Day 4- Bicycling Across Key West

Today we rented a couple of bicycles to go see all the other places on the island that we could not get to by bus or reasonable walking distance. I actually figured out the second day on the island that I did not bring any footwear worthy of long distance walking. As I have gotten older, flip flops and Teva water sandals just do not agree with my feet after about an hour of constant travel... and I wore those Tevas yesterday the entire day of walking and mostly bike riding. And my feet are killing me! In the meantime, we wound up seeing the Southernmost Point of the USA (along with the Southernmost house and the Southernmost Beach), we found the Key West lighthouse, the Memorial pier on the east side of the island, and many, many other local hot spots. The winds were breezy, the sun was harsh and the views were wonderful.

Check out my sun-kissed tresses and the view!
We ended the day back near Mallory Square to watch the sunset again...

Day 3- Snorkeling and Battleships

Today we woke up and reserved our two spots on a snorkeling trip. Yes, about 7 miles from Key West is one of the largest live corral reefs in the world. And for $35 a large boat will take you out to the reef and let you snorkel around it and see the sea life up close and personal. Now we have been snorkeling before… on our big honeymoon in St. Lucia. In St. Lucia, they took us to a nice intimate cove and there were about 30 of us. Today, it was in the open sea and there were only 6 of us… much different! And kind of scary… at least to me it was. After putting all of my gear on, I jumped into the pretty chilly water and swam to my hubby. When I took my first look under water, the bottom was about 20 feet below, there were some pretty fish and then I saw the jellyfish… and mean tons of jellyfish! They were everywhere! Millions…. Billions…. Gazillions of them. Most of them were small about the size of golf balls, but it was FREAKY. I mean the Captain forewarned us that there would be some jellyfish but who would of thought he meant THIS many! The thing about the little ones is that they do bite, but it is a small bite like a mosquito bite…. But, the water was really choppy today and I just could not get my snorkel to participate with my being able to breathe through it (probably because of all the salty waves of water overtaking it!); therefore, when 2 or 3 of those small jellyfish started nibbling and you are fighting choppy salt water along with gasping for oxygen… it makes for a terrible recipe with Kelly. After about 20 minutes of it, I was tired and getting a touch of motion sickness (again, probably the constant slamming of waves). I stayed with hubby though and eventually we made our way back to the boat. The second place they took us too was MUCH better- less choppy water and NO jellyfish! I was a cool spot near an old lighthouse in the middle of the sea to keep ships from hitting the reef I suppose.

We made it back to the island in time to hit some Happy Hour specials at one of the marina restaurants… ½ price menu… Shrimp, conch fritters, fish, and onion rings…and 3 drinks all for under $28…Man I love a bargain!
Today’s island celebration included a crazy battle between a bunch of boats out in the Key West Harbor… they were shooting cannons, guns, water cannons and throwing food at each other. At the same time, helicopters and planes were dropping rolls of toilet paper from overhead.

It was the “Great Battle for the Conch Republic”. All of this was happening while the beautiful sun was setting on the horizon.

There were SO many people there… we just kept walking and walking trying to find a spot on the edge to get some decent photos. We discovered at the very end of our walking path that an actual wedding was happening with all of this battle craziness going on in the background- pretty wild stuff again…

Day 2- Sun and Fun and Celebration

Our second day on the island was decided to be "a day of relaxation only" day. No rushing around... no schedule... just go with the flow... We wound up at the one and only beach on this island first. A few hours just sitting under a palm tree watching sun worshipping tourists on the sand and ships in the distance.
Check out the view from my towel:



We eventually made it back to the hotel pool and then back to Duvall St. for supper. Oysters seem to be on our menu once again.
After supper, we found ourselves in the middle of a parade on Duvall St. This parade is one small part of the week-long celebration the island is promoting this week for their "26th Annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration". Pretty wild stuff...

Key West, FL- Check Out Them Oysters!

I knew we were in trouble when we walked through the gate to board our plane and we had to go down stairs to the asphalt parking area where the plane was parked. Yes, we flew on a pretty small "puddle jumper" to Key West and I am here to tell you it was SMALL. VERY little room in the seats. You had to duck to miss hitting your head coming into the plane and your seat! But, the flight was calm and only 1.25 hours. The Key West airport is really tiny and even though our hotel is only about 1 mile away, the cab fare was $11!!! We checked in and then took off for supper. We wound up at the Hog's Breath Saloon and consumed 2 dozen of the largest oysters you have ever seen. And some of the Best we have eaten... it just proves once again that Florida is THE place for raw oysters. Check it out:

Might just have to go back there tonight...

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, You're Only A Day Away...

Our bags are packed. I finally let my work go this afternoon at the office... it is all I can do at this point... just let it go and hope the Earth does not tilt on its axis when I return to the trenches on Monday after my small vacation. These past two days were so busy... but, at some point, you have to just LET IT GO! And here I am about to crash into bed, bags are packed, manicure and pedicure are complete, flight and hotel info is printed... there is nothing else to do. We are headed to Key West tomorrow. Another adventure in our travel log... just me and hubby headed to an unknown place together. Snorkeling, fishing, swimming... and lots of sun! I did manage to find one of those disposable underwater cameras tonight at Publix... and I have the other two digitals with me. So I will upload all of the photos when I return to my web albums. Until tomorrow...