Happy Birthday to Me

When I was a kid, I would always wish for snow [and the subsequent school closing] on my birthday...and for the most part I got my wish for there was only a year or 2 in my scholastic career that school was not snowed out on January 11th. This year, it seemed as if the snow were trying it's best to find me here in the FL keys and as a result it was very cold indeed, with the longest running cold spell in history and record low temperatures.

So, not only was it too cold to do much of anything fun, but my birthday fell on a Monday this year... un-argument-ably the worst day of the week. Egads & ick. Jeff and everyone else I know had to work, but I decided to make the best of it on my own.

Since Monday is my day to do the net [VHF channel 68, 09:00], I shamelessly let everyone know that it was my birthday. The result was happy birthday wishes from almost everyone on the radio - a good way to start off the morning. Someone even decided to be a real funny guy [Tim Banse] and presented the trivia question: "What year was Misty Henning born?" I guess I asked for that one and since I don't care if anyone knows how old I am, after a few wrong guesses I provided the answer to the question - 1969.

The rest of the morning was spent sipping hot tea and lounging in the nice, warm boat reading a book [Gone With the Wind] and watching a movie [Management] while waiting for the sun to warm the day up a bit.

Around noon, I decided it was warm enough and ventured out. My first stop was to procure a bottle of champagne...because it's just not a birthday celebration until there's champagne! The Martini & Rossi Prosecco seemed festive enough and I poured myself a glass and then crossed the 7-mile bridge in nice, bright, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky sunshine with the sunroof open and the heat blowing on my feet. Next stop, the Cracked Egg in Big Pine for a basket of their yummy fried mushrooms...a birthday treat indeed. Someone had recently told me of a gallery/gift shop in Big Pine called Out of the Blue and I decided to check it out next. I was not disappointed. Out of the Blue is a quaint shop jam packed with fabulous jewelry, artwork, and Key-sy gift items. I took my time and looked around since there was so much to see. One of the first things to catch my eye was their selection of larimar jewelry. I love larimar for its rarity, metaphysical qualities, and ties to sea and water so I picked out a pair of MarahLago earrings for another birthday treat. The nice lady behind the counter gave me a good deal on them and no tax as a birthday present. Sporting my new ear bobs, I headed back across the bridge to Marathon as it was getting close to the time Jeff would be getting off work. For dinner, we ate at one of the best spots on the island - our boat! I had a hunk of the Christmas prime rib [the part that wouldn't fit in the rotisserie!] thawing in the fridge all ready to be seasoned and skewered for the rotisserie. Karen [Magna C] joined us, and we ate rare beef, baked potatoes, bread, and salad in the warmth of the cabin.

The next morning, Jeff and I headed for Key West. He had a few things to finish up for his Captain's license but we hoped to be done in time to have a little fun as well. After struggling to find the places we needed to be and waiting until it could all be done, we wandered around the GFS Market and Ben Franklins [2 of my favorite places!], made a pit stop at the Green Parrot , detoured into Fast Buck Freddie's, and arrived just as our friend Brian Paul was beginning to play at Captain Tony's.
As luck would have it, the same peg-legged pirate [Captain Timothy Stitch] that I had my picture taken with on my 39th birthday [see picture right] was hanging around the bar and I got to have my picture taken with him again...this time accompanied by his blue & gold macaw, Honey Belle.

[See picture left - and what a difference in the attire?!] What fun.

After a pirate punch or 2 and a few songs from Brian we headed back to the car [and an expiring parking meter] and headed out of Key West towards home. We stopped at BobaLu's Southern Cafe at MM 10 and had a great [albeit a bit of an odd combination] dinner of chicken livers, fried okra, and pizza. We ordered one of their specialty pizzas, "Garbage Pie" - sausage, pepperoni, bacon, onions, mushrooms, and a substitute of jalapenos instead of green peppers - and it was delicious. We'll definately be back for more southern cooking and pizza.

After dinner, we headed on up the road, back to the boat and out of the cold. Fired up the Mr. Heater and climbed under the covers.

That was enough birthday fun for me!