The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, located at the City Dock in historic Annapolis, is the only memorial in the country that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African. The sculpture group features author Alex Haley seated before a group of three children of different ethnic backgrounds. Holding a book open on his lap, he recounts his family's history and that of the Annapolis port as the symbolic beginning of the history and journey of African Americans.

If you’ve ever wanted to know who you are and where you came from, you’re not alone. More than 100 million Americans are looking for their roots, a remarkable explosion in genealogical research inspired, in part, by author Alex Haley who discovered his own “Roots” three decades ago. In fact, family research and genealogy is one of America’s favorite leisure-time activities.

Many parents keep track of the accomplishments of their children – recording first steps and saving locks of hair in a traditional baby’s first album. These precious mementos are stored away and, as a child matures, a parent will accumulate photo albums and scrapbooks, filled with school-related memorabilia.

But how do children understand their relationship with other family members – many of whom they’ve never met? And how do children understand their context of American history?

Every child born before 2001 has lived through the most tragic — and most visible — event in America’s history: the terrorists’ attack on the World Trade Center. This becomes part of their history. Every child born before 1998 has lived through the impeachment proceedings against former U.S. President Bill Clinton (although the U.S. Senate acquitted him of charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998).

Your 6-year-old might not realize the importance of the cloning of the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, but the medical advances scientists have made since that 1997 venture could prolong the child’s life by 50 years or more. It’s important for your child — and for you — to identify, interpret and preserve your family’s visual history.

My History Is America's History

One of the best tools for accomplishing this is to use a guidebook such as “My History Is America’s History.” An initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, “My History Is America’s History” is designed to encourage and help you explore your family history, discover your family’s place in American history and make your own contribution to history. Using the NEH’s guidebook is an opportunity for every American to be an historian — to remember, to record and to see things in the “big picture.”

These books are no longer available free from the NEH, however, you can find very inexpensive copies through Amazon.com.

You may even consider taking a “My History Is America’s History” workshop — a gathering place for sharing family stories, for meeting folks in the community who are prepared to share or help with your voyage of historical discovery, and for getting the scoop on Web sites, books, films, and places to visit where our nation’s past is seen through the triumphs and trials of ordinary families.

Here are some of the meanings of “My History Is America’s History”:

• We all share ownership and have a stake in America’s past, present and future.
• Every American family’s story is a part of the making of our nation.
• Ordinary men and women play an important role in history.
• Oral histories, family stories, letters and diaries are valuable resources.
• Family history and genealogy are meaningful when put in a larger context.
• History needs to include the example and testimony of those who lived it to be appreciated.

Some people wish to take their history a step further and create a memoir to share with family members or as a legacy for future generations. Such projects could be the results of long-term research. A short-term project would focus on a central idea you want to write about such as: your experiences in World War II, Korea, Vietnam or the Gulf War; a special trip; your high school life; raising your family; character sketches; the birth of each child; falling in love and other important events in your life.

Whatever you choose to recall and record, remember that your history is America’s history.

Trailer sailing works for powerboats and for sailboats

Living in Northcentral Pennsylvania is advantageous for land-locked sailors. In addition to several large lakes and reservoirs nearby, boaters can use the Finger Lakes of New York.

Trailering a boat from Williamsport to the Finger Lakes is easier than it sounds. It’s little more than a one-hour drive on U.S. Route 15 from Williamsport to the New York border, and then 45 minutes more to Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen, or one hour to Cayuga Lake in Ithaca.

The Finger Lakes are glacially formed, linear lakes in upstate New York. Each lake is oriented on a north-south axis and reminded early map-makers of the fingers of a hand.

The lakes are New York’s largest wine-producing region with wineries and vineyards centered on Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua, and Keuka lakes.

Seneca is the second deepest lake in the United States. It is promoted as the trout capital of the world, and is host of the National Lake Trout Derby, Because of its depth, Seneca Lake has been a testing site for submarines. The lake takes its name from the Seneca nation of Native Americans.

Cayuga Lake also is very popular among recreational boaters. The Allan H. Treman State Marine Park, a large state marina and boat launch, is located at the southern end of the lake in Ithaca. There also is a yacht club on the western shore a few miles north of Ithaca, and several other marinas and boat launches scattered along the lake shore

But if you go boating on Cayuga, beware of “Old Greeny.”

For more than 200 years, rumors have circulated of a Loch Ness-type creature haunting the deep waters of the lake. The Ithaca Journal reported, in a Jan. 5, 1897 article, the 69th annual appearance of a sea serpent that the paper dubbed, “Old Greeny.”

“The members of the Journal staff have been living in daily anticipation of the monster’s appearance, and have actually shunned assignments which would take them near the water’s edge for fear of being compelled to shudder and tremble at the sight of him,” the article read, adding that an area resident was driving along the lake’s east shore when he saw the large, long sea serpent, “although a ‘tramp,’ who had also seen the creature, later told a Journal reporter that he believed it was actually a muskrat.”

Then, in 1929, the Journal reported that two sea monsters, about 12- to 15-feet long, had invaded Cayuga Lake, attributing the sighting to cottagers along the east shore. It was theorized that “Old Greeny” was a sturgeon that had entered the lake during high water and the paper reported that a sturgeon had been captured in Fall Creek by a fisherman.

Trimarans on Lake Seneca

As recently as 1979, Jack Marshall, owner of J.T. Marshall Professional Diving Service, claimed to have seen some sort of serpent.
“There really is something there,” Marshall told Journal reporters. “I never used to believe it, but Cayuga Katie made a believer out of me.”
Marshall said he was boating with some friends on the lake one spring evening that year when he saw a log in front of the boat. Marshall called for the boat to stop, but the 30- to 35-foot long creature had disappeared underneath the surface, leaving ripples of water in its wake.
“I haven’t seen it since,” Marshall said.

Seneca Lake in New York is large and accommodating for both power and sailing vessels. These boats were launched from the Watkins Glen marina.

Boating Season on Cayuga Lake

Seneca Lake is the second deepest lake in the United States and has been a testing site for submarines. At 38-miles long, It is the second longest of the Finger Lakes and has the largest volume, estimated at 4.2 trillion gallons, which is half of all the water in all the Finger Lakes. It has a maximum depth of 618 feet and a surface area of 42,800 acres. It’s perfect for sailors with large, fast boats, such as trimarans.

Cayuga Lake is the longest of western New York’s glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and volume. It is less than 40 miles long, 3 and one-half miles wide and 435 feet deep. Many boaters reserve seasonal slips at the Allan H. Treman State Marine Park, located at the southern end of the lake.

Swallows and Amazons: a sailing adventure series for children -- and adults

Barbecued Billygoats!

You mean you haven’t read Swallows and Amazons or any of the other books in the 12-volume series? Technically, we’re all supposed to read these books when we’re children, but if you haven’t don’t worry — you’ll still enjoy messing about in boats with the crews of the Swallow and the pirates of the Amazon.

Swallows and Amazons

by Arthur Ramsom

Sailing the Swallow are siblings John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker. The Walker children inherited their love of the sea and their sailing experience from their father, an officer in the British Navy. Their mother, who learned how to sail as a child growing up in Australia, allows the children freedom to explore, camp and sail during their holidays at the lake. The parents’ only request is that the children not drown or be “duffers.”

Captain John, the eldest, is generally in charge, however he often is persuaded to join Nancy in her misadventures. He also makes grievous mistakes, such as holing, dismasting and sinking his ship, and then there was that time he “accidentally” sailed the stormy North Sea winding up in Holland. This adventure is the focus of We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (sure you didn’t), the seventh in the series.

Next in the Walker lineup is First Mate Susan, a highly organized and nurturing young woman. She is in charge of the ship’s stores, cooking, and making sure the crew remembers to brush their teeth and pause for afternoon tea. She also makes sure that the Ship’s Boy Roger (the youngest next to the ship’s baby who joins the crew later) doesn’t eat too much chocolate and goes to bed on time. Titty, the dreamy artist of the family, is the Able Seaman. She foils the pirates in the first book —Swallows and Amazons — and is also the crew’s cartographer. Bridget, the ship’s baby, eventually joins the crew and her first real adventure with the Swallows is the unplanned voyage across the North Sea. She earns her keep later in Secret Water, the eighth S&A volume, when she makes allies of a new enemy — the eels.

Sisters Nancy and Peggy Blackett are the pirate crew of the Amazon. Nancy refuses to use her given name of Ruth because Uncle Jim Turner (Captain Flint to the children) told her that pirates are supposed to be ruthless. Nancy is a tomboy. Her sister, Peggy (Margaret) is not as courageous but is a highly competent sailor and First Mate. Her greatest fear is thunder and it is at these moments that Nancy shows her soft side, comforting the sister she generally calls a “galoot.” I thought Harry Potter broke a lot of rules and generally misbehaved, but he is tame next to Pirate Nancy Blackett of the Amazon.

Sister and brother Dorothea and Dick Callum are introduced in the fourth book, Winter Holiday. Both are intellectuals who yearn to be friends with the Swallows and the Amazons, and learn how to sail in order to be part of the group. Dorothea is a writer and Dick is a scientist. They later acquire a dinghy of their own, the Scarab.

The author uses the Callums as a link to new locations and new characters: the Norfolk Broads and the members of the Coot Club. The Callums are the main characters in two subsequent books where they meet Tom Dudgeon, twins Port and Starboard, and the crew of Death and Glory: Pete, Bill and Joe, three working-class boys.

The emphasis of all the books is on the sailing-related (mis)adventures of the children, but often Captain Flint is involved in the tales. Other generally benevolent adult characters also appear, along with a motley assortment of ne’er do wells.

I did enjoy all of the books, and some more than others and, for a while, I adopted many of the salty sayings of Captain Nancy. Many a times I told my husband to “stir his stumps” if I was in a hurry, or “shiver my timbers” when my usual “crikey” would do. The best thing about the book is that each character is well drawn and throughout the series remains true, except for Roger who showed signs of becoming a belligerent prankster as he grew up. The small boy who “tacked” his way across the meadow to his mother in the first book became quite greedy and often sullen in later books. Despite their many flaws that often ring true, the children also exhibit bravery, fortitude, ingenuity and abiding friendship.

Novel Series

• Swallows and Amazons (1930)
• Swallowdale (1931)
• Peter Duck (1932)
• Winter Holiday (1933)
• Coot Club (1934)
• Pigeon Post (1936)
• We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea (1937)
• Secret Water (1939)
• The Big Six (1940)
• Missee Lee (1941)
• The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943)
• Great Northern? (1947)

Jibbooms and Bobstays!

Get your own copy of Swallows and Amazons, and while you’re at it, get the rest. You’re never too old to enjoy a good story.

About the Author

Arthur Ransome is best known for his “Swallows and Amazons” series of books, first published between 1930 and 1947 and all of which remain in print to this day. The books have been translated into many languages, such as Chinese, Czech, Hebrew, Hungarian, French, German and Slovak.

Ransome was a journalist, literary critic, biographer, story-teller, keen fisherman, sailor and, some people believe, even a spy. The Arthur Ransome Society (TARS) was formed in 1990 in order to celebrate and promote his life and works. While based in the UK, TARS has members in thirty countries throughout the world, including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the USA.

Captain Gardner Lloyd of Flagship Sailing

Captain Gardner Lloyd taught us the fundamentals aboard a Catalina 22. We learned to hoist sails, tack and gybe, practiced MOB drills and docking skills on the pleasant Gulf of Mexico. We felt very comfortable with Captain Lloyd and will most likely return to Clearwater to take more classes from him and Flagship. We’d recommend him highly; he is a patient and congenial teacher for both men and women.

Flagship Sailing staff is certified by the American Sailing Association and licensed by the US Coast Guard.

• Don’t write what the reader will skip over anyhow.
• Never open your book with weather.
• Never begin with a prologue
• Never describe the physical look of a character in such great detail it takes away from the reader’s imagination.
• Use exclamation points sparingly.
• Never use another verb in place of said.
• Never let your writing sound like writing.
• Never use an adverb to modify said.
• Never us a colon or semi colon in dialogue. The same is true of ellipsis, dash and italics.
• Tell your editor to tell the copy editor not to mess with your punctuation.
• Don’t show your manuscript to anyone outside the business until you are satisfied with it.

Making your writing last and last and last

Daysailing can be a solo activity or a sport, such as racing around the bouys

Daysailing, also called dinghy cruising, has been described as “a magical way of exploring new coastlines and experiencing nature at close quarters.”

You don’t have to wait until the bank account is full and until you have plenty of time for sailing to enjoy a daysail in your small boat. Trailerable boats are easy to acquire and inexpensive to maintain. Some have cabins, some are simply large cockpits with a tarp draped over the boom. Regardless, dinghy cruising is an affordable way to get on the water now, not later, and practice sailing skills and visit lakes and waterways. Some people joke that a trailerable sailboat can go 50 miles per hour. Some dinghies have centerboards and can be beached; some have small keels and can be anchored in knee-deep water. Regardless of the size or design, the most important aspect of dinghy cruising is the ability to go sailing quickly and easily and to have fun.

• Simple: One person can trailer it, step its mast, and be sailing in about an hour.
• Standardized: Recreational and racing sailors, alike, use standard rigs.
• Durable: These small boats can take a pounding, a knockdown or a capsize.
• Light: Dinghies are generally light and trailer well.
• Easy: Small boats are easy to maintain, and the cockpit is above the waterline.
• Ageless: People of all ages can enjoy sailing a dinghy.

Daysailing in small boats is very popular in the United Kingdom and in Canada. There are several clubs that maintain Web sites that promote the sport. Check the SmallBoatSailor.com for some suggested reading. There are several books that specialize in sailing small boats, because the reality is that the average person cannot (or does not want to) pay for the 35-plus-foot yacht, nor can they afford the time it takes to maintain such a boat. Books are perfect for the Armchair Sailor. If you want suggestions, take a look at the book links we’ve selected and placed on each page within this site. Many of these books are in our own collection, and we plan to buy the rest.

“In these days when maxi yachts are raced round the world at a cost of millions of pounds, financed by commercial sponsorship, aided by radio communication, satellite navigation, and all the complicated back-up of modern trans-ocean racing under the glare of international press publicity, it is perhaps reassuring to know that individuals, quietly and on their own account, can still find adventurous sailing and very special happiness afloat in suitable cruising dinghies at modest cost.”
Ian Proctor, designer

Small boats race on the Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis

The Maryland State House is the oldest in continuous legislative use in the United States.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – If winter winds on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island aren’t your cup of tea, then consider heading south to the Chesapeake Bay and spend a weekend in historic Annapolis, Md.

Founded in 1649, Annapolis once served as the capital of the United States when the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was signed there. It is Maryland’s capitol city and home of the U.S. Naval Academy, founded in 1845. Annapolis is a city that retains an old-world appeal thanks to its historic architecture. Some of the finest 17th and 18th century buildings in the nation, including the residences of all four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, are found there. It also is the home of St. John’s College, founded in 1696 as King William’s School and the third oldest institution of higher learning in the United States after Harvard and William and Mary colleges.

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, located at the City Dock in historic Annapolis, is the only memorial in the country that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African.

A historic seaport, Annapolis also claims to be the “Sailing Capital of the World” and is a popular destination for international sailors. In 2005, plans were finalized to build the National Sailing Hall of Fame in Annapolis, lending credence to its claim as sailing capital.

There are year-round activities for the tourist in Annapolis. Downtown there are quaint shops, interesting historic structures, and even sailboat races at the City Dock. Because the Naval Academy is so close, formally attired midshipmen often stroll the city’s streets. The academy has a small and informal museum, but makes up for it with the mausoleum of John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy.”

Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy spend free time in downtown Annapolis.

A century after Jones’ death in 1792 in France, President Theodore Roosevelt launched a search to find his body. In 1905, it was rediscovered and transferred with great ceremony to the Naval Academy. It is interred below the academy’s chapel, in a magnificent marble sarcophagus modeled after the tomb of Napoleon. A Naval midshipman stands at attention beside the sarcophagus when the tomb is open to the public.

Dining is eclectic, and one of the best choices downtown is Galway Bay, an Irish pub and restaurant. Galway, on Maryland Avenue, features original red-brick walls and a beamed ceiling. There are Irish artifacts and antiques scattered throughout, along with original prints of famous Dublin scenes.

Galway Bay is an authentic Irish restaurant and pub in downtown Annapolis.

No visit to Annapolis is complete without a stop at Chick and Ruth’s Deli on Main Street. This cramped, Jewish-style (but not strictly kosher) deli serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night snacks. The restaurant was the site of the original Annapolis City Hotel, from 1788 to 1890, where George Washington lived for some time after he retired as commander-in-chief.

Sunday brunch is a delight at The Chart House on Second Street, where champagne mimosas flow freely. Within walking distance of historic downtown, the Chart House has outstanding waterfront views of City Dock, the state capitol and the U.S. Naval Academy, and is accessible by water taxi.

Despite its unique place in American history, its ambiance and its great food, Annapolis is best known for its maritime community. Fishing and recreational boating are popular on the Chesapeake Bay, and marine-related trades comprise a major part of the city’s economy. It is home to many maritime organizations and yacht clubs, boating schools and companies that offer fishing charters and sailboat and yacht charters, Each October, the Annapolis City Dock and harbor plays host to the two of the largest in-the-water boat shows in the world.

More information about the city is available online at http://www.Annapolis.gov.

Learn how ot handle lines properly

There’s value in sailors learning how to properly tie a knot because a bad thing can happen with poorly tied knots: The boat could drift away.

A short walk down a long pier on Cayuga Lake revealed an assortment of knot-tying techniques, mostly sloppy and dangerous. Wrapping a line (that’s what sailors call ropes) around and around a cleat until it’s a mass of cordage won’t guarantee that the boat is secure to the dock. Neither will slipping a spliced line through the eye of a cleat and then looping it over an ear. At best, this is a temporary solution.

To secure the boat to a dock or secure a line to the boat, most people use the cleat hitch. To do this, first take the line to the ear of the cleat furthest from where the line comes from the load. Make one wrap around the base of the cleat and then start a figure eight across the top of the opposite ear. Finish with a half hitch turned under so that the line is coming away from the cleat in the opposite direction from which it came.

Once the line is secure, it’s inappropriate to leave a tangled mass of lines. Leftover line lying haphazardly on the dock can trip people, or the line can fall into the water and get wet. It also can get knotted up preve
There are three recommended methods for stowing extra line on a dock:

• The first is to coil it in a flat spiral. This method is tidy and uses minimal space. However, some boaters are concerned that leaving a line coiled results in mildew and sun damage.
• The second method is to form a daisy chain. Boaters do this by making a small loop close to the cleat then pulling a length of the line through the loop making a second loop, and so on until the line ends. This method allows air to circulate around the line, hopefully preventing mildew. Daisy chains easily fall out and look decorative on a dock.
• The third method is to coil the remainder and hang it from a hook on a nearby piling.

Owning and sailing a boat is an expensive hobby so take a few extra minutes and take care of the equipment.

Not only is a properly tied cleat hitch secure, it is attractive. The extra line is coiled next to the cleat.

This boat is in danger of drifting away. The line is loosely and incorrectly wrapped around the cleat.

Here is an example of properly tied cleat with the extra line coiled on the dock.

The extra line on this dock has been tidily formed into a chain to prevent mildew.

This line is not properly tied and because the extra line has been wrapped around the cleat, it will take extra time to release it.

This is an example of an improper cleat hitch, and despite the fact that the line is balled around the cleat, it will not guarantee security.

]]> http://www.robinvanauken.com/archives/76/feed 0 http://www.robinvanauken.com/archives/94 http://www.robinvanauken.com/archives/94#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:25:50 +0000 Robin Van Auken http://smallboatsailors.com/?p=94

Catamarans dominate the Miami Boat Show

MIAMI BEACH – The traffic had stalled on Collins Avenue, also known as A1A. Drivers didn’t seem to mind; their eyes were glued on the mega yachts moored in the nearby canal, part of the Miami International Boat Show at the Sea Isle Marina.

Sailboats, including luxury multi-hulls, were sequestered a few miles away at Miamarina at Bayside. Smaller powerboat dealers and others in the marine industry vended in the Miami Beach Convention Center, through which more than 146,000 people traversed.

“Considered the Super Bowl of all consumer boat shows, the Miami event kicks off boating season and sets the barometer for annual industry sales,” said Cathy Johnston, vice president of Southern Shows with the NMMA. “Judging by the results of this year’s show, we expect strong sales to continue through 2006 in all categories of recreational marine products.”

Attending a boat show is a great way to familiarize yourself with products you’ve been drooling over in the magazines. It’s a place where hordes of sweaty, barefoot people in shorts and T-shirts mingle with well-heeled (in Sperry boat shoes, of course) captains of industry, each waiting in line to board a million-dollar yacht.

The Miami Convention Center in South Beach hosts the annual Miami International Boat Show featuring more than 2,000 of the world's leading manufacturers and display powerboats and accessories in its 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space.

A boat show is a world of captains and first mates and, honestly, it’s a world mainly segregated by gender. Boat-owning married couples often joke that the husband is the captain, but the wife is the admiral (yes, and the first mate and chef). Women ogle galleys (kitchens) and heads (bathrooms) and staterooms (bedrooms) while men peek into lockers, examine diesel engines and admire anchoring systems.

Of course, living in Northcentral Pennsylvania means we have to travel to boat shows so we time vacations with one. Florida, one of our a favorite destination, has two large sailboat shows: Miami and St. Petersburg. Strictly Sail also hosts shows in Chicago and Philadelphia.

Some people aren’t interested in sailing; they prefer powerboats. There are several Trawler Fests each year: Annapolis and Mystic, Ct., to name a couple. Fancy and fast powerboats can be found at the New York boat show, as well as Atlantic, St. Louis and New Orleans.

If you’re not ready for a vacation that’s actually an excuse to look at boats, consider a day trip. Strictly Sail hosts boat shows in multiple places such as: Strictly Sail St. Petersburg in November. Strictly Sail Philadelphia in January, Strictly Sail Chicago and Miami both in February, and Strictly Sail Pacific in April.

See you there.

Key West sunset

KEY WEST— It is time for the annual migration of snowbirds. Houses are secured, SUVs are packed, and neighbors are waved farewell. Those fortunate enough to have a lifestyle that allows them to trade views of white snow for white sand are heading south.

The rest of us are left behind, envious, while these snowbirds (nix avis) head down Interstate 95 to Florida, often staying for several months.

Sloppy Joe's Bar

Believe it or not, there are a few Florida natives that have reversed the trend and moved north. We’re the ones who are most envious because Yankee retirees are going to stroll our beaches, collect our sea shells, drink our Margaritas.

Dang it; why did we move?

There is a vaccination for winter, however. A concentrated blast of South Florida hedonism that carries through the long, cold months until June (when spring really arrives in Pennsylvania). And that’s a quick trip to Key West.

The southernmost city in the United States, closer to Havana than Miami, Key West is three miles wide by five miles long. It’s where U.S. Highway One begins. It once was the home to author Ernest Hemmingway and the hometown of singer Jimmy Buffett. You really don’t need more than three or four days in Key West, if you plan the trip well.

Day One, you arrive in Key West via airplane. For gosh sakes, don’t fly into Miami and then drive to the Keys. That’s a waste of time that could be better spent doing the “Duval Crawl.” The Crawl, by the way, is an ambitious venture down the main drag stopping in at every pub or bar, having one tropical drink after another, listening to live music and making new friends. A tradition in several bars is to leave a business card and wait – sometimes for years – for a “drunk dial.” That’s when a slightly sloshed person visiting the same bar notices your card and calls and you tell them to “have one for you!”

Hemmingway: A Key West Hero

Day Two, you sleep off the Duval Crawl and around 1 p.m. or so, sneak into the hotel restaurant for a very light breakfast of coffee and toast, then sleep for awhile at the swimming pool. When it’s dusk, you go back to Duval but this time you concentrate on the restaurants and the art galleries and watching the sunset at Mallory’s Pier.

Day Three, you take a boat trip or a plane ride to the Dry Tortugas for an afternoon of sightseeing and snorkeling. When you return to your hotel, sun burnt and exhausted, you shower, nap and then head for Duval Street and another evening of the Crawl. This time you limit yourself. Nothing to prove.

Day Four, if you’re still in Key West, you need to head back downtown and pick up presents for friends and family, grab lunch at the Conch Republic and continue down the marina to book a sailboat, sunset cruise. Don’t forget to pick up a small bottle of champagne and toast the most magnificent sunset in North America.

Day Five, catch the airplane home. Sigh.