F.A.R.T. <br>
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Most of you got to see the launching of out little F.A.R.T.<br>
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Top down, music blasting, Windjammer’s pressing around us for those last minute photos.<br>
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I was looking quite dapper behind the wheel.. Signing last minute autographs..<br>
Tuck was in the Co-pilots seat, waving at the masses..<br>
Sandra, sitting like royalty in the back..<br>
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It was truly the beginning of a great adventure..<br>
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We speed out and made a right hand turn… Look out Key West, here comes the F.A.R.T.<br>
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On the Road<br>
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As we turned the corner Tuck dug out his GPS and Sandra pulled out the hand written directions from the rental agency.. <br>
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Sandra: Turn right at the next light..<br>
Tuck: Turn right exactly 103.7 ft from now.<br>
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That was the last time they agreed on anything…<br>
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I only took several miles before I realized I needed to take control of the situation..<br>
I explained to them that I take directions well (having been married twice) but they need to decide who was going to give them. My words had as much impact as a fart in a whirlwind..<br>
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Tuck: Go left in 458.3 meters<br>
Sandra: Go right up here..<br>
Railbait: What’s a meter??<br>
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I just followed the sign that said KEY WEST 160 MILES..<br>
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It was a pleasant drive. I got a kick out of Tuck with his new toy, calling out longitude and latitudes every 5 minutes. Sandra soaking up the rays in the back seat, hair blowing in the wind.. Coronas popping out of the travel coolers.. We stopped in Key Largo for some BBQ.. Windjammers fit in nicely down in the Keys..<br>
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The trip through the Keys takes longer than you would expect.. Lots of traffic, speed zones in the small towns, Hwy Patrol cars and slow moving locals.. ISH time is alive and well down there..<br>
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At last Key West. <br>
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Sandra: Go Right..<br>
Tuck: Go left..<br>
I decided to take A1A and see the Atlantic side.. Pulling out the tourist maps we found Washington St. and the Washington St. Inn .. AHHH, home for the next 3 nights…<br>
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We quickly hit the head , stored our gear, donned our bathing suits and met at the pool.. We had plenty of time to polish off the beer in our Hummer coolers before sunset.. This place gave great pool. Lots of shade.. <br>
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I needed lots of shade because that cool hat I wore on the trip down was worthless at keeping the sun off my head.. I was burnt to a crisp.. I have also found out that my head was getting taller than my hair.. The burnt area extended back to where my cowlick used to be.. Right now my forehead is peeling off in layers and my nose looks like it had a fight with a meat grinder and lost..<br>
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Back to the trip.. We ran out of beer so Tuck started to mix up some rum cokes.. Ahhhhh things were beginning to come together..<br>
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As dusk approached we quickly showered and fired up the convertible.. Cruzin’ Duval St in a convertible is fun. Lots of stuff to look at………….. The crowd was beginning to form around the waterfront for the nightly festivities.. Sunset is the beginning of the day for a lot of folks down in the Keys. <br>
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We parked the car and headed for the action. The wharf is the hub of activity at sunset. Street performers ranging from dog and cat shows to human statues line up along the dock doing their thing. <br>
Upon gaining the view, Tuck became a little upset.. “Where’d that island come from?”. It seems that an Island had cropped up from nowhere to block the suns assent into the ocean.. It seemed that Tucks memory had a hole in it… “That Island wasn’t there the last time I was here”, he shouted.. He was starting to turn a few heads, including the human statue.. She looked like she was ready to bolt from her platform and run ..<br>
Sandra and I calmed him down by telling him the water level of the ocean had dropped sense Clinton became President.. He excepted that explanation for the moment. <br>
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That’s when the race started.. We headed port side to get that island out of our way… We did manage to stop and grab a beer from a street vender before we got to the end of the wharf.. We made it in time.. Saw the sun dip into the ocean, no green flash.. Sunsets on the ships are more impressive..<br>
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Next step………Food…<br>
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We went huntin’ for something fast and filling. My scalp hurt, Tuck was still mumbling about that island and Sandra was tired of putting up with both of us. On the way we stopped at a both and made rev’s for the Western Union.. That’s when we found out that the schooner AmericA was out of action until Friday..<br>
Major bummer..<br>
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I’ve forgotten where we ate. We just wanted to hit that swimming pool.. It was wonderful; Tucks spiced Rum and Coke, cool breezes and good friends… A great way to end the first day.<br>
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The next day started out by the pool with breakfast.. Marcia and John, the owners of the inn, put out a great spread. Sipping coffee, we planned the day, First thing was to get me a Hat! Second was to eat lunch..<br>
Like is so hectic… Back to Duval St… Got a Hat and ate lunch… We also found a T-shirt for Shannon…<br>
T-shirts are easy to find in Key West, there must be a thousand places that sell them…<br>
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For those of you who have never been to Key West and Duval St. Let me describe it for you…<br>
Duval St is aprox. 2 miles long. It’s saturated with T-shirt stores, bars and restaurants. The bars have load music blaring out of them and some have hawkers standing out side handing out coupons for free drinks. Some of the Hawkers are very aggressive, chasing you down the street, trying to get you into their joint.. Most of them are dark and smell of stale beer… At the western end of the street is the wharf. This is where everyone gathers for the sunset. They seem to think the sunsets down there are special.. They’ve never been Windjammin’… There are a few Museums scatters among the rabble… After a few trips up and down the street, it becomes a little boring…<br>
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Back to the trip…<br>
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After lunch we went over to the Schooner Wharf to check out the Western Union.. The Western Union is a schooner that used to lay cable to Cuba.. It’s been refurbished and runs 2 hr sails for the tourist. We had reservations for the sunset sail... Ahhh… Tall Ships… I love tall ships…<br>
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Docked next to the Western Union was the AmericA. It’s a replica of the ship that took the cup away from the British that became the America’s cup.. She was a beauty… We couldn’t sail her but just being along side made my heart beat a little faster…<br>
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There wasn’t much going on at the Schooner Wharf Bar so we hit the Store and bought some more beer and headed back to the pool… We were falling in love with that little pool… We had gotten to know all the guests at the hotel by hang around the pool… We were like a traveling promotion for Windjammer.. Everyone at the pool had been injected with Jammer tales and stories of the high seas.. We must have talked 30 people into going Jammin’…. Maybe they just said they would go to shut us up… Anyway… We relaxed by the pool that afternoon, cleaned ourselves up and headed back to the ship before sunset..<br>
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The Western Union is a sturdy ship built for work but it was a fun sail… Everyone called it a boat including the Captain.. Tuck and I tried to explain to everyone, including the crew, that it was a SHIP…. They didn’t play Amazing Grace when we raised the sails but Tuck, Sandra and I hummed it for everyone… It was great getting a deck under our feet… If I’m going to go through the ordeal of flying, there is going to be a tall ship at the end of the plane ride.. We helped raise the sail and settled back for an enjoyable evening.. You get 3 tokens per person for drinks and a bowl of clam chowder, minus the clams…<br>
Soft drinks are free.. We had enough time to inject everyone with Jammer stories… <br>
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There is a very welcome tradition on the Western Union that you all would enjoy.. To celebrate the sunset they fire a canon. Yes, they have a canon, a real canon. I was expecting the same report as a Windjammer canon but I was stunned by the report. It rattled my eyeballs.. I was sure you could see the shock wave move across the ship. Later asked what they used in it and I was told, 5 oz of Pyrodex..<br>
WOW.. We need to get some of these puppies on our ships.. They would really scare the bejezzers out of the Foo Foo ships. Maybe we can start a canon fund.. What say you, Suit Lady, can we have Real Canons??<br>
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The sail back was relaxing and we had made friends with 2 future Jammers.. We invited them to join us for dinner.. <br>
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Tuck had gotten some inside information on this place to eat.. This stranger had told him that all the locals eat there.. It was right across the street from the Schooner Wharf. It’s called Pepe’s.. We walked over to it with our new friends. It looked like a dump from the out side.. Our new friends were beginning to question their newfound friendship.. We gritted our teeth and went inside.. It was wonderful.. Have you ever heard of a steak covered in pork chops? I have now.. This is the Best place in town to eat.. Good job Tuck!!<br>
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After dinner we said good bye to our new friends and headed for our little swimming pool.. A little Rum and coke and a quiet swim was a great way to polish off a great day.. <br>
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Ahhhh.. Tourist Day… We’ve been checking out the shops and today was the day to buy stuff.. We all had to take stuff back to prove we had been there.. After our morning pool get-together we headed out for a day of shopping and sight seeing.. We had lunch at a Cuban restaurant by the wharf and headed over to Mel King’s Museum. He's the guy who found the Atoshia.. A big treasure ship.. I was a hot day so we stopped in to the hogs breath for a cold one.. <br>
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