February 14, 2024 - Marathon, Florida Keys

 Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kip was up early, but I slept in until around 8 a.m.  We had breakfast and took the dinghy up to shower.  After we showered, we decided to walk around in town for a while.  There wasn't much going on in the direction we were walking, not like yesterday where there were stores and shops.  As we were walking, we noticed a sign that said Turtle Hospital.  I made the sarcastic statement to Kip "Gee, I'm glad they have a turtle hospital....  I've been looking for one".

After determining that there wasn't much to see and that the 7-mile bridge was way too far away to walk, we crossed the street.  There was a complex with all white buildings and gates called Tranquility Bay Resort.  It appeared to be fancy rentals ($600 a night) with shops, restaurants, pools, etc.  We decided to check it out since the sign pointed to the pool and to Sunset Beach.  Although there were signs stating that the grounds were for registered guests only, Kip opened the pool gate like he owned the place.

The pool was nice, but not many people there (no screaming kids, etc.).  We exited the pool to go to the beach.  The beach was not really a beach at all.  It looked like sand was brought in for walkways and the actual swimming area was full of seaweed and was very small, being blocked off by a wall.  A tractor was hauling seaweed from a pile by the water taking it somewhere.  I told Kip the beach was "extremely disappointing." He laughed and said, "You act like you are a paying customer... we don't even belong here."  

We continued walking and noticed that several people were standing around by the Turtle Hospital.  Kip wanted to check out why.  Well, it seems people can tour the facility and see the turtles, so we signed up for the tour.  

The tour guide was a sassy older woman with a booming voice.  She explained the types of sea turtles, what the hospital does for them, how the hospital began, etc.  The turtles get hit by boats and other objects, get growths on them, etc., and people find them, report them to the hospital, and the hospital takes them and rehabilitates them.  The end result is to put the turtle back into the ocean, if possible.  It was 90 minutes and was really interesting and fun.  I guess I need to keep an open mind about some things, huh!

As we continued walking back to the boat, we couldn't help ourselves and took pictures with the shark!

We didn't realize how far we had walked, and we were both hungry.  We ate lunch and sat for a while.  Then Kip decided he wanted to go back into town to pick up a few items, fishing bait, pizza and pie for dessert.  He decided to take the camera along with him and snapped these photos.

                                                Another Ranger Tug just pulled in.  

                            This is the marina building and bathrooms.

                                                This is the dinghy dock.

We sat on the back deck and ate.  Unfortunately, the neighbors' dogs were having a verbal argument and wouldn't stop, so we went into the boat.  We played a game of dominoes and tucked in for the night.