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This is a
map that shows the location of our house. Cudjoe Key is 18 miles
from the Key West city limit. One of the best snorkeling and diving
places in the Keys, Looe Key, is right where the "R" is in
the Jolly Roger Drive label. That's about 9 miles from the house. It
takes about 30 minutes to get there. we have gone out there a bunch
of times and it is spectacular. |
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Here is the
house from the water of Cudjoe (or Sarcarma) Bay. You can see the
dock in front of the Mangroves. The Mangroves are protected so you
cannot just cut them down. They are part of the program. The bay is
very shallow. There is a small canal dug along the shore for boats.
You just drive down about 100 yards to the right (in this picture)
and then turn out into the bay. You cut across the bay to the
southwest until you get in the marked channel. You take that out to
the ocean.
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This is a
little closer look from the ocean side. It is taken from the dock.
You can see the storage room double doors where we keep the kayaks
and dock furniture. The doggone mangroves really grow fast. I've had
them trimmed once and this time I trimmed them myself. They are
protected, so you cannot over trim.
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This is the
back of the house next to the road. The palm trees, tropical garden
on the left, and the downstairs storage room are all new. New white accordion
hurricane shutters have gone on all the windows and the three sliding
glass doors on the porch. All the windows except the sliding glass
doors will eventually get Bahama shutters (with fixed louvers) that hinge
at the top of the windows and lift up from the bottom. They will all
be white. |
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Here is
another view of the back. We are really happy with the paint job.
The way they did the white trim really sets off the new exterior
color (Sea Foam Green).
The storage room contains some chaise
lounges for the dock, the two kayaks, and other gear like paddles and PFDs. Eventually it will hold
all the recreational gear like snorkeling/diving stuff. etc.
To the right you can see one of the
fruit trees in our little (four tree) orchard. We have a grapefruit,
an orange, a key lime, and an avocado tree. The last time I was down
we had about 50 grapefruit, one orange and five key limes.
Unfortunately, the avocado has passed on. I will replace it this
spring.
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This is a close up of the
tropical garden we had put in. It has all sorts of stuff. There is
also an automatic irrigation system to make sure it does not die
while we are away. And at night there is lightscaping so the outside
of the house is pleasantly lit when you arrive. The lights are also
auto on and off.
The garden has really grown in. It is
very bushy now. I need a new picture.
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This is the
screened in porch. It is 8' x 40'. It is a real pleasure to sit out here
and drink your coffee in the morning, just taking in the view and
relaxing. It is particularly nice in the fall, winter, and spring
months. Gets a little warm in the summer (however, summer is still one of
the "high" seasons for rentals). We also barbeque out here.
We bought a small Weber charcoal grill. The new gas grill is downstairs
under the house. |
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This is the new porch
sitting area just outside the master bedroom sliding glass door. We
used the outdoor furniture that used to be in the
living room. I was going to throw this stuff away, but Cindy said to
put it out here. It really turned out great! We all enjoyed using
this area for reading or happy hour.
You can also see the new accordion
hurricane shutters on the sliding glass door.
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How's this for a view?
This is looking off to the left. You can see the rest of Cudjoe Bay
and the houses along the water. Then comes Gopher Key and the open
ocean. You can see the sand and sea grass through the water. The bay
is very shallow and at low tide we have to follow the canal down to
the left about 100 yards before we can cut out across the bay to the
main channel. |
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This is the
living room. The picture on the far wall is a nautical chart of the
Lower Keys. The ceiling fans are great before it gets so hot you have
to turn on the air conditioning. At Spring break we just left the
sliding glass doors open and the fans on. It was very comfortable.
We bought the house furnished so we could do seasonal rentals until
we move down there. The living room, dining area, kitchen, and hall
are painted a very light blue with white trim. Note the plantation
shutters on the side windows. This is the new furniture we took
down at Christmas 2003. Since this picture we have added new end
tables and lamps..
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This is
another shot of the new furniture, but it shows how the living room
looks out on the porch and ocean.
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Here is the
kitchen/dining room. The refrigerator and built in microwave are
new. As of Christmas 2003, so is the dining room set. Also new are
the two hanging light fixtures. They replace some really nasty ones.
The kitchen, dining area, and living room are really one big
room. I think they call it a Florida room. There are two 8' sliding
glass doors in here. They open to the porch/balcony and the view is
spectacular. These two doors do not , and will not, have any coverings so the view
is unobstructed. Since we look out on to the water the privacy in
this room should not be an issue.
There is 32" cable TV, a VCR, and a CD
player (a gift from our friends).
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Here is a
closer look at the new dining room set. It is wood frame with wicker
chairs and border around the table. The table top is beveled glass.
We had the cushions custom made. You get a good look at the new
light fixture over the table too.
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This is the
master bedroom. It has a 8' sliding glass door that opens to the
porch/balcony. This sliding glass door has plantation blinds
for privacy and the very nice look they give the view and the room.
The paint is a very light lime green with white trim. I wish the view
in this picture was
a little clearer because the view from the
master bedroom is what sold the house.
We have added two paintings (not
visible here) by
Winslow Homer (he loved the Keys) in this bedroom.
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This is one
of the two smaller bedrooms. It has one lamp, a dresser, and a
mirror. It now has new night stands. The bedding is a new and is a tropical pattern of fish
and coral. Both smaller bedrooms have lemon colored walls and
white trim. The bedroom windows all have 2 1/2" wooden (vinyl)
Venetian blinds. You can see
the Winslow Homer
painting now in this room.
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This is the other small
bedroom. It has two night stands, with lamps, a dresser and a
mirror. It also has new bedding. This is a Plumeria pattern I had
made by a Hawaiian fabric bedding company. It is very pretty. You
can see the two Winslow Homer
paintings now in this room.
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I took this
picture from one of the kayaks. The only thing missing is the boat.
We flew down this time and therefore did not have the boat. |
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This is a
shot of sunset from our porch. There are five coconut palms (with
coconuts) in front of the house. The porch is screened in so you
don't have to worry about bugs and you can leave the sliding glass
doors open. The view is of water for 180º in front of the house. It
is really, really nice. |
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Here are tour
friends on the dock during our first Spring break in the Keys. Their
daughter is in the sailboat and her friend Heather
is trying out the water in the canal. (You can see the outline of
the canal in the water.) The big kayak is on the dock. It is 16'. |
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One of our friends is out
for a paddle in the small kayak. It is 13' 8". Both Kayaks are
tandems and also have a child seat that can be placed in the
middle.
We have paddled in the bay and the
canals, but we haven't done any backcountry paddling yet. |
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Here are
our friends snorkeling at Looe Key. At one point on
the second snorkeling trip we lost one of them, in spite of my strict
injunctions to stick together in pairs. We were worried. It turned
out she was disoriented. The boat was floating in a different
direction from the first day and she swam out to sea. As she was
snorkeling, she was furious with her husband for getting lost. Fortunately
she eventually showed up at the boat. The snorkeling was GREAT!
Also, Heather attempted to lay her mask down on the water while she
fixed her hair. How did that work? We got it back. And the dive flag
fell off and I had to fish for that. Interesting day. |
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Here's a nice
view of the moon on a clear night. It was taken right from the
porch. |
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This a
picture of the new pool/hot tub from when I was down in October
2005. The fence is not done yet. Of course, Wilma cam along and the
fence was REALLY not done yet. It is under the house due to no room
between the house and the water. However, it still gets sun there
and is very nice.
The pool has a swim jet at the end
shown, and six Jacuzzi jets at the other end. You just select what
you want. It also has a big heater to warm up the water. It is
10'X14' so it is really kind of a big hot tub. It works great
though. I really enjoyed it when I was down there. (Until the
hurricane.) |
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Here is the
almost completed fence. They are still doing hurricane repair around
the house in this picture so the pool itself is covered.
The house is a full up round as of
Jan 30, 2006. Vacationing renters arrive in a few days. |
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The view from the dock.
Scroll right and left to see the 180° view from the Cudjoe dock. |
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