First, a nice action pic-
Our fearless leader in the Tortugas,
Willie "No one ever died from an ass chewing" Lopez.
Lopez is on the water- all is right with the world...
Rather than taking the 2 hour ferryboat back to Key West I wheedled a faster ride back to Key Weird. If Seaplanes of Key West has a full day booked, the first flight out to the island has a deadhead going back in to Key West and occasionally we can hop a ride, but you have to be ready to go as soon as they hit the beach...
The 8:20 flight to Key West has arrived.
Hogan arrives for the first flight of the day.
The Farewell Committee
Sheri, Sarah and Trep send me off with style...
Taking off has it's challenges...
It's not often you see a sailboat on the runway when you're getting ready for takeoff...
There was a bad headwind heading back, so were were up around 3500' during the ride back.
Passing over the Marquesas.
There were several really good aspects of returning via seaplane...
First, I got to KW about 9:00AM...
Usually I'be be getting in at 6:00pm which made for a long trip back to Jacksonville in the dark, but now I'd be getting an early start on trip back home.
Second, I got to go to lunch with Buddy and Leanne-
Two wonderful folks who make my trips to DRTO smooth. They keep an eye on Physalia while I'm out at the Island, and they also were able to fill all the holes in my larder by making a run to the grocery story and sending out fresh victuals on the ferry boat.
In an effort to repay a small part of that debt, I took them to lunch at El Meson De Pepe on Mallory Square... I had the Roast Pork sandwich... Very tasty!
I also made time to hit my favorite place for conch fritters...
A little shack outside the Key West Aquarium just off Mallory Square.
They serve fried fish and other snacky stuff, but back in the Old Days all they served were conch fritters and bollos...
The Mother Lode...
Bollos, a hushpuppy-like fritter made of ground black-eyed peas, onion, and garlic were a staple we used as our drinking base back when I was just out of high school, before I headed out to the real world. We'd get a few orders of fritters and bollos and go watch Sunset at Mallory Square, then we'd hit Gringos or Captain Tony's for a night of drinking and debauchery...
Well... They don't make bollos any more, but the fritters are still the best.
Get an order of 6, and a little container of Key Lime Mustard... Ambrosia!
I got on the road about 1:30- just in time for rush hour in Miami...
Arrived back in Jacksonville at 10:30.
No more Island Time until July...
A long but fun trip...
Famous, out-
Jay we missed you in the Tortugas this year.... sue and her husband were there and this time we didn't get run off by a hurricane, but was recovering from a bunch of hurricanes from Mardi Gras that we attended before going to the island for a few quite and peaceful days. but we were surprised to not see your picture on the volunteer board. So we asked about it, cuz I know that you were there in January. and they said you broke the camera LOL.. Hope we can Catch up with you again out there sometime... ahh and Arlene is the storm that made us go away :^( 8 days into hurricane season.. until next time
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