Full Boat [Part II]

So, Denise and Kelly left on Tuesday, and when I came home from work on Thursday our second set of company had arrived:  Steve and Lisa Lindell from Louisville, Ky.

Thursdays at the marina are "Movie Night" and by the time I arrived, the movie - The Birdcage - had already started and our guests were comfortably seated with snacks and beverages.  During the second feature - The Blues Brothers - we ordered Chinese and when the movie was over we headed back to the boat for a good night's sleep.

Friday was spent floating around on the boat and relaxing.  I made us one of my soon-to-be-famous breakfast sandwiches with ham and cheese and apples slices on pressed Cuban bread and we listened to music and caught a few rays.  Evening came around, and we headed to Castaways for some live music and dinner.

Boys @ Castaways

Saturday morning we headed to shore for a bit for the marina bake sale and a few errands and then back for another relaxing day on the boat.  The boys played some guitar, practicing for music at the tiki in the evening.

Chef Misty

 Friends, Charles and Hilary, dropped by for happy hour snacks and sunset cocktails and afterwards, we grilled some bacon wrapped peppers, steamed some shrimp, and cooked up a pot of cheese grits for dinner.

Eventually, we headed to shore to join the Saturday night festivities.  Steve and Jeff jammed out a handful of songs for the crowd and Lisa sang one as well.

It was a late of night, but a good time!

Stevie - Guitar Demon!

On Sunday, I left my company in Jeff's capable hands and headed off to work.  By Sunday evening the weather had taken a turn for the worse and as we were discussing where to go for dinner, it started pouring down rain!  I gave it a minute or two of consideration thinking of what we had to eat on the boat then promptly set a bowl of leftover shrimp in front of my guests for them to peel while I started up a pot of rice and beans.  I cut the peeled shrimp into bite size pieces and heated them in a sauce of salsa verde, garlic, and butter.  It was a yummy, impromptu meal and everyone was happy not to have to brave the weather and a wet dinghy ride to shore.

Come Monday morning, I returned to work while Steve and Lisa entertained themselves.  That evening I met them at Dockside where our friend, Dan Sullivan, was performing. We had lots of friends in attendance and it was a really good time.  After a few cocktails and a bit of dinner, I left my car in the lot and traveled home with the rest of my crew via dinghy.

Tuesday morning rolled around and Steve and Lisa decided to head to Key West for a couple of days - but not without first doing a load of laundry!
Jeff had a snorkel boat run that morning so we all packed up our things and headed into shore.  When the laundry was all said and done, my company headed West after first stopping by the Marathon airport to see the traveling display of WWII planes...and I went into work.

The Lindell's spent 2 nights in Key West seeing the sights, but they were back on Thursday in time for another movie night.  This time the flick was Captain Ron - an all time favorite here in the harbor!  We ordered a pizza to be delivered and called it a night.

Perhaps this champagne was a little too DRY!

Friday ended up being a lovely day here in the bright, sunshiney Florida Keys.  We started off with a bit of bubbly on the boat but we had big plans for the evening with oysters and scallops on Charles and Hilary's catamaran, Ship O' Fools.

Delivered directly to the marina, we ordered a 50 lb box of oysters and a couple pounds of bay scallops.  Dinner was to be all you could eat oysters with all the fixings and tiny bay scallops sauteed in butter, garlic, lemon and white wine over buttery orzo with onion, spinach, and parsley.  With a side of steamed asparagus and some crusty bread, we had quite the lovely dinner amongst good friends.

On Saturday, Jeff got called in to make the snorkel run to the reef and Steve and Lisa opted to join him.  I got everyone to shore, and then headed to a local art show and then to the grocery to plan a nice meal for our guests.  This was to be their last night here before they started their trek north.  I wasn't sure how the day was going to go out  on the Starfish...it might be a little rough...and I wasn't sure how everyone would fare.
I decided mojito's - Lisa's favorite cocktail - were in order so that the mint could soothe possibly upset bellies.

It ended up, they had a great time and I was worried for nothing.

Lisa on the nets!

Lisa still appreciated the mojito's, though!

In fact, I think we all did!

For dinner, we had an appetizer of bacon wrapped shrimp then burgers loaded with smoked gouda cheese and all the fixings and hashbrowns.           
YUM.

I have no doubts that the Lindell's had a great time during their stay on the S/V Thin Line, after all, I did keep them well fed and watered!
We hope they'll come back soon, because we had a great time as well!