Big Pine Key Print
Sunday, 08 February 2004 00:00

 We went to lunch today at Big Pine Key. Actually it was at No Name Key at the No Name Pub. This pub was built in 1936 and it is billed as the oldest pub in No Name Key. There was no signage to get there, but Jimi told us about it and suggested we try it. There was a huge crowd of people there so it was well known even without billboards and signs. Every wall, ceiling and windowsill was covered in dollar bills! It was an amazing, funky, little place.

After we had a good lunch we went for a drive further out on this Key. On our drive , we encountered three "Key Deer". They are greyish-brown and are about the size of a large goat. There is a $250 fine for feeding them so I am assuming that they graze in the mangrove swamps, however they showed no fear of us as Graham was able to walk right up to the buck. He sniffed his hand and casually walked away.

Tonight we went over to the clubhouse for dinner and a party with live entertainment, organized in part by Jimi as a finale to the fishing tournament. For some reason, when we arrived I just had a feeling that I would meet someone that I would/should know. Once I found out that there were door prizes, I also "just knew" I would win one. Sure enough, there was a man sitting at the end of our table who said he too was from Ontario. It turns out that he was raised in the house that I lived beside for the past 21 years, Wayne Shelswell. He is the cousin of my old neighbours, Paul and Marg McKerroll and has lived in Innisfil all of his married life. We have never met before and he now lives here in the winter. We really do live in such a small world, don't we? Oh...and I also won one of the big prizes, a deep-sea fishing reel! Smile