Bernie, my wife and I have traveled throughout the U.S., particularly the eastern seaboard, we lived in Texas for the first six months we were married, a decade later, moved to Spokane, Washington. We vacationed in the Florida Keys for 20 plus years, loved the scenery, the fishing is beyond belief, the culture is about as laid back as anyone could want, and over these many years I've met some wonderful people down there. The only reason I don't live in the keys right now is my wife will NOT leave our children and grandchild, so I have to spend eternity up here in the People's Republic of Maryland, at least till January, when we drive down for a few months of winter.

Spokane put an entirely new meaning to winter for us. That first winter we were there, we had 100 vertical inches of snow in our driveway that I shoveled out almost daily. Atop some of the nearby mountains, snow depths reached nearly 100 feet. Spokane, however, was the cleanest city I've ever seen. Each night the streets were scrubbed with big machines, the Spokane River ran right through the middle town and I would take my then 5-year-old son to Havermall Island to feed the almost tame rock chucks peanuts every Sunday afternoon. The city had a large, municipal park with walking distance of every home in Spokane. There were tennis courts, a huge swimming pool, picnic tables in shaded groves, and beautifully landscaped gardens filled with various topiary and brilliant flowers that always seemed to be in bloom during the warmer months. There were no charges of any kind to use the parks and their facilities.

The only problem with living in the Florida Keys has nothing to do with the weather. It's pretty rare that a hurricane hits the lower keys at all. More hurricanes hit the Texas/Louisiana/FLorida Panhandle coasts than anywhere else. Of course, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey takes some nasty hits as well, but the Keys are usually spared a direct hit. The big problem in the keys is finding a way to make a living. The entire economy of the keys is based on tourism, a season that only lasts a few months at best. From December through April is when most of the businesses there have to make their year's income. During that time, the keys have to endure gridlock traffic almost daily, hordes of tourists swarm Duval Street in Key West, and getting a reservation in a Marathon restaurant after 4 p.m. in Marathon would take an act of congress. The beaches, what few there are, will be covered with sunburnt ladies wearing skimpy bikinis, but only on weekends. On weekdays, the beaches are pretty much deserted. Boot Key Harbor, which is where I spent the winter of 2012 on my boat, will be filled to capacity with sailboats and a few big powerboats, all waiting for the best weather window to cross the gulf stream and head to the Bahamas. The wait can be a matter of a few weeks, or months, depending upon how fickle mother nature becomes that year.

There is a web cam at the Marathon City Marina, but for some reason, I wasn't able to connect to it this morning. When it's working, it's nice to just look at the activities taking place on that one small area of the keys. http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/marina-webcam/

Cheers,

Gary