It started years ago as a bucket list destination. Key West Florida always sounded like a Jimmy Buffet style vacation and Alice and I like Jimmy Buffet, so when the opportunity arose, we took it. Our friends from the canoe club, Ted-Connie, Harold- Laurie and us, planned a vacation to escape the Ohio spring weather. Everything was set and off we went.
Tuesday 4-7: Alice and I were flying out of the Columbus airport on American Airlines on a 6:57 am flight. We decided to stay at an airport hotel so we didn't have to drive very early in the morning, and we could also leave our car at the hotel. After some Subway food and Rolling Rock beer we hit the sack for the early morning activities.
Wednesday 4-8: At airport security, they found a pocketknife in my carryon bag, a knife I couldn't find at home. For $15.00 I could send it home, but it wasn't worth it. To the trash it went. We had lift off at 7:00 am and arrived at the Miami International Airport at 10:30 am. Our friends, Al and Cindy have lived around Miami for the last year and a half and graciously picked us up at the airport front doors at 10:45. Off we went in beautiful sunny, warm Florida weather with beers in our hands. What wonderful hosts to have refreshments for us that early on our vacation. Cindy had wanted to visit the Hardrock Casino in Miami and we were very receptive of going. It was a huge beautiful place shaped like a guitar and all fancy inside. We signed up and went gambling. I came out $43.00 ahead and was happy but Cindy wasn't so lucky. Next, we drove to Al and Cindy's condo to relax and have more beers. Al and I both love IPA beers and Al had been holding some good ones back for our visit. Sitting in lawn chairs in their back yard, which is on a golf course, we watched golfers for the afternoon and really relaxed.
Ted and Connie drove to their kids' home in Alabama pulling their popup camper for the first leg of their vacation. Leaving the camper there they drove on south to Ted's brothers' home in northern Florida then on to Pompano Beach where they had 2 timeshare rooms. Having a 6 seat SUV was a life saver for the trip. When Harold and Laurie flew in around one in the afternoon, they drove to the Miami airport, