Shrimpin' ain't easy

But someone's gotta do it.

For our closing hours in Key West, we wanted to do a few key (no pun intended) things.

We wanted one last great fresh Florida meal of seafood.
We wanted to spot a key deer.
We wanted one last amazing boat ride in both the Atlantic and the Gulf.
And we wanted to watch the sun set in Key West.

Florida shrimp are different than our shrimp in N.C.

Florida pinks, as they call them.

North Carolina shrimp are gray when raw.  They turn pink when cooked.  It's like a self-timer.
Florida shrimp are pink before you cook them so the only timer you have--when boiling them--is watching for floating shrimp.

Why are Florida shrimp pink?

Heck if we know.

Maybe it's the crystal clear Gulf that makes Florida pinks so delicious.  Or maybe it's the palm trees and warm Florida air...

Either way, they're quite tasty and we were so glad that we picked some up at the local fish market.

In addition to the Florida pinks, we also enjoyed grilled snapper, fresh conch, and stone crab claws.

Floridians use what's called a key lime mustard sauce to accompany their crab meat. 

We also picked some of this up from the local fish market.

We enjoyed the sauce so much that we not only used it for the stone crab but, also, for the shrimp and snapper tacos (my husband's most favorite meal).

Yum.

When we weren't gorging ourselves with fresh seafood, we were boat riding and key deer searching.

We drove the short distance to the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge to catch a glimpse of one of the pygmy key deer.

We even spotted a key buck taking a sip from a boat ramp.

Afterward, we took a final boat ride which the dogs thoroughly enjoyed.

We, then, headed back to Key West one last time.

At the end of every day, Key West has a sunset festival in Mallory Square.

The festivals are rife with tourists, bag pipe players, fire breathers, jugglers, non English-speaking cat wranglers, and other performers of various arts.

If you're lucky, as my aunt Wanda explained to us, you will see the optical phenomena that is a bright green flash at the end of the sunset.

We didn't see the flash... this time.

But we got some amazing views and took some ferocious photos of a beautifully setting sun.

Through sad eyes, we savored our last images of the Florida Keys before we headed north.

Our very last Florida Keys stop was made per the recommendation of my mother-in-law and father-in-law.  They make this Key Largo establishment a tradition for their Florida Keys visits.  So, we felt it necessary to check it out.

Snooks Restaurant

Our last tropical meal was amazing and was only trumped by the breathtaking views from all angles of the exclusively outdoor restaurant (as most Keys restaurants are).  

We hope we have the opportunity to visit Snooks again sometime. 

It was a fitting last stop before crossing over to the mainland. 

In a word, the Keys are surreal.

You won't believe it until you see it.

perfect weather

perfect water

perfect views

We can't wait to do it again.

Thank you...

*1/1/15*

2014 for being a great year.

For obvious reasons, 2014 was a big year for us.

This trip was a mighty fine ending to what was a mighty fine year.

For the fabulous eve of the New Year, we wanted to see something great drop.

Will and I have a tradition.
Every year, we try to watch something different drop for the New Year.
One year, we watched a pickle drop in Mount Olive.
We've seen a giant flea drop as well as a beach ball.

Key West drops four things.

They drop a slice of key lime pie.
They drop a conch shell.
They drop the -aforementioned- red shoe with Sushi the drag queen aboard.
And they drop a pirate wench.

We chose to watch the conch shell.

We figured the conch shell was the most interesting (while still being family-friendly) thing to watch drop at midnight.

We had no idea...

We will begin by telling you that we, firstly, decided parking would be a nightmare on New Year's Eve in Key West.  So we opted to take the transit bus from Summerland to Key West.  It stops directly in front of our house; so it made perfect sense.

Unfortunately, the Key West transit wasn't fully prepared for all the willing people and constant stops.  We had to wait for an hour for the bus to get to our stop.
But, during the wait, we made some randomly fun bus stop friends.

The bus was standing room only by the time it made it from Marathon to Summerland.  So, at the next stop after ours, a larger bus pulled up and we transferred to the larger one.  Will and I lucked up on this transfer and were able to sit for the remainder of the ride to Key West.

Upon arriving in Key West on New Year's Eve, we realized one thing:  Key West on the last day of the year is like Mardi Gras!

Beads were flying, people were half-naked, and the streets wafted an unpleasant odor.

But, that's alright.  We still had a blast.

We made it to the conch shell and rang in the New Year in flip flops.

Promptly following the conch drop, we raced back to the bus stop where we waited twenty people deep with a wrapped line of over a hundred people trying to make it out of Key West and into the Lower Keys.

We made it back to our house uneventfully and celebrated not only the New Year but, also of course, Will's birthday!

Happy 2015, everyone!

Thank you for being a part of our lives.

If life gives you limes...

*Written 12/30/14*

...make margaritas!  -Jimmy Buffett

So our days have been filled with great boating adventures and sight-seeing.

Sunday morning, we rented a boat which we have conveniently docked in the canal in front of the house. 

As I sit writing this post, I have an excellent view of the boat as it lazily glides the length of the tether.  Palm trees sway overhead.

Hibiscus blooms catch the sun's rays while displaying colors of vibrant coral and hot pink.  Will fishes the canal from the yard.  Mac awaits the next catch.

Penny observes from her perch:

It's a hard life.

So, we loaded our  rented boat with a radio, snorkeling gear, fishing poles and snacks and headed out of the canal. 

The water in the canal, by the way, is a beautiful vibrant blue-green and is clear.  You can easily see the bottom- 6 feet below.  

It is definitely not the dark, murky canals to which we are accustomed (and live upon).

Along the route, we spotted a countless number of iguanas, sun-bathing at the canal's edge.  

Why?

Apparently, iguanas are NOT native to the Florida Keys.

Over time, people who have kept iguanas as pets have either lost iguanas or intentionally released them here.  Of course, the weather here is perfect for iguanas and they have thrived in this environment.  The problem, however, is that the iguanas are ruining the natural habitat.  They are eating massive amounts of the native vegetation.  

Barbecued iguana, anyone?

Once we made it out of the canal, we spent our day basking in the sun, fishing for exotic Florida fish and snorkeling around while filming with our fancy new GoPro

 (thanks to my parents; I mean, Santa).

After a long day of boating, we decided that the dogs needed a day of rest.  So, the following day, we took the opportunity to leave them at the house while we headed south for Key West.  

Key West is a beautiful island that hovers around a balmy 80 degrees all year long.  

As you can imagine, a place such as this boasts a rich history.

Prior to Europeans, Key West was inhabited by the Calusa natives.

In 1521, the first Europeans set foot in Key West and it became a Spanish colony.

It remained a Spanish colony until around the early 1800s when, after Florida became US territory, an
ownership quest for the Florida Keys ensued.

In 1822, the US finally laid official claim to the Florida Keys including Key West. 

The Conchs

During the 1830s, a large number of European Bahamians migrated from the Bahamas to Key West.  These people became known as the Conchs--the folks who made Key West what it is today.

The Conchs are responsible for the current layout of the city along with the beautiful Victorian architecture and modern development.

Key West residents continue to refer to themselves as Conchs.

For those who were not fortunate enough to have been born in Key West but have transplanted there and remained for at least seven years, supposedly the term "Freshwater Conch" applies.

Key West offers many touring sites--almost too many to visit in a day.

But we tried...

Of course, our first order of business was to visit the famous Duval Street.

Next we traveled to the southernmost point in the continental U.S.

90 miles to Cuba

We greeted the ubiquitous Key West chickens.

We gawked at the giant red shoe which was set to drop on New Year's Eve.  A drag queen by the name of Sushi would be riding it down.

We got lost in the ghetto.

"In the ghetto..." -Elvis (and Will)

Yes.  Key West has a ghetto.  And this is what the ghetto looks like in Key West.

...not exactly Chowan Court.

We envied this sweet ride.

We saw a few pet parrots.

People have pet parrots in the Keys instead of the normal cats and dogs.
The guy from whom we rented our boat kept a pet parrot on his shoulder.
Seriously.

We toured the Hemingway house.

Ernest Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer (then editor of Vogue magazine), received this house as a wedding gift from her uncle.

In the last photo above, you can see the ornate headboard.  The couple purchased this headboard while in Spain.  Prior to serving as a headboard, it was actually a gate at a monastery.
The chandelier was handpicked by Pauline.  She maintained a chandelier in every room of the house and was known to hang them from the trees outside for her lavish parties.
Each chandelier was crafted of hand-blown Venetian glass.

Together, Pauline and Ernest had two children.

Ernest lived in this house for nine years before Pauline kicked him out for running out on her with his soon-to-be third wife.

While in Spain with said soon-to-be third wife, Pauline had a pool installed.
At the time, private residences did not commonly boast pools.
And, of course, it was no ordinary pool.
It cost the Hemingways 25,000 big ones to install.
To put that into perspective, the house only cost her uncle $8,000 and the pool would cost $300,000 in today's money.

Upon his return from Spain, Ernest walked out into the backyard--where Pauline was entertaining guests--and became irate.
The guests scattered.
It is said that he reached into his pockets, pulled out the only penny he had on him, and threw it in Pauline's general direction.
He missed Pauline but made the pool.
Pauline, in full garb, jumped into the pool, rescued the penny, and planted it into the wet concrete.

For years to come, Pauline would tell the story, point out the penny, and emphatically say, "I took him for his last red cent!"

Overlooking the pool, stands the studio where Hemingway completed 70 percent of his total body of work.

Pauline left the room exactly how Hemingway had left it...

unchanged for 70+ years.

Before leaving the property, of course, we had to pet one of the famous polydactyl cats.  

Ernest and Pauline received the first polydactyl cat as a gift and offering of good luck (they are believed to bring good luck).  

They named the cat Snowball.

All of the 40-plus polydactyl cats which roam the property today are documented descendants of Snowball.  And the Hemingway house has an entire staff dedicated to their care.

This is Humphrey Bogart.

He let us pet him for good luck.

And this is where Humphrey and his 40-plus cousins/brothers and sisters like to hang out.

Following the Hemingway house, we walked across the street to climb the Key West lighthouse.

This is the second lighthouse to be erected in Key West.  The original lighthouse was destroyed in a hurricane.  

As it happened, the lighthouse keeper, upon realizing the seas were rising dangerously during the storm, ordered his wife and daughters to seek shelter further inland at a friend's home.  He and their sons remained in the lighthouse to keep it going during the storm.  

The keeper and his sons drowned during the storm and the lighthouse was swept out to sea.

The current lighthouse was erected in 1848 -directly following the storm- and the lighthouse keeper's wife continued to maintain the light and structure well into her 80's.  

Pretty amazing.

As you all know, I am a little skittish of heights.

But the views were worth the fears.

And we even took the opportunity to cheese it for the camera.

The lighthouse left us a little parched so we abandoned the lighthouse for the parrothead mecca to quench our thirst and share a couple of cheeseburgers in paradise (of the turkey and veggie varieties, of course).

After refueling, we walked to the docks and found these amazing figure-transforming booths.

"There's a woman going crazy on Caroline Street..." -Buffett (and Will)

And before heading out, we stopped at a great little shoe shop. 

Kino

A Cuban couple started this company in 1966.  Today, Cuban women piece together each leather sandal by hand in the non-airconditioned shop.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law told us about this place.

So, we stopped in to purchase a few practical Key West mementos which we will enjoy this summer.

Key West was a blast.

Next post:  more Key West fun; this time, for New Year celebrations!