Long Key to Key West

Jane was up and got a couple early morning photos and enjoyed coffee while all was quiet and peaceful. Of course this location at Long Key has been peaceful almost all the time. We took down all the gear, the tent, and packed stuff for travel. Then we sat in the sun for a little while more before we left. A couple camping a few sites down came over to say they were moving in #16 when we left. They left a few things by the picnic table and went off to run errands. We left about 11:00 and began our drive south. The weather was beautiful. We turned our CD book on again and drove to Pine Key where we stopped at a Winn-Dixie for a few items we needed. We also bought some chicken peg legs to have for lunch. We tried to find the deer refuge but finally decided it was the entire island. There is a very small deer that is endangered that is protected on this island.
We then continued on to Key West where we found Leo’s Campground without too much trouble. We had a nice lunch on the boardwalk that runs behind their tent sites. There was a group of ‘spring break” guys camping here previous to our arrival – they had left a lot of trash so we picked it up and settled in for the two days. We will not put up the tent since we go on the tour to Dry Tortugas – leaving at 8AM and returning at 5:30 so we will not be here much. We both spent a while on the internet since we had not had access for several days. Then we drove into Key West to scout out locations to park. There are several parking garages but the Sprinter is too high for most of them. We found a lot a couple blocks from where the ferry leaves so we are all set.
Tonight was the night Jane cooked the outstanding meal – we had lightly breaded bonnethead shark that Ben had caught. We then had shrimp/spinach enchiladas that Jane had found on a camping webpage. She also made some excellent salsa with avocado and tomato bought from the roadside stand earlier this week. It turned out really well and since we had not really planned on the shark we had too much so there are leftovers for tomorrow. Ben has been warned not to expect this level of cooking on a regular basis.
After dinner Ben began experimenting with his TV/computer device again – he found lots of stations and we watched an episode of American Idol as clear as on real TV.