Prior to buying our Dutch Star in December 2019, Dorcas and I belonged to at least 4 other RV clubs, and occasionally attended rallies hosted by those clubs. Shortly after our purchase we joined yet another RV club: the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK), not to be confused with another RV club we still hang with: Country Coach International.
In April last year we had planned to attend an NKK Carolinas rally in Winston Salem, just a few miles from home and in the summer an NKK International rally in Wyoming. Unfortunately both rallies were ultimately canceled due to the COVID pandemic. We finally were able to attend the NKK Rally in the Keys held December 6-12, 2020.
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| Our camp at TA Vero Beach |
The rally venue, Fiesta Key RV Resort is about 6 hours from our winter home in Titusville. We had intended to leave home on Saturday, the day before the rally started, and spend the night at Miccosukee Casino near Miami, a place we have boondocked several times in the past. That would make for a leisurely drive on Saturday afternoon and a very short jump down to the Keys on Sunday. Being paranoid and overly cautious, we called the casino and learned that, due to the pandemic, they were operating under limited hours and did not currently allow overnight RV parking. BUMMER. Plan B was to spend the night at the TA Travel Center (truck stop) in Vero Beach where we had already planned to stop and pump fuel. We departed home late Saturday afternoon for the 1.5 hour jump to the TA where we filled up with $2.133 diesel and enjoyed a Popeye's Cajun chicken sandwich. Our sleep was very restful and uneventful, nestled among the parked semi-trucks.
I flew the drone for a while and got a good gull's eye view of all the Newmar motorhomes.
We had a happy hour each evening at Sunset Point Tiki Hut at the resort. Drinking and sunset photography were the primary activities at happy hour.
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| This journal would not be complete without a picture of Matilda |
Lazy birds at Lazy Days:
We did several excursions. One was to
Pigeon Key, a small island along the Seven Mile bridge south of Marathon. Dorcas and I have cycled and walked the 2.5 miles to Pigeon Key a number of times on the old Overseas Highway, but that bridge is currently closed for renovations. This time we took a boat. Pigeon Key was a work camp during the construction of Henry Flagler's railroad, or
Flagler's Folly, which opened in 1912. The 5-acre island is home to 8 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which remain from its earliest incarnation as a work camp for the Florida East Coast Railway. Today these buildings serve a variety of purposes, ranging from housing for educational groups to administrative offices for the non-profit Pigeon Key Foundation.
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| Pigeon Key. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. |
Faithful readers will know that I have an extreme fascination with bridges. In fact, that is the reason I became a civil engineer. The museum on Pigeon Key has exhibits documenting the construction of the older
Seven Mile Bridge, constructed from 1909 to 1912. The bridge used two different architectural styles, concrete piers with steel girders, believed to be more suitable for deeper water, and concrete arches for the shallow water spans.
The bridge has been featured in films and television series, such as Licence to Kill, True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Burn Notice. It is said that when Arnold Schwarzenegger was filming True Lies, he fell in love with Pigeon Key and tried to buy it. No sale.
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| See the osprey nest in the tree on the right? |
After our visit to Pigeon Key Dorcas and I lunched at Burdine's Waterfront Chiki Tiki Bar, our favorite restaurant in Marathon. Dessert included their wold famous fried Key Lime pie.
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| Famous miniature Key Deer of Big Pine Key |
You can't spend a week in the Florida Keys without the obligatory drive to Key West. Most of our past trips to Key West have been a bit anticlimactic and disappointing, primarily due to the large crowds. This year, due to the COVID pandemic, there were no cruise ships in town, and you could actually walk down the sidewalk or into a store without being elbow to asshole with all the other tourists. It was very pleasant. Furthermore, Key West has a very strict and aggressive mask mandate; masks are required in all public places, indoors AND outdoors, 24/7. Police officers, merchants and trolly operators were all enforcing the mandate. You go Key West!
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| Southernmost Point? NOT! |
From Wikipedia:
A more southern part of Key West Island exists and is publicly accessible: the beach area of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park at approximately 24°32'42.2"N 81°48'34.5"W, and approximately 500 feet (150 m) farther south than the marker. Also, the Big Island of Hawaii is farther south than Key West.
Further south, land on the Truman Annex property, just west-southwest of the buoy, is the true southernmost point on the island (approximately 900 feet (270 m) farther south near 24°32'39.2"N 81°48'17.8"W), but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy property and cannot be entered by civilian tourists.
Finally, the true southernmost point in Florida (as well as in the continental United States) is actually 10 miles away at Ballast Key (24°31'15.9"N 81°57'49.5"W), an island south and west of Key West.
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| Aside from tourism, seafood is Key West's only industry |
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| Iguanas are invasive to Florida and harmful to its ecosystem, but they sure are pretty! |
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| The most famous bar in Key West |
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| The other most famous bar in Key West |
On our previous trips to Key West you couldn't even get close to Capt. Tony's or Sloppy Joe's due to the crowds. On this day you could just walk right up to the bar.
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| Au Contraire! |
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| Christmas tree: Key West style |
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| Hey, so what? I have nine boats! And one even has a motor! |
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| The Wahlburgs weren't wearing masks! |
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| Jimmy's place. Let's get a cheeseburger in paradise! |
We attended a few more excursions to the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon and the Theatre of the Sea in Islamorada. The following are photos from those events.
The dolphins were flying higher than the parrots. Go figure.
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| Lunch at the Bayside Gourmet in Islamorada |
It was a great rally. The weather was unseasonably cool and windy, but not unpleasant. There were approximately 48 coaches in attendance, and we made some new friends. We intend to participate in several more NKK rallies in 2021 and hopefully a caravan. Stay tuned.
Finally click
HERE to view a really cool multimedia presentation documenting our rally.
Life is good!
