On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:33:40 -0400, HK wrote:



Have fun. If you anchor at the slightly offshore reef, be mindful of the
anchor in the free boat...if you lose it, you have to replace it. I lost
mine the first day and had to go shopping for another.

Remember, the rooms are only adequate. It isn't a posh resort. But
everything else is really nice, and the little boats are all you need.
We found a place to head a bit "inland" in the keys, and caught fish
there, too.

Looks like I'll see the Keys for the first time.
My sis is giving me her place in Punta Gorda for a couple, few weeks,
so I'll have some extra cash to spend. Usually spend a couple grand
for 2 weeks at St. Pete Beach. Sis just wants me to kick in the
utilities, which I'll turn on down there.
All those condos sitting empty down there. Weird.
Might get a bit slow fishing off the dock in the canal, so a side trip
to the Keys sounds good. Wife agrees, as she's never been there
either. She'll try to get an extra week of vacation so there won't be
time pressures.
I'll be visiting with my dad and step-sis and BIL near the Crystal
River for a couple days on the way down.
BIL used to live in the Keys and fish guide, and has two brothers
still down there, one guiding and one with a restaurant on Islamorada.
Lots of targets for me, and I'll look into the Rainbow Bend for a
couple day stay.
My dad's family has a lot of experience with the Keys, going waaaaay
back. Tales about getting drunk with Hemingway, and Castro buying a
round for everybody - before he went rogue of course.
You know, the usual fishing story bull****.
One thing I believe is my dad's recounting of his favorite fishing
trip, on a big boat out of Key West to the Dry Tortugas.
Boat had bunks, a grill, and stayed out 3 days.
Fish, eat, fish, sleep, fish, fish, sleep, eat, fish, fish.
200 bucks. Brought back lots of fish.
That was about 15 years ago, and he can't remember the boat name.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:33:40 -0400, HK wrote:


Have fun. If you anchor at the slightly offshore reef, be mindful of the
anchor in the free boat...if you lose it, you have to replace it. I lost
mine the first day and had to go shopping for another.

Remember, the rooms are only adequate. It isn't a posh resort. But
everything else is really nice, and the little boats are all you need.
We found a place to head a bit "inland" in the keys, and caught fish
there, too.

Looks like I'll see the Keys for the first time.
My sis is giving me her place in Punta Gorda for a couple, few weeks,
so I'll have some extra cash to spend. Usually spend a couple grand
for 2 weeks at St. Pete Beach. Sis just wants me to kick in the
utilities, which I'll turn on down there.
All those condos sitting empty down there. Weird.
Might get a bit slow fishing off the dock in the canal, so a side trip
to the Keys sounds good. Wife agrees, as she's never been there
either. She'll try to get an extra week of vacation so there won't be
time pressures.
I'll be visiting with my dad and step-sis and BIL near the Crystal
River for a couple days on the way down.
BIL used to live in the Keys and fish guide, and has two brothers
still down there, one guiding and one with a restaurant on Islamorada.
Lots of targets for me, and I'll look into the Rainbow Bend for a
couple day stay.
My dad's family has a lot of experience with the Keys, going waaaaay
back. Tales about getting drunk with Hemingway, and Castro buying a
round for everybody - before he went rogue of course.
You know, the usual fishing story bull****.
One thing I believe is my dad's recounting of his favorite fishing
trip, on a big boat out of Key West to the Dry Tortugas.
Boat had bunks, a grill, and stayed out 3 days.
Fish, eat, fish, sleep, fish, fish, sleep, eat, fish, fish.
200 bucks. Brought back lots of fish.
That was about 15 years ago, and he can't remember the boat name.

--Vic

Vic, If you are a gourmand you simply must dine at the Hogs Breath
Saloon. The food there is out of this world, but the decor lacks something.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:41:43 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:



Vic, If you are a gourmand you simply must dine at the Hogs Breath
Saloon. The food there is out of this world, but the decor lacks something.

Where's it at? I'll make it a target.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:41:43 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:


Vic, If you are a gourmand you simply must dine at the Hogs Breath
Saloon. The food there is out of this world, but the decor lacks something.

Where's it at? I'll make it a target.

--Vic

Downtown Key West. Duval street, I think.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:05:04 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:41:43 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:


Vic, If you are a gourmand you simply must dine at the Hogs Breath
Saloon. The food there is out of this world, but the decor lacks something.

Where's it at? I'll make it a target.

--Vic

Downtown Key West. Duval street, I think.

I wasn't going to go there, because.....uh, you know.
But my wife might get a kick out of it.

--Vic

"Jim24242" wrote in message
...
GC Boater wrote:
“We had the Hatteras for two years. Last year, out of the cold clear,
a broker approached me with an offer to buy. Our continued Florida
lifestyle was somewhat up in the air, because the two breadwinners
hereabouts were about to be offered long-term but temporary
assignments they could not refuse in the Washington, D.C., area. So,
after being romanced a little, we sold the Hatt for almost precisely
what we paid for it. Not bad, after two full years of use. And I mean
full years. So, we didn't "make" any money off the Hatt, but we didn't
lose any either. The proceeds were prudently invested.”

I'm glad it worked out, at least for one of the breadwinners. The other
bread winner went on to star in the Pillsbury commercials. You might
recognize him. Someone pokes their finger in his belly and he giggles.


Pauleys report, nice thin crust, green peppers, onions and mushrooms. the
GP, O and M were chopped way to fine. It was actually hard to distinguish
one from the other. Again I'll lay blame on the cheese, the crust except
for the very edges was quite soggy.

The taste was bland which was helped somewhat with salt. As far as the
Florida pizza I've sampled it's probably as good and any. Still longing for
my friends pizza in Chicago.

There's no attraction to catching grouper and snapper on reefs 200 yards
offshore, and catching all the "inshore" fish you want without having to
deal with the vagaries and pontential dangers of the ocean?

But Krausie, there are fewer "vagaries" when you're in a Hatteras, eh?

"HK" wrote in message
m...
Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:30:15 -0400, HK wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:59:32 -0400, Yogi of Woodstock
wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:14:12 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

We have the best of both worlds. We can go to either coast when it's
safe to do so. The Keys? Been there. Done that. Got the tee shirt.
I went fishing in the Keys one time about ten years or so ago.

Never understood the attraction.

Never been there, but it looks pretty in pictures.
Seems a good place for finding scenic fishing spots close in.
You can enjoy that with a drink even when the fish aren't hitting.
Once you're out of sight of land, water looks pretty much the same.
If you are skunked, you start to think, "Why am I here?"

--Vic

There are places in the Keys where there are reefs a couple hundred
yards offshore in the Atlantic, and fairly calm seas much of the time,
and you can catch all kinds of typically way offshore fish without the
danger of being out of sight of land or the expense of a big, open ocean
boat.

I stayed here once about 12 years ago:

www.rainbowbend.com


after a conference in the miami area. The resort was pretty nice. The
rooms were adequate, the restaurant first class, the beach was lovely,
and we had free use of a small boston whaler with an outboard. We caught
snapper, grouper, spanish mackeral and I forgot what else, right in
front of the hotel, and the restaurant's chef did a wonderful job each
night cooking up our catch.

Thanks for that. You may have changed my vacation plans.

--Vic


Have fun. If you anchor at the slightly offshore reef, be mindful of the
anchor in the free boat...if you lose it, you have to replace it. I lost
mine the first day and had to go shopping for another.

Remember, the rooms are only adequate. It isn't a posh resort. But
everything else is really nice, and the little boats are all you need. We
found a place to head a bit "inland" in the keys, and caught fish there,
too.

This might be a good idea. If you add in what you'd normally pay to rent a
boat...the room rates seem reasonable.
Next spring a niece will get married on a Caribbean Island. If it's Cuba,
I'll probably go.
If the Dominican Republic... maybe not.

Don White wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
m...
Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:30:15 -0400, HK wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:59:32 -0400, Yogi of Woodstock
wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:14:12 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

We have the best of both worlds. We can go to either coast when it's
safe to do so. The Keys? Been there. Done that. Got the tee shirt.
I went fishing in the Keys one time about ten years or so ago.

Never understood the attraction.

Never been there, but it looks pretty in pictures.
Seems a good place for finding scenic fishing spots close in.
You can enjoy that with a drink even when the fish aren't hitting.
Once you're out of sight of land, water looks pretty much the same.
If you are skunked, you start to think, "Why am I here?"

--Vic
There are places in the Keys where there are reefs a couple hundred
yards offshore in the Atlantic, and fairly calm seas much of the time,
and you can catch all kinds of typically way offshore fish without the
danger of being out of sight of land or the expense of a big, open ocean
boat.

I stayed here once about 12 years ago:

www.rainbowbend.com


after a conference in the miami area. The resort was pretty nice. The
rooms were adequate, the restaurant first class, the beach was lovely,
and we had free use of a small boston whaler with an outboard. We caught
snapper, grouper, spanish mackeral and I forgot what else, right in
front of the hotel, and the restaurant's chef did a wonderful job each
night cooking up our catch.
Thanks for that. You may have changed my vacation plans.

--Vic

Have fun. If you anchor at the slightly offshore reef, be mindful of the
anchor in the free boat...if you lose it, you have to replace it. I lost
mine the first day and had to go shopping for another.

Remember, the rooms are only adequate. It isn't a posh resort. But
everything else is really nice, and the little boats are all you need. We
found a place to head a bit "inland" in the keys, and caught fish there,
too.

This might be a good idea. If you add in what you'd normally pay to rent a
boat...the room rates seem reasonable.
Next spring a niece will get married on a Caribbean Island. If it's Cuba,
I'll probably go.
If the Dominican Republic... maybe not.



Geez...I hope by next year Obama lifts all restrictions with Cuba. You
Canadians are lucky that your government hasn't been insane about Cuba
all these years.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:41:43 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

Vic, If you are a gourmand you simply must dine at the Hogs Breath
Saloon. The food there is out of this world, but the decor lacks something.

breath mints? :)