We have stumbled into a little slice of paradise here. How hard can life be when we can stagger out of our tent at 7 a.m., grab a granola bar, and wander a few hundred feet over to sit on rocks by ourselves at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, watching the fishing boats and sailboats heading out for the day? That’s how our day started today. We quietly discussed our day, made notes about what needed to be done, then wandered over the other way and set up our laptop in the pavilion by the marina. We have an electrical outlet, and Lori – who works on maintenance for the campground – loaned us several lawn chairs.
We have had the incredible opportunity to pay bills, reconcile bank accounts, and work on our beta website projects, all while watching the tarpon playing in the marina, the herons and the great egrets fishing from the docks, and pelicans and frigate birds soaring overhead in the pre-storm winds.
While working hard at the laptop, we met our neighbor Christine, who offered the advice that a restaurant right down the road would let us plug in, and that they had wireless access. She herself is down here for a month with her family in an RV, but is still doing technical support for a point-of-sale software company, so she disappears an hour or so a day to deal with the support emails she needs to handle.
We ended up talking for a bit, swapping stories – one of our favorite things to do! Christine is originally from South Africa, but she got tired of concertina wire around her house and the constant sense of being on high alert. She’s been in the US for many years now, after a short stint back in South Africa, and in fact had worked at this same campground a number of years ago.
Christine echoed a theme that we have heard consistently – while the Keys are marvelous, it’s far too expensive to live here, the jobs are scarce, and nearly all jobs are minimum wage. Housing is expensive – a one-room efficiency will run $185-200 a week; eating out is significantly higher; gas is higher; insurance is extremely high; and all consumer products are higher. Everything needs to be brought in by boat or truck, and there’s only one way in and one way out.
Alcoholism is a real problem, and if not out and out alcoholism, drinking is a big problem. With the low paying jobs, and with more real estate development coming in, the old communities are disappearing, and the middle class is disappearing. Christine noted that after the latest round of hurricanes the mom-and-pop stores and businesses began disappearing. They suffered damage, and were either under-insured or couldn’t pay the costs of the damage until the deductible had been covered.
On the other hand, the lifestyle is very much slower paced, and is focused around the water. If something isn’t available, there’s a general feeling that it’s probably not too essential. Those who live here love it here. It’s been a long while since I’ve met so many people in South Florida who have lived in the same place for so long – we have actually met second and third generation families.
We spent the afternoon at Village Café again, being taken care of by the staff – food, drink, and wonderful conversation – in between finishing up some of our assignments. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages – Patsy (who is one of the chefs, along with Jacque) is one of the most refreshing and down-to-earth personalities we’ve met in awhile.
After Patsy took over Jacque’s tables so he could take us back to the campground, we arrived home to find that the campsite next to us has been taken over by what appears to be several Cuban families. The storm that was supposed to materialize today is now about to hit us, so we have battened down the hatches, and we are in the tent listening to the Cuban music and all the family conversation. I have a feeling we will be up late unless the rain drives them inside earlier…but hey – what a great opportunity to practice our Spanish!
We forgot to list our Heroes of the Day yesterday, and we have several we will list for yesterday and today – Lori from Knight’s Key Landing for getting us the chairs, identifying a frigate bird for us, and offering to come and get us from downtown; Christine for taking us into town; and Patsy, Jacque, and Therese of Village Café for adopting us and taking such good care of us. They are each truly awesome!
Signing off from Marathon Key…