America 2.0, the Sunset Cruise, Key West, Florida

Every year, we all go down to Key West after Christmas to see Sue and David Boyd, our co-grandparents. Well, one year our trip was interrupted by a major national disaster. And every New Year’s Eve, we take a sunset cruise on the America 2.0, the best sunset cruise in the Keys and, to my experience, anywhere else.

It’s a beautiful craft, a replica of the first America’s Cup winner, owned by Classic Harbor Line, which has a collection of ships that sail out of Key West, Newport, New York, and Boston.

As always, there were interesting fellow-passengers, along with beer, wine, and champagne at our beck and call, plus waves of vegetables and dips, cheese, crackers, Genoa salami, and shrimp with cocktail sauce.

And there were excited youngsters and more mature citizens.

And dependable people at the helm.

Did you notice Ella’s bubble hair? It was new to me, and to her. She was thrilled, especially since passers by all day long told her it was perfect for New Year’s.

This year, the cruise was marked by a pod of dolphins — I should say porpoises, as in Key West, most places still refer to “dolphin” rather than mahi-mahi on their menus — that followed us. The porpoises put on a fun show, frolicking and leaping, which is

very hard to catch on camera. The star of very sunset cruise, though is the light show

that just keeps getting better.

Life is good. Every day is a gift. Take a sunset cruise. It’s a new year filled with possibility. Enjoy!

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