Astronomy for Everyone

Wednesday was the day to go into Key Weird (that's Key West for those of you not familiar with the Florida Keys), waste away in Margarittaville, and have a Cheeseburger in Paradise. I opted out but the guys all got into Dave's Lincoln Town Car and headed out. I took my DSLR and wandered the entire beach and campsite to take pictures. The damage from Hurricane Georges in 1999 was still evident. Large uprooted trees littered the beach area at the west end. I spotted a scope set up on a rock on the beach at the far west end of the campsite. When the guys got back they all took naps in preparation for a good night's observing. The wind was still blowing at a pretty good clip, but we hoped it would die down by nightfall. At 3:30 p.m. we gathered the club members beachside and scattered some of Rick Donnelley's ashes on the beach. We toasted his memory back in the swamp, then got in line for the barbeque that the host club, Southern Cross Astronomy Society, was throwing for all participants that night. We stuffed ourselves with beef, pork, chicken, beans, coleslaw, and ice cream. Wind and clouds and too much toasting with Courvoisier VSOP had us all in bed by midnight.