Key West - Schooner Wharf and the Southern Drawl

The Appledore II out of Maine

After a morning of doing laundry (still gotta do that!) we devoted an afternoon of exploring the schooner wharf. There are about a 1/2 dozen schooners that go our for day sails from the wharf and some are famous in their own right. One spends the summers in Maine and comes down to Key West during the winter. If I were harbored in Maine I would want to come down to Key West too! It's the Appledore, a beautiful traditional schooner (a schooner has two or more masts with the foremost mast being shorter than the following masts). It was a workhorse when sails ruled the seas in trade routes.

Next to the Appledore is the Western Union, another schooner for day sailing. They usually have a crew on board playing the bandoneon. It's like a very compact accordion. Moving on down the line you come to American 2.0 which is a modern reproduction of a schooner that looks traditional but was built in Albany, NY in 2011. I hadn't realized that there was a major boat building center in Albany, who would have guessed! When underway by motor, it's electric powered.

The Southern Drawl Band - very energetic! 

After viewing the schooners and dinner, we took Hoolie for a walk and dropped by Schooner Wharf to see the Southern Drawl Band. They are a high powered, overly active group that got the patrons moving. We sat in the corner with Hoolie tied to our chair but there was a dog at the next table that Hoolie very much wanted to meet - but we kept the leash tight!  There is no cover charge at Schooner Wharf (nor at any of the local bars) but you are expected to buy a drink which we did. The band was good! So we retired at the ripe old time of 8:00 pm back to the boat to rest up for another day of adventure.