Ahhhh… as close to the Caribbean one can get and still be in the continental United States. Key West is a place where your flip flops, likely your Liver, and always your wallet get quite the workout.
So the set-up… has anyone ever discovered last minute that you had an around $1500 in funds with American Airlines that you had to use in like… three days? Yup – that was me. After asking my DW where she wanted to go very last minute (that would be “no-where”) I called one of my travel partners in crime – Mr. Gary (he’s the more handsome one on the right.
Gary was game to join the fun for a chunk of the trip – so after securing where I (we) would sleep, it was off to the sunshine and warm weather to finish off November and start December on a great foot!
One of the best things about the Florida Keys is to NOT fly directly to them. Fly to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale first. Then rent a car and experience the great collection of dive bars and tiki huts on the way down. It is like a vacation within a vacation.
The first stop – and an absolutely excellent place to settle in for a while – is Alabama Jacks. The food is what you expect – there are tables if you want to sit family style, But we prefer the bar and the railings.
Make sure to pace yourself… remember you’ve got Key West at the end of the drive!
Our next stop was the Hungry Tarpon – also known as Robbies. One of those open air places with the moldy dollars hanging from the ceiling. But the drinks are reasonable, space was available at the bar, and the view wasn’t too bad either.
I could go on and on… there are honestly a dozen places you could stop on the drive down… you could almost restrict yourself to only stops on the gulf side… and hit the Atlantic side on the way home. But Key West beckons… and we hustled up to get down just after dark.
Irish Kevin’s on Duval is always an early stop. We got lucky tonight – the original “Irish Kevin” (owner) was gracing the crowd for a few hours. Fantastic!
The tradition of the classic late night brat. It may be the best brat in the world! :–)
Key West is among the best places in America for live music. The musicians can play year round – they can make some money… and it is almost paradise. Late Night at the Green Parrot on weekends rarely disappoints.
I had a short period of time to find a place to stay. VRBO came thru with a two-bedroom condo in the Truman Annex. It was a bit spendy. But that was to be expected last minute – and honestly anytime other than the middle of the summer in Key West.
A very nice back deck proved to be an excellent place for a morning coffee and getting a little work done.
The layout was the straight shot condo. This is taken from the deck door back towards the front door.
A small kitchen.. I just used it for coffee – but liked the full sized pot.
The bedrooms were small – this is the largest bed – Queen. The other room had two single beds – which worked well for my purposes.
Once we got up on day 2 and shook off the cobwebs, it was time for breakfast. And for the classic breakfast – get over to Pepe’s.
I said classic breakfast, but they’ve got some pretty cool extras as well. Get the daily bread with your meal instead of toast. And the daily special french toast is always a treat. Below is mango french toast and a classic.
Like virtually everyone, Key West rolls out the Christmas Carpet with the holidays approach. Around each corner there are Christmas touches… the marina area is especially beautiful at night.
One of my favorite times in Key West is the afternoon. Maybe it is because I’ve gotten too old to push the body for the later nights (and the vibe changes a great deal – especially on weekends). The Marina is a great place to take a wander on a late morning or early afternoon.
A really nice place to take in the Marina vibe is at Schooner Wharf. It’s an authentic dive… perfect for Key West. Plus you often get to listen to a bit of the island legend – Michael McCloud.
One of the reasons we pulled this together so fast was to surprise our friend Ross who is in Key West virtually every year at the same time due to a time share. We were successful in surprising him and enjoyed catching up. He brought his son, who in addition to being a very nice guy, is not the worst looking guy in the world. We had fun walking up to various women and asking if women wanted their picture with him. Many said yes… and more than a few gentlemen did as well. Here is just a couple. Thanks for being a good sport Ryan.
Another morning… another great place for Breakfast! Blue Heaven is a legendary “eat outside with the Roosters” place to enjoy breakfast. Food quality is a step above most spots, with eggs benedict having lobster, a very creative menu, and very nice staff.
As mentioned earlier, it was a blast to catch up with the group of our friends that didn’t know we were going to surprise them. It was a nice couple of days catching up, laughing and giving the flip flops a workout.
Mr. Gary got to meet up with friends of his from the “fishmonster” diving boat.
Mr. Gary was not able to stay for the entire time – business called him home. So I waited at the Key West express dock for friends Mr. Butch and Mr. Dave to join me for a couple of fun days. It was Mr. Butch’s first time in the keys – although he lives a good chunk of the year in Cape Coral.
I had a hell of a good time. 🙂