Tripping down to Key West

My Daddy wrote me and said he missed reading my blog post. Oops - my bad. Once again losing sight of the here and now, silly me. Looking forward to the holiday passing without participating and then maybe, just maybe, escaping this purgatory that has become my life. SO, here I sit with a cup of peppermint tea and Clannad singing in the background . . .
(Will we treasure all the secrets with life's changing scenes
Where our hearts were warm with love, so much love
Will the flowers grow again as I open out my hand
Precious time, time for healing
The beauty of this land)
BUT I DIGRESS . . . Well, I had a free night at a Westin about to expire so I called up the folks in Old Town Key West and made a reservation. The fabulous Florence, one of a handful I trust to stay with the girls, was available and off I went. I always loved the trip down and never having done it by myself, savored every moment. I stopped off at Ann's Beach in lower Matecumbe:

 

Did you know there are 42 bridges connecting more than 100 islands over a distance of 126 miles and that 15 percent of the total travel time is spent on bridges? (I didn't either; I saw it on Wikipedia.) Anyhoo, how beautiful, right?

 Here's a shot of the 7-mile bridge while I'm going over it - woohoo! (no worries, Mom, totally safe-hardly any oncoming traffic.) I arrived in Key West in time to walk to our - no, make that MY - fave lunch spot: Alonzo's. The BEST margarita and crab salad lunch ever. I spotted Appledore on my way there (used to see her in Boothbay Harbor, Maine), 

shot a picture of these pelicans begging for fish while I caught up with all the news in the Key West Citizen, 

 and almost hurled when I spotted this hairy back. 

OMG, I mean seriously, does he have a clue? Typical male, probably doesn't care and thinks we'd all benefit from gazing upon the disgusting pelt sprouting from his back. I personally would be willing to finance a (hideously painful) waxing session. Hearing his agonized screams would be music to my ears. Woopsie, I seem to be getting carried away. . . so gross     I did the Duval Street Crawl and stopped at some of my favorite places, most notably Fast Buck Freddy's, the Wyland gallery, and Fresh Produce.

I checked into my hotel and I want to show you my view. I was on the ground floor which was totally convenient because I could access the pier right outside my door. Here was the view when I checked in and here is what I saw when I woke up the next morning! wow

Of course, I went to Sunset Celebration and I present here for your amusement, the sword swallower and the juggler guy. Both have been a part of sunset since we started coming to Key West. (Sword swallower said it was his 60th birthday but I think he might have been lying. For one thing he was trying to up his tips and also, he looked more like 72, although I guess swallowing swords every night might age you prematurely. Would also like to say that he had no front teeth so I'm sure that helped with his act- doh! or maybe that's how he lost them.)

The juggler guy is playing with fire and I love this picture with the bird in the background. The star of the show of course, was the sunset and here is one of the many conch shell blowers on hand to celebrate it.

I went off to Kelly's for dinner out in the garden, well known for being the birthplace of Pan American Airlines, dontcha know - the first tickets were sold out of this building in 1927 and the inside bar is actually the wing of a plane - not sure if it's real though . . .

It was fun visiting so many favorite places, albeit kind of bittersweet. I like to think I was making these places my own now and I look forward to going back soon. Ok, Dad? That's all for now.