Tavernier

Tavernier

Bradley (called Bean by me for years) has been on the hook in the Tavernier community marina for at least 8 years. As he drives into the Marina, the restaurant he works at occasionally delivering pizzas, the courthouse, the boat store, every where, people know him and welcome him home.

This is sad because Bean has been gone for about four months taking care of his mother and he thought he would be able to be back in Tavernier for awhile but instead he has to take care of business and leave that day.

The game plan is to go to Tavernier, help Bean get his shit done and book back to Apollo Beach, where Bean will drop us off and continue his drive back to Terre Haute.

Major bummer all around!!! Instead of being able to sail into the harbor on our boat, we are driving there on the Interstate. Instead of getting a couple of days R and R we are scrambling to get all of the things Bean needs to accomplish done in less than a day. We are all sad and feel a bit defeated. Bean comments to me that between the two of us he has never seen such bad luck. We are stuck in a vortex, we decide.

Finally, completely frustrated Bean comments to me “Damn Lara, you’re the freakin Goddess, can’t you DO something?????”

This gives me pause, so on the way to Tavernier I focus my energy on Bean and smooth sailing, so to speak. Initially it seems to have limited effect.

We go to get Bean’s outboard out of storage at the place he had it repaired. Because he has been gone so long they are charging him storage. Its closed. Crap!

We go over to his storage place so he can pay his bill. No one is there. Crap!

We go over to the actual Community Harbor Marina so Bean can check on his boat and JW can talk to them about hauling our boat out or accepting her in the Yard if we have to have her hauled down the interstate from Apollo Beach. (We still don’t know what the hell is going to happen because the marinas in Apollo Beach and Tampa Bay are closed on Sundays and Mondays.) The hell?

They tell us their yard is full, we have to look elsewhere. Triple Crap!

We go over to Bean’s storage facility again and there is a foreign padlock on it. Shit!

Everything just sucked! So, we decide to go take showers at the marina and go to lunch.


Bean with his trusty hooka in happier times.

Then things started to turn around a bit. I decided in my Goddessy way to declare the trip to Tavernier a “fact finding mission”. I tell JW that we should be taking it all in and at least now we know where we are going to be living. Our mood lifts, a little.

The positives start to happen. They have probably been happening somewhere in this adventure to someone but the three of us have been in such a funk that a rainbow shooting out of one of our asses could have gone un-noticed.

The marina is clean as a whistle. I go over to the pier and watch a couple of green fish with bright blue strips chase a needle fish. You can see the urchins and star fish on the bottom. The water is clear and clean.

The showers have hot water on demand and you could literally eat off the floors. The facilities are crisp and modern. I have seen worse bathrooms in some luxury gyms I worked at.

There is a free stuff table, and a take a book leave a book shelf. I am a sucker for taking and leaving a book. When we come back I think, I will bring a stack of books! My mood is lightening. They have wifi at the tiki hut and fans to run off the noseums. Those little bastards!

Next we go across the street from the Marina to a Cuban restaurant. JW and I split a wonderful Cuban sandwich and some delicious Cuban coffee. They also sell beer. I can actually crack a smile at this point.

The town is nice and friendly with many conveniences and a great bike path all through it. I go with Bean to the Courthouse so he can vote while JW talks to a guy at a different boat yard down the street. Brad is going to vote absentee. He is a bit worried that they won’t let him the day before election day. He can vote! He is very relieved. We all want our voices heard this day and especially in Florida that notorious state.

The boat yard guy is from New Mexico! Yay! He is kind, will let us do the bottom work ourselves if we want to and the price is reasonable. He is eager to help us and is compassionate about our story. JW stands straighter as some of the weight he has been carrying around on his shoulders disappears.

Next we go back to the place that is repairing Bean's motor. They are back and the gates are open. Now Bean is smiling a bit more, until he gets the bill that is.

We go next to Islamorada where Bean works off and on delivering pizzas. The people there are really nice and the pizza is good. The owner Jose tells me that they have a Mexican day and the place is packed. We discuss green chile and criminal defense. He tells me that I could have some clients in the area because there aren’t that many criminal defense lawyers in the Keys. Really? I figured the place would be packed with them. Lousy with pirates and criminal defense lawyers is what I was thinking.

We meet a number of Beans friends and start to feel very comfortable with Tavernier but the sun is starting to set and Bean’s errands have all been run (what with a nasty gram to the storage people and a hack saw that they agreed should be used on the foreign lock which was placed on Bean’s storage space due to a clerical error, people are so laid back in the Keys). It’s time to return to Apollo Beach. We make the six hour trek back, mostly in silence. I feel so very sorry that Bean can’t stay here on his beloved boat and that we won’t be staying here on ours either. JW and I have a million decisions to make and questions that need answers and we will be doing it all without our trusted and experienced friend.

When we arrive back at Benny’s, Bean decides to head out first thing in the morning. We are relieved for that anyway.