Key Deer

As promised here are pictures of Key Deer. When we were driving down to Key West we noted that there was an area that is a Key Deer preservation area. We heard that they were little deer, and that we might be able to see them if we drove slowly. So, we decided to go off of the two lane highway onto the two lane road and try to find some. The brush is super thick in this area, and there are signs everywhere about not feeding the deer, so after about 20 minutes driving down a road to nowhere we were just about to turn back when Andy spotted these guys. It almost looks like it's a Zoo, but it isn't, these guys were chillin' in someones front yard. They were kind of mangy looking, but super cute. They are literally about the size of a medium to large sized dog. They had no fear of us at all. They just kept eating. In fact, one of them looked like he was going to ruff us up a bit when we sat there taking pictures of them. Maybe they don't like paparazzi.

Seven Mile Bridge to No Where

On the second full day of our trip to the Keys we were supposed to go fishing with Bob again, but it was even windier than day one. I believe there were 30 MPH winds! Obviously not ideal for fishing. We decided that we'd drive down to Key West and check it out. It was a long drive down the two lane highway, but it was fun. The driving was more fun than Key West in fact! Pictures here are on the seven mile bridge. Any one who has driven with me over a high bridge knows I have a fear of crashing and plummeting over the side and into the frigid water below. I almost always work out an escape plan in my head - particularly if the kids are in the back of the truck.

Anyway, so the seven mile bridge is long, but it's really pretty to look out over the water and see the different colors of blue. In the one picture you can see the old seven mile bridge to the right. It was pretty worn down and decrepit looking, but the birds seemed to like it. In one section of the old bridge there were two trees growing right out of the middle of the road.

Once in Key West we had lunch, wandered around, saw a huge cruise boat, saw some drunk people. I would likely not go back to Key West. Too much chincy, touristy crap, not enough Jimmy Buffet beach paradise feel.

Next time I'll post pictures of the Key Deer we saw in the protection area! They are like little dog sized deer!

Fishing in the Keys

I did mention that I didn't catch any fish right? Well on our first day out fishing with Bob (which would have been Thursday) Andy did. The fish with the yellow fins is a Jack. Apparently they can get quite large. The other picture he has two snappers. Which we had for dinner that night. Very tasty.

I actually had fish hooked a couple of times, but they got off for a variety of reasons. One must have gone under a rock, because no matter how much I pulled nothing happened, and no matter how much Bob pulled, nothing happened. Finally we just broke the line. Bob said it must have been a Goliath Grouper, but didn't use that name...

Anyway, later we ended up at some mangroves which is where Andy caught dinner. We would flip the little bait fish under the mangrove, and the grouper would swim out and eat it. Wouldn't have been so tough, but the reel was on the wrong side, so I every time I caught one it would take my gimpiness too long to reel in. Oh well, Andy did well. I did have another large Goliath Grouper on, Andy saw it and said it was very large. It almost ripped the pole right out of my hands! I got a bruise on my arm from the dang thing.

While out on Thursday we were also visited by porpoises, sharks, and sea turtles. I just couldn't get my camera out before they disappeared.

All in all a good fishing day, even if Andy was the only one who caught anything.

Vacation Photo's 3

Here are a couple of pictures of Andy from the Keys. Of course, I was carrying the camera most of the time, so must of the pictures are of Andy!

In the one picture he's holding two little bait fish, pilchers, it looks like he ripped one in half and has the tail in one hand and the head int he other, but I assure you it is two fish.

The other picture he is fishing at the end of the pier at the resort we stayed at. Where, you ask, did he get the gear? Well, I say, funny you should ask. There is, of course, a story behind that.

On the first day we were down in the Islamorada we decided to go to the "beach" at the resort and wade in the water. This resort allows pets, so there were a couple of people out with their dogs. One guy came down and was fishing at the end of the pier while his wife tended to their three small dogs. One of whom was an old little poodle that couldn't walk anymore, so they wheeled it around in a little cart. Poor little guy. Hated me though!

