Butt Cheek Beach
We are staying on Grassy Key, it's one of 13 islands that make up Marathon. The house is right on the water on the Gulf side.
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| The view from our house |
The water in this area is relatively shallow, and the pier on the right is part of the property. Looking forward to some stunning sunsets. I hope to see plenty of wildlife as the waters here are very clear, and it's easy to see the bottom.
The house on Marathon
The street we are located on is very quiet and the houses next to us are vacant. It makes it feel like our own little personal paradise. After getting things unloaded, we go out to check out the pier and about halfway down the pier, we get our first glimpse of wildlife.
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| Lobster Anyone? Carol has always been the chief logistics officer when it comes to taking these trips. She's responsible for making sure everything gets packed, and over the years she's fine-tuned her list to include just about everything you need and some things you don't for one of these little adventures. We are unpacking and getting things settled in, she's having issues finding some of the things she brought. As any of you with OCD tendencies can relate to, this is not making her very comfortable. Looks like our next trip we'll not only have to bring the list we packed with us, but we'll also have to number the bags, so she can remember what bag she put those Q tips in. By the way, she did find them! Our first assignment was to see if we could find a beach. The keys are not really known for their beaches. What we learned is most prefer to relax at sandbars. The waters around the keys are full of these sandbars. It's very common to see a group of boats anchored offshore and people playing in knee-deep water. Key word here is boat. I love the water, but for whatever reason I really have never considered myself a boat person. It's very apparent that the keys is a boaters' paradise. That being said, we continue with our quest to find a beach we can access by land.
On our quest for a beach, Beach #1 Curry Hammock State Park, its located on Grassy Key and close to the house. We unload our stuff and head down the path to the beach. It was low tide.    Lesson learned, don't unload all your beach stuff before first walking down to check out the beach. As many of you probably heard on the national news, the dreaded Sargassum his headed to a beach near you. So this was our first encounter with Sargassum (not to be confused with sarcasm, I'm very familiar with that). It's not harmful, but as it piles up on shore and begins to decay and gives off Hydrogen Sulfide. The odor of Rotten eggs. In spite of trying to find the clearest section of beach possible after 1/2 hour, we decide to load up and begin searching for Beach #2. Beach #2 is Coco Plum Beach. It's a marathon city beach. We learned our lesson on the first stop, and this time we don't unload the truck before heading down to the beach. The city is trying to clean up the beach by raking the Sargassum into piles. We decided not to unload our beach gear and continue on our quest for a beach spot.   We did spot some shells in the shallows at Coco Plum, most were occupied, so after a brief photo op they were safely returned to the water.    I did find another rare shell while on Coco Plum Beach. I'm so excited to share it with you. It seems like I have a real knack for finding these ultra-rare collectibles. I found one on Captiva back in 2011 and now have found my second one here in the keys in 2023. This one was located in about 3 inches of water along the shoreline. At this rate, you guys are going to have to start calling me the shell whisperer!!  |
| Rare Sonic shell 2023 |
Beach #3 Another Marathon City Beach this one “Sombrero Beach” or as I like to refer to it “Butt Cheek Beach” it is known as a beach where the locals like to go and hangout. I say that literally.
It's a well maintained park that just so happens to have a beach attached to it. Today its Sunday and the beach was crowded. While there was a little Sargassum it was lighter. The beach vibe today was Latino. From the music to the beach wear. I never have seen so much Butt cheek in one place from all different age groups. Some of which, no matter how much I try, I can't unsee that. If you're bold enough to go to the beach with nothing more than a string down your butt crack, then be prepared to be looked at. By this time in the day, It's beginning to warm up, so we found a spot where we could slide into the water to cool off. I know what you're thinking, I just wanted to hang out and check out the local scenery, but really it was warming up and cooling off was in order.
There was a group not far from us that had a canopy setup in the water about 2-3 foot deep. The latin music was blaring, and they were huddled under the canopy dancing, singing and laughing.
My view of a relaxing day at the beach is some shade, a beach breeze with nothing more than the sound of the waves rolling in. But to each their own, and this group was clearly having a good time. Sorry for the lack of pictures from Sombrero, but I guess I was in too much shock to take out my camera.
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After a day of Beach searching, we switch priorities to Tiki bars and frozen cocktails.
Mission accomplished!
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| Tiki Bar Check |
Yes, She likes Piña Coladas getting caught in the rain (not so Much). For my younger reading audience look up Rupert Holmes “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and for my older reading audience you'll now be humming those lyrics the rest of the day. You're welcome! By the way, my drink was a “Painkiller”.
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