Key West - WOW!

We spent the past four days in Key West. Nearly everyone you talk to says don't bother sailing to Key West - get on the bus in Marathon and visit that way. But, we decided that we should do it at least once. The reason folks say that is because the anchoring is crowded with little protection, the marinas are expensive, and the mooring field is a very long way from the dinghy dock. We had a great sail to Key West and we decided to go to the Garrison Bight City Marina Mooring field. Moorings are $15.00 a day - we never did see the showers there; but the report was that they weren't great! But Kismet was secure, and that was the most important thing to us. The dinghy ride was about 15 - 20 minutes, and at night it was abit scary (for Laurie anyway)! One of the main reasons we wanted to go to Key west was that friends; Ray and Susan were on vacation at their home there. It was great to see them!! We really loved Key West - beautiful plants, flowers, etc., pretty architecture, an abundance of bars, entertainment at Mallory Square,and a great beach at Fort Zachary Taylor. We walked about 7 miles yesterday - Laurie was limping by the end of the day! We started to head back to Boot Key Harbor today - stopped in Boca Chica Key on the way to meet up with Ray and Susan; then motored to Newfound Channel to anchor for the night. We will be back in Marathon tomorrow to wait out the next "Northerly" coming through!