Anyway, while we were having a drink, watching this guy fish, and the little cart dog, another guy with his dog came down to the water. There was a bit of a hubbub and at some point a different poodle - not the cart dog - fell or jumped into the water. Someone jumped in after it and there was lots of hoopla. "Mom" took the dogs up to the bungalow, and "dad" continued to fish. Of course, at this point Andy made his move. Time to go out and see what dude was catching. Turns out nothing that night. So we (read Andy) ended up striking up a conversation with Trey about, what else, fishing. Trey was super cool. He showed Andy his rigging, let him fish with it, talked about where he fished, and what he caught.

After a while Andy hooked into a sting ray, a littleish one. It shot out and ran around a couple of pylons and snap. After a while Trey went up to get another beer. When he came back he had a fishing pole that he gave to Andy. He was thrilled. But there's more. The pole came with a story too.

Apparently a couple of years ago Trey was at the same resort (they go a couple times a year) and a dude was there that had literally never fished before. Same thing happened, Trey and dude got to talking, and Trey let him fish with his gear. Dude had some cash so he went to the huge fishing shop down the road and bought a pole and some other gear. The next night he was fishing, and had his pole leaning up against the end of the pier and all of a sudden the pole took off flying into the water. Something big just took it out to sea. He and Trey laughed about it for a bit and the next day dude went home. Well, then Trey and the Mrs. were out kayaking and Mrs. Trey looked down and saw something shiny about 20 yards out from the end of the pier. Turns out it's dudes pole! Trey got it out and cleaned it up and called Dude, who told him to keep it. He did, and finally ended up "paying it forward" by giving the pole to Andy. Hence the picture. I believe just this opening weekend (last weekend) Andy was fishing with the "Keys gear", throwing for pike, and he caught a 40 inch musky! Good karma on that pole I guess.

More vacation photos2

So remember in the last post I mentioned all the pelicans diving around us? Well here are three of the many pictures I took of them. It was hard getting pictures of the moment of impact, but here's a pretty good one, and one of a different pelican taking off after hitting the water. It was really neat to see, but a little like Hitchcock's The Birds, but with bigger birds.

More about the guide Bob. Andy does a really funny impression of him that's spot on. On the first day of fishing, after we've gotten our bait fish, we head out to the first fishing spot to try for Tarpon. Obviously we're going to be in the boat with this guy for a long time - eight hours the first day at least - so he strikes up various conversations. One of the first things he says once we are set up is "I don't really talk about politics", to which I respond "Yeah, me neither". Only I really don't. After 16 hours with Bob, I'm pretty sure he is not a democrat, or he just doesn't like Obama very much. Either way, he was and interesting dude.

More vacation photos

We arrived in the Keys after a drive from Miami. Someone suggested we take Hwy 1 down, which we did, through every stop light, stop sign, bad neighborhood, 30 mile an hour zone in Miami! Anyway, we did finally end up in Islamorada on Wednesday night, got our hotel (see last post), and went out for a relaxing dinner at the Islamorada Fish Company - I had stone crab - way expensive BTW! The next morning, early, we got up to meet our fishing guide Bob. He's been fishing in the keys for 25 or 30 years, with the last 20 or so as a guide. First thing we had to do was go catch bait - pilchers - so that we could catch bigger fish later. So about 7am we arrive at this bait catching spot. Bob gets out a net and tells Andy to drive the boat - I think Andy loved that part! - where he directed him to. Andy almost dumped Bob out a couple of times with the touchy throttle. That was pretty funny. So, anyway, we drive around and around with these pelicans diving after the pilchers all around us, which was pretty cool, and Bob stands on the front of the boat, when he sees a school of these bait fish he tells Andy to stop, throws the net, and then barks "back up, back up, back up" while he fishes in his net. It was pretty cool. Sometimes he'd bring in his net and have one little fish, other times his net would be full. These are two of my favorite pictures from the vacation. Andy driving, and Bob throwing.