Flamingo / Key West

4/9/12  Arrived in Flamingo at 3:30 pm.  Only 2 foot seas, but they hit us on the beam most of the day.  Duke NOT HAPPY.  Flamingo is a National Park....within the waters of Everglades National Park there are no crab/lobster pots, but as soon as you leave park waters, they are everywhere and not in straight lines, so it is impossible to go fast.  Between Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, the lodge at Flamingo was destroyed and has not been rebuilt.  No cell service here either.  Very shallow entry and exit to  the harbor.  We tied up along a wall, but they had some floating docks.  Ron took Duke after hours to the small museum...Duke barked to let Ron know that he was bored and wanted to go hunt birds.
4/10/12  0730 we headed for Key West.  Winds were predicted at 5 to 10 knots and seas less than 2 feet  (East/SouthEast)  We had following seas which provided a very smooth ride.  Crab/ lobster pots were a problem the entire 8 hours.  We've been told that at the beginning of crab season, the pots are in straight rows, but as the pots have been pulled up many times, the rows turn into random patterns with some pots very close together.  It is important to not hit the crab pots because their chains can wrap around the propeller and cause major problems.  As we arrived in Key West, there was a huge cruise ship in port.  We had some trouble finding the City Marina at Garrison Bight and then trouble finding the slip....there were no numbers or letters on the docks.  After several phone calls, we were directed to the right spot. We walked 7/10 of a mile to dinner at Cuban Restaurant, El Siboney. 
4/11/12  Rode bikes today to old town and had a late breakfast at Blue Heaven.  Roosters wander freely throughout the outdoor restaurant and many are on the top of the unbrellas.  We saw some roosters in trees.  After biking around town, we returned to the boat for a while.  We returned by bike to Mallory Square for performers and sunset shots.  Riding bikes back after dark was not a problem on the quieter streets.  Tomorrow we take off for Marathon....we need to get there before some winds and rough seas predicted on Friday.