Mother's Day!!

It was a blue sky day,  hot with a cooling breeze off the water.  A beautiful day for hopping on the scooter and doing a little touring of our Key....Sugarloaf and the next one north...Cudjoe Key.  We did not have to go far to see some very impressive homes and gardens.

          Not your typical tattooed, long haired, hardened biker.........but still cute on his SCOOTER!!!

Cudjoe Gardens was an area of lovely homes with canals that ran behind the homes like alley ways........but moored in each "back yard canal" were very impressive boats of all types and sizes.

                               The road side view of the fronts of these gorgeous homes........

 

                Now the back yard views.  All docks and patios.  And every house has a boat too..

                                                 This is the life........what a Paradise!!

Some homes backed right onto the Gulf or in some cases the Atlantic Ocean.

 Could not resist taking more photos of the local  unique mail boxes!!

 Love the Manatee ones! This one with a baby.."o))

Really different!

We passed by this gated home and I was curious to see what the house was like.  So I got off the scooter and peeked over the fence only to get caught by the owner taking a photo of his unusual driveway.  I hurried back to Alistair when the owner drove through his gate and stopped beside us.  Sure I was in for a lecture, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him offer to show us around his property.  He had done a lot of work himself on his little piece of "Tropical Paradise".  And it was impressive.

 He had  very decoratively hung Spanish Moss, (which is neither Spanish or Moss but is a living plant) from all the trees.  Then he had potted all varieties of tropical plants and flowers and hug them from tree branches and on other surfaces.

 This is Scott, the owner, who showed us "tourists" some southern hospitality by sharing his landscaping creation with us.   Really nice, friendly fellow.

                                                                           
A beautiful 8 foot high 3D underwater ocean scene, in a park right close to where we stayed.

 Ready for my Mothers Day Brunch at a restaurant near by.  I just did not feel comfortable riding on our scooter in a dress and heels.

 Mangrove Mamas, a local Restaurant was only minutes away by scooter.

 Not fancy......but the food was soooooooo good!!

A different type of mile marker......this one inside the restaurant.  

 Mary enjoying her Margarita.  And the crab cakes were EXCELLENT!  Loved the home made potato salad also. 

 Alistair's Bloody Mary had a pepper, pickle and olive as garnishes.  But the pepper proved to be a bit too "FIERY" for the tough guy.

"AHhhhhhh", that's better ..................

I had to try their Key Lime Pie.  It was good but very rich and heavy.  Not what I expected and certainly NOT low fat.......but....


 after seeing this sign, I felt the pie was very good for me after all!  :o)

I had a wonderful Mothers Day and my trip to the "Tortugas" was my gift.  To top it off, both of my kids phoned me.....that was the best part.