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.