Key West

Got back from our Key West vacation late Sunday night/early Monday morning that I won last summer. Trip was really nice and the best part is was that it was completely free! I still have to pinch myself when I think about the fact that I actually won something of substantial value.

Lisa and I headed up to Detroit on Wednesday night after we spent some time with the kids before leaving them with Lisa's mom. We spent the night in Detroit since our flight left at 7am and we didn't want to wake the kids up at 3am unintentionally as we were getting ready to leave.

The flight to Miami was pretty uneventful but the flight from Miami to Key West "International" was brutal. The flight was so brutal that I wouldn't do it again; I would instead drive in from Miami. The puddle jumper was of the twin propeller variety that held about 50 people. If the size of the plane wouldn't scare you, the way the pilot flew would. I could have swore the pilot was in a major rush to get in the air. I've never been nervous while the plane taxied down a runway, but this experience changed all that. This guy thought he was in a NASCAR race. He took turns at fast speeds, so fast it seemed like we were going to flip. The worse part of the flight had to be the decent into Key West. The fact the runway was so small and the wind made for a very interesting landing. I thought we were going to die!

Once on the ground, after I kissed the ground, we were greeted by an airport that reminded me of the 80s television show - Wings. I mean the baggage claim area was about the size of my living room and in it was one luggage turnstile (powered by hamsters) and about 5 car rental desks (none of which was the one I needed). After picking up the luggage, we hopped a shuttle to the car rental area and there, I picked up my convertible (Chrysler Sebring). Unfortunately, the trunk wouldn't close on the car. The rental agent had me take the car and said that he would exchange it for the first convertible that was returned that day. Once at the hotel, I attempted to close the convertible top but it wouldn't close. Since I didn't want the top down for too long unattended, I called the rental agent to let him know the top didn't operate and he agreed to exchange the car with another non-convertible which we could then exchange the next day for another convertible. So needless to say, the trip wasn't off to a great start.

After checking into our hotel, we took a walk down the famous Duval street. That evening we ended up eating dinner at The Conch Republic Seafood Company. For those of you that are interested, dinner consisted of a half dozen oysters on the half shell, a half pound of Key West Pinks (shrimp), Lisa had a filet mignon, I had the Cayo Hueso Paella (Paella with clams, mussels, shrimp, chorizo and fresh fish), we each had a salad, I had two Key West Ales (fair but not anything I would go out of my way for). This was probably the best meal of the week. After dinner, we did a bit more walking and then called it an early evening.

Friday morning, we decided to drive up US1 to see a few of the sites. First we exchanged our car for an operating convertible and then off we went. First stop was Big Pine Key home to the endangered Key Deer. Big Pine Key is basically an area that is the last remanding home to the Key Deer. Key Deer are miniature deer about the size of a large dog that are surprisingly very tame. The only remaining major population left of the species resides in the National Deer Refuge on Pine Key. Once we arrived, we stopped by the visitor center, sponsored a deer (AKA gave a $25 donation) and picked up a map that directed us to the nature trail. We walked a couple of the trails...no deer. We then decided to drive a bit and as we were about to turn around and give up, there we say 3-4 of the deer hanging out in someone's yard. We stopped and took a ton of pictures. The deer are so tame that instead of getting spooked by us in a car, they actually approached the car looking for a handout. On the way out of the Deer Refuge, we stopped to check out the blue hole.

We continued north, searching for a restaurant we heard about from one of our co-workers called Morada Bay Beach Cafe. The restaurant was situated directly on the beach, overlooking the ocean. We actually ate under an umbrella and several palm trees right on the sandy beach. The bonus was that the food was good too. Lisa had a burger and I had grouper tacos. After lunch, we headed a bit more north and stopped at The Theater Of The Sea. Theater Of The Sea is basically Sea World but on a much much much smaller scale. The idea was possibly swimming with the dolphins but once we saw the water and area we would be swimming in, it's a good thing we decided against it. Plus the cost was going to be $350 for the two of us to swim and by the looks of it, we would have spent about 10 minutes in the "pool". The park was pretty interesting and rather hands on due to its small size and the limited number of visitors. We petted a baby nurse shark and Lisa was kissed by a sea-lion. Once we were done at the aquatic park, we headed north a bit more to Key Largo. The only reason we headed to Key Largo was because we were close and could then say we were on all 42 keys that are attached by bridges and connect Key West to mainland Florida. While we were on Key Largo, we stopped by one of the largest tourist tourist traps I have ever seen, The African Queen. The African Queen was the boat the 1951 movie was centered around a movie entitled The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. The boat was a gigantic piece of junk! Then we began our journey back to Key West.

After we returned to the Hotel, we cleaned up a bit and headed off to dinner at Kelly's. Kelly's was once owned by Kelly McGillis the actress. The restaurant is also home to The Key West Brewery. The food was good, the dining room was outside under a canopy of trees but the beer was just okay. We had mahi-mahi (Tim), a spinach salad (Lisa), Shrimp cocktail, calamari, a beer, a key-lime martini (very good) and a piece of chocolate cake. After dinner, we stopped by a little bar and I had a couple of beers on the patio. While I was sipping on a beer we saw a woman trip over the curb (I was tripping the entire time we were there too) and hit her head in the street. She was out cold as an ambulance was called and several people were tending to her. For about 20 minutes, she never regained consciousness, but we were told she finally came to in the ambulance. It was pretty scary watching this event unfold.

Saturday was spent entirely in Key West. We woke up and went to breakfast at Blue Heaven. Blue heaven is a small outside restaurant in which roosters wander under your feet and tables. Speaking of roosters, Key West is loaded with wandering roosters. The rooster is like the squirrel of the Midwest except for the fact that the roosters are much more tame than squirrels! There were roosters everywhere you looked, it was crazy. Actually Key West is very animal tolerant. There were dogs in bars, restaurants and in hotels. There were stray cats everywhere and of course the roosters. Back to Blue Heaven, Lisa had the Bacon Benedict and a mimosa and I had the shrimp grits and a bloody mary. My shrimp grits were fantastic. Up to about 5 years ago, I had never touched a grit. Matter of fact, I wouldn't have eaten a grit if you paid me but I have grown to like them. Well the shrimp grits were the best I have ever tasted. They were loaded with shrimp and a cheese sauce, they were worth the hour wait to get seated. We also visited the Key West home of Ernest Hemingway. All I can say is Earnest was definitely an interesting fellow indeed! After the tour, we ended up at Sloppy Joe's Bar, Ernest's favorite watering hole for a couple of beers. The rest of the day was spent wandering about town with stops at the cemetery, Mallory Square to watch the famous sunset and carnival and numerous shops and souvenir stores.

That evening we ate at Fogarty's for dinner (no Website). Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling all that well and couldn't really eat too much of my dinner. I wonder if the 40 ounce Rum Runner in a plastic bucket we ordered at Mallory Square had anything to do with it? I ordered grilled grouper which was served with a crab cake and vegetables and Lisa ordered another Filet Mignon. The food that I did eat was pretty good but, I barely touched my meal. On the way back to the hotel, Lisa picked up a slice of Key Lime pie from The Key Lime Pie Company.

Sunday was check out day. We woke up early, checked out of the hotel and decided to take the Conch Train Tour. I know the train tour sounds a bit cheesy but it was actually pretty informative and we learned a lot about the architecture and history of the city. After the tour, we had breakfast, it was the nastiest food ever and I don't want to talk about it. A bit more wandering around and back to the airport. It was a long day with the nearly 4 hour lay over in Miami.

I will post the nearly 400 pictures we took on a later post when I finally get them uploaded to a decent site. Overall, the trip was nice.....and it was FREE! Except for the tax bill I got socked for.