Key West - A noisy night and Sarah meets the artists

Sarah's personal expert on sculptures

Sarah's Blog

Today we had breakfast and then went on a walk down Duval  street with all of the shops. We went to the shell warehouse first and there was a wall of necklaces and stands full of shells. Then we went to a jewelry store and there was all kinds of cool stuff. There was a lot of sea necklaces with gold, sliver, and diamonds on them too. The person there took out the necklace and let us touch it and see it up close. Then we went to a store where there is glass sculptures with all different colors in them. There was waves and a horse one too. The guy let me touch them just don't lift them. There were also tapes and it showed how hard it was to make them. He gave me a calendar and a piece of  glass that says David Wight making waves 20 years it looks so cool. Then we went in to more stores and Nana got me a shirt and a dolphin necklace. Also we looked at some art too. Then we headed back to the boat and I drew. Then we went on a walk and went pass stores and saw big tarpon about 8 in all. Also pelicans and a person feeding fish to it too. We're going to have tuna for dinner with sesame seeds yum! Well bye off to go do some more drawing bye. oiHbb

Shops galore - how to choose?

I had to return the rental car this morning so I took Ann and Sarah downtown for shopping before taking the car back. Put a grandmother and a granddaughter together for shopping and that's a recipe for some serious looking (and buying), especially is shirtsleeve weather. In one place Sarah learned about amber and its uses for jewelry. When the clerk learned that Sarah was a homeschooler, she got a complete history lesson on amber along with a tour of the store's collection. In another store where fine paintings and sculptures were on display, the same thing happened. The proprietor went to great lengths to explain how the sculptures were made and Sarah had permission to run her fingers over the sculptures to feel the prism like finish that gave the piece a sparkle in the light. Normally they don't want you to touch anything but Sarah was the exception. She received a calendar with paintings for each month and a medallion that one of the artists used to embed into his sculptures as his signature. After that it was off to affordable jewelry on a walk down Duval street.  

The ever present panhandlers - got food?

Every day here is seems to get a little warmer, getting close to the high 70's in a few days. Last night there was a party on the 72 ft powerboat in front of us that went on through the wee hours. I found out the next morning that the marina here has a policy of quiet after 10:00 pm and the dockmaster said he would talk to the owner and I now have a number to call in case the same thing happens tonight, we'll see. 

Yet to come is the Herculean task of cleaning out the aft cabin and finding somewhere on the boat to put all that stuff. When we left New York we thought we needed every item but from the perspective of Key West and visitors, we're not so sure anymore. By the time we return north we'll probably forget the problem and still keep everything (like we've done every year so far). Perhaps we'll have new resolve and actually do with less  but I wouldn't hold my breath.