I was determined to get to Key West but everyone I talked to said I would never find a place to stay or it would be very expensive. Well, I was going to try.
My first stop was Islamorada where I had once worked at the Yacht Club waiting tables.
Well, thirty years later the Yacht Club is nowhere to be found but the water is still pristinely clear and alive with colorful corals and fish. Signs said fishing was prohibited plus huge fines would be imposed for taking lobster from the water. Obviously, some efforts are underway to preserve and restore the sea life.
Lower Matecumbe Key was our home for 3 months when my family lived aboard the sailboat, Halcyon in the '70's. Would the marina still be there? I had to look.
I parked near where I thought the marina had been and I walked along the road--nothing looked familiar.
Suddenly, through the mangroves growing along this little cove, I spied a dock with sailboats tied up and rocking in the breeze. Was this the dock? When I got to where I might get to the docks I found the road blocked by a chain link fence with a sign saying "Boy Scout Camp" and "No Trespassing".
As I turned around to head back to the RV I saw this across the road--Caloosa Cove Marina had survived! I remembered that we had spent every spare penny of my waitress's tips on boat fittings at this very store. I was in the right spot and suddenly nostalgia flooded over me!
Memories change with time--they grow larger or fainter; give us joy or sorrow; make us yearn for the 'good old days' or regret the passing of time and the loss of people who mattered so much in our lives.
But the road goes on--Key West is another 60 miles.
I spotted an abandoned train trestle on my port side--and that is a tree growing out of it! There is at least a mile in either direction to any land! Determination abounds!
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