Long Key State Park Florida

Sunday March 7, 2010

Today was the warmest day yet. The morning was spent in drinking coffee, checking email on i-phone and surfing the web a little. I cleaned up camp and checked what we might need if we go to Marathon later today. There is a tiny grocery on Long Key but not much there and very expensive. The wind has calmed down and the temperature is in the 70’s and it is actually warm. I settled into to a really tough morning of reading and gazing out at the calm ocean.

We drove into Marathon and had lunch at the Island Seafood Company. Ben remembered being there before and once we got inside I did too. I had a great grouper sandwich and Ben had something called Seafood Boats – potato skins with shrimp, crab, conch, cheese, red pepper, and bacon with a fantastic lemon, dill sauce. I tasted just enough to think I could try to make them – they were great. We then found the Publix grocery for the few things we needed. Note to myself for next time – the Publix is much nicer grocery than the Winn-Dixie where we went on the first trip. They had a great bakery and deli and much better selection of items in all sections of store.

On the way back to Long Key, we stopped at Curry Hammock State Park to check out their campground. It was newer than Long Key but the campsites were not on the beach as at Long Key. Being able to sit at your site and look out over the water is definitely a plus for Long Key. They did have a children’s play area, a very nice beach and boxes selling Miami and Key West papers. We have not seen a paper since we left home and haven’t really heard much news. I checked Fox News a couple times on the web and did not see much of interest.

Back at camp Ben took a nap and I built a sandcastle and searched for some small shells to string. The water was somewhat warmer today and everyone who has a boat near our campsite took it out. Several have small motor boats, and there is a canoe, and sailboat moored near us.

For supper we had steamed shrimp and some salads bought at the deli in Marathon. It was a non-cooking day. I will write the blog, work some in Photoshop and read tonight. It is VERY dark when the sun goes down and the stars are bright and the sky clear. Tonight is the first night I could be out after dark without my fleece jacket. I was comfortable walking outside with only a long sleeve shirt….maybe the cold snap is over!!!