrip was ready, and we picked it up.

By then we realized we had totally missed lunch. Being July 5, it was Ken’s birthday, and we decided to locate a really quaint restaurant with great reviews. So once again, we let a combination Google/Yelp help us to find some place that served seafood, but had great reviews and was open at 4 in the afternoon, for a seafood feast!

So, we found an amazing place with basically 5 star reviews and we piled in to the hole in the wall called Fish Tales Market and Eatery.

Because it was early yet, we were the only ones in there for our birthday dinner feast! One of the things on Peter’s wish list was to eat seafood and key lime pie.

At this meal, we got to check two more things off the “Vacation Bucket List.” (Eating seafood and eating Key Lime pie in the Keys!)

The dinner was delicious. Emma enjoyed grilled dolphin fish, and the rest of us had fried grouper. We all celebrated with beautiful pies for dessert to celebrate Ken’s birthday. I then asked to go to Publix as I simply was curious to know if it was the same pricing as ours back here in Dade City. (It was.) 

So, the gang graciously let me hop out and run into the Publix, while they let their supper settle. I grabbed some ice cream for a snack later, as that’s Ken’s ultimate go to food… and I knew the others would like it was well.

We lazily made our way back to the Air b’n B where we worked on our puzzle for a little while.

While trying to let our supper settle and figure out what to do next, Ken, Peter and I finished up the puzzle. It was super challenging for us, because the picture wasn’t accurate, and the pieces were really fun shaped. We found ducks, trees, people, children and all sorts of other fun images as puzzle pieces. So, you couldn’t really look at the shapes, like you normally do. You had to rely a ton on the color of the pieces.

However, it was only about 6:30 p.m., so we decided we’d try to knock some more of our “Vacation Bucket List” off, and try to find a beach.

We figured if we went to the beach at 7 at night, then no one would get a sunburn, and we could build a sandcastle, which was also on “The List.”

So, we piled into the vehicle, and made our way to the closest beach, which was Sunset Park. We drove up around 7:10 p.m. with high expectations. Seeing no cars in the parking lot, we thought, “Boy did we get fortunate, as no one else is here.” We figured people only like to go to the beach during the  blazing hot sun period. However, when we got out, we found that it was a no swimming beach and there was basically no place even to build a sand castle. The guys were disappointed, and looked forlorn here.

But all was not lost. We had more things we could do on our Vacation Bucket List. We hopped back into the vehicle and decided to cross the 7 mile bridge and go to see Key Deer. We had heard really interesting things about Key Deer and figured that the only way to know if it were true was to check it out ourselves.

By now the Deer Game reserve was closed, and it was getting to be about 7:30 or so.

We had just gotten off the bridge, and onto the main part of Big Pine Key, when Peter said, “There’s one.” And so it began. He spotted his first deer right off to the side of the highway. I mean, not even in any one’s yard, really, just in the yard of a business, right by the main highway.

Ken quickly pulled around, and we drove right up to it, so I could photograph it, and then began the quest of finding Key Deer.

We drove around that neighborhood for a good 20 minutes just spotting deer in the dusk. All in all, we spotted 8 bucks. It made Ken very happy.

None of the deer seemed afraid of us, or the cameras and we were surprised to see them in people’s yards. One of the friendly residents saw us spotting deer and asked if we wanted to feed them, but we declined, as we were enjoying ourselves just watching and taking pictures.

When it got too dark to see easily, we headed back over the 7 mile bridge, enjoying the beautiful sunset at dusk.

It was quite a day. We enjoyed ourselves, saw a lot, got Emma’s meds in her, and ultimately covered a lot of Marathon over and over again. We had only been there for one full day. But, this place really isn’t that large.

Before heading to bed, we opted to get up and head to the Marathon Bagel place first thing to find out what all the hullaballoo was about.

Stay tuned for another episode when I have a chance to write about it, in between all daily emails I post for you all!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

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