Marathon 1/15 thru 1/20/09
On the road at 05:30 in the dark for the 6 hour drive to Marathon. The Bahoric kids had arrived there the day before and would be exploring the area until we met for dinner that evening. The Sea Dell motel was dated but everything seemed to work and the people running things were friendly and accommodating. We had a mix of weather during the period we were in Marathon, but nothing terrible –the first couple of days were windy and cool, but we still had a few hours of sunny warmth in the afternoon for wading at Sombrero Beach. Libby had some bea
ch and/or pool time every day. We did a lot of walking and biking, and we ate great seafood most every day. Our favorite for seafood was the “Keys Fisheries”, a water front place that is a land mark in Marathon. You place your order at a window and they call you when it is ready for your pick up. Dining is at any one of the many picnic tables arranged around the three sides of the concrete dock that the place is located on. After dark they turn on some lights and you can see large fish swimming right off the dock – they will also give you some raw fish scraps to feed to the fish. It’s great entertainment for kids. One of the interesting menu items at the Fisheries is there famous “Lobster Rueben” – a Rueben sandwich made with chunks of lobster in place of the usual corn beef. Polly and I agreed that it was “interesting” – not bad but not good enough to have a second time. However, the large variety of fresh fish and shrimp that is always available (cooked any way you like) at the Fisheries, is good enough to have every day.
The highlight of our stay in Marathon was a kayak tour through the mangroves in Boot Key. Dave Caplan, our guide and owner of the outfitting business that supplied the boats, proved to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. The water path we took is only available during high tide and even at that, there were some passages where we had to duck our heads and pull the boats along by grabbing branches overhead. Kate and Libby shared a tandem kayak which was a few feet longer than the singles the rest of us had, and Kate had a bit of a challenge maneuvering through some of the tighter spots. It was Polly’s first time in a Kayak and she did a super job of handling and paddling her boat throughout the 2 + hour voyage. The tour group was made up of several other family sub-groups and all were pleasant and fun people to spend time with. Libby was the only child in the group and impressed some the others with her paddling skills gained during recent summers boating with her parents back in PA. The next morning when we stopped by at the kayak shop for a T-shirt, Libs was greeted by Dave and his partner by her first name as we walked through the door.
Certainly the highlight of the trip for Kate and Libby was their “Swim with the Dolphins” adventure. Kate has always had an interest in marine critters and even considered marine biology as a career field, so she pre-arranged with the Dolphin Research Center located on Grassy Key,
for she and Libby to have an in-water experience with trained Dolphins. The 
experience put her on a high for days – as she told us when they returned to Marathon, “she just couldn’t stop smiling for hours”, after being towed through the water and then commanding the Dolphins to do their tricks, with hand signals. 
Libby even got a kiss from a Dolphin.
Our last day in Marathon happened to be son-in-law Matt’s birthday so we treated him to dinner at his favorite pizza place in Marathon, which is owned and operated by a Mexican couple. After dinner he and I (RCB) walked to a funky Keys style bar for some guy time over a drink. All in all, I think he enjoyed his birthday. The next morning we were all on the road by 05:30 with the Bahoric’s heading to the airport and Polly and I for New Smyrna Beach and the boat.
On the road at 05:30 in the dark for the 6 hour drive to Marathon. The Bahoric kids had arrived there the day before and would be exploring the area until we met for dinner that evening. The Sea Dell motel was dated but everything seemed to work and the people running things were friendly and accommodating. We had a mix of weather during the period we were in Marathon, but nothing terrible –the first couple of days were windy and cool, but we still had a few hours of sunny warmth in the afternoon for wading at Sombrero Beach. Libby had some bea
ch and/or pool time every day. We did a lot of walking and biking, and we ate great seafood most every day. Our favorite for seafood was the “Keys Fisheries”, a water front place that is a land mark in Marathon. You place your order at a window and they call you when it is ready for your pick up. Dining is at any one of the many picnic tables arranged around the three sides of the concrete dock that the place is located on. After dark they turn on some lights and you can see large fish swimming right off the dock – they will also give you some raw fish scraps to feed to the fish. It’s great entertainment for kids. One of the interesting menu items at the Fisheries is there famous “Lobster Rueben” – a Rueben sandwich made with chunks of lobster in place of the usual corn beef. Polly and I agreed that it was “interesting” – not bad but not good enough to have a second time. However, the large variety of fresh fish and shrimp that is always available (cooked any way you like) at the Fisheries, is good enough to have every day.
The highlight of our stay in Marathon was a kayak tour through the mangroves in Boot Key. Dave Caplan, our guide and owner of the outfitting business that supplied the boats, proved to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. The water path we took is only available during high tide and even at that, there were some passages where we had to duck our heads and pull the boats along by grabbing branches overhead. Kate and Libby shared a tandem kayak which was a few feet longer than the singles the rest of us had, and Kate had a bit of a challenge maneuvering through some of the tighter spots. It was Polly’s first time in a Kayak and she did a super job of handling and paddling her boat throughout the 2 + hour voyage. The tour group was made up of several other family sub-groups and all were pleasant and fun people to spend time with. Libby was the only child in the group and impressed some the others with her paddling skills gained during recent summers boating with her parents back in PA. The next morning when we stopped by at the kayak shop for a T-shirt, Libs was greeted by Dave and his partner by her first name as we walked through the door.Certainly the highlight of the trip for Kate and Libby was their “Swim with the Dolphins” adventure. Kate has always had an interest in marine critters and even considered marine biology as a career field, so she pre-arranged with the Dolphin Research Center located on Grassy Key,
for she and Libby to have an in-water experience with trained Dolphins. The 
experience put her on a high for days – as she told us when they returned to Marathon, “she just couldn’t stop smiling for hours”, after being towed through the water and then commanding the Dolphins to do their tricks, with hand signals. 
Libby even got a kiss from a Dolphin.Our last day in Marathon happened to be son-in-law Matt’s birthday so we treated him to dinner at his favorite pizza place in Marathon, which is owned and operated by a Mexican couple. After dinner he and I (RCB) walked to a funky Keys style bar for some guy time over a drink. All in all, I think he enjoyed his birthday. The next morning we were all on the road by 05:30 with the Bahoric’s heading to the airport and Polly and I for New Smyrna Beach and the boat.
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