Another glorious weekend in Key West

So, got Mom set up with 5 caregivers so John and I could head out on a mini-vacation for 4 days to Key West. Gert and all the caregivers survived; in fact, Mom was pretty looking pretty good when I came home. What a relief as she didn't do so well last time we were gone - but that was a 7 day trip and that's just too long to leave her, even though Sharyn was here for all 7 days and Sharyn's as on point as I am.... Anyway, huge thanks this time around to Carina, Ruth Ann, Mark, Bobbi and, of course, Sophia. You guys make our lives so much easier, and pleasurable!

Anyway, John and I flew off to Fort Lauderdale Feb 26th and grabbed a car for the drive to Key West - sweet talked the counter agent into a Mustang convertible which was a joy to drive but not much fun in which to be a passenger. The passenger seat is almost bolted directly to the floor so the top of my nose was 'eye to eye' with the top of the dashboard. I looked like a 4 year old in a car seat too big! And, sadly, John got to drive on the way down....oh well...

We made just a few quick stops before shooting down to KW in 4 short hours - that car moved!

Weather was cool but certainly better than DC - days were around mid-60s until, of course, our last day when it was 72 at 8 am...

Got a great hotel room right off Elizabeth street, just 1 block up from the Conch Republic. Gorgeous B&B with a continental breakfast and complimentary top shelf happy hour thrown in. And, to make matters sweeter, I talked our way into $50 less per night than we originally book AND a bigger suite! Sweet it was! Hotel was the Key West Harbor Inn for future reference and the room was the Jamaica room. The thing had a shower to die for....

We kicked around Key West for a day and then decided to do the trip over to the Dry Tortugas on the 'Vomit Comet' - well, that's what the crew called the 78' catamaran, Sunny Days. The wind was blowing at 15-20, seas were high with 5-6' swells and, of the 25 passengers on board, there were only about 6 of us standing at the end. John and I were bright enough to fuel our bag with saltine crackers which are a thing of beauty when one's stomach is tossing to and fro. I shared some with a few other passengers before I realized that we were going to NEED them. And, forget about bloody mary's on that ship - ugh. The trip to the Dry Tortugas did spur an eHow though:

How to Prevent Motion Sickness

Here's another quick one I wrote up:

How to Save Money In Key West Florida

Fort Jefferson was awesome though as we kicked around the island for 4 hours before setting off back to KW. Sadly, we didn't get to snorkel which is, reportedly, fabulous snorkeling as the waters were too churned up and it was too cool out. The Gods were with us on the ride home though as the weather cleared and it was a much smoother ride.

We spent the 2 hours on the ride back sitting on the stern of the catamaran, talking to Andy, one of the mates. He had us in tears the whole way home with his stories. He also told us of the best place in KW to get fresh fish - Bo's Fish Wagon. So, of course, once we hit shore, it was time for that free happy hour, showers, and off to feed.

Now, if you're interested in high class restaurants on the water with tablecloths, candles and $14 martinis (yes, that's true...) don't even bother reading the rest of the paragraph. But, if you're like us and prefer the true island ambience, a local's paradise, and the freshest fish outside the water - here you go. The fish here was, bar none, the best fish I've ever in my life had. Grilled Mahi that was caught just hours before was lovingly prepared with their 'special' spices which Andy assured me was not just Old Bay and, man, it wasn't. Sadly, they don't sell the mix outside the restaurant or we would have been toting a lot home. John got his requisite burger which was the best on the island also. Great food and a wonderful time, sitting at the bar on the street watching the 'tourists' go by.

After dinner, we waddled off to Duvall Street where we took our places in the window of the Bull and Whistle for a few hours before hitting another couple of bars and calling it an early night around 8:30 or so. Went back to the room and collapsed, tired, full and happy. Until...

John and I both woke up at 2:45 am with one thought on our mind - PIZZA! Yes! We were in KW and HAD to have some Angelina's pizza! This is the best pizza in the northern hemisphere, only being bested by a slice I had somewhere in Scotland, or possibly France one time - it was downed with one of the best beers I've ever had, hence the loss of memory....

So, we climbed into our clothes and headed out to the streets right as the drunks were coming in. Angelina's closes at 3:30 am so we had plenty of time for slices and beer before slinking back to our hotel room for the rest of the night. Woke up at 7, fat and happy.

Basically spent 3 days doing the above, with some wandering the streets and shopping thrown in before heading to Ft. Lauderdale for the last night of our 4 day tour.

On thing I love about John is that he's as impulsive and adventurous as I am. So, as we talked, we devised a 'non-plan' - we decided to 'wing it' and cancelled the Ft. Lauderdale hotel (where we stayed last time) and just wander up Rt. 1 N until we found an oceanfront hotel for the night (hopefully with an oceanfront hot tub) so we did just that. We rolled into Pelican Cove on Deer Key and got a great room. Spent some time in the hot tub before heading up to get cleaned up for dinner. Had a magnificent time, standing on a pier on the Gulf side of the key watching a gorgeous sunset before heading off to another local spot for dinner. Alas, no dolphins or manatees in sight...

All in all, a great trip was had one more time. It's such a joy to have someone fun to travel with - truly a joy.

So, it's time to plan our next trip. We're thinking maybe of taking Mom to the outer banks in June for a week - that way, we can get a week 'away' and have Mom with us at the same time. It's a win-win situation! Or, there's that Baltimore cruise to Bermuda in July...Wherever we end up, we'll have a blast - just like this time. What fun!


Below is my favorite graffiti from this trip. KW has the best graffiti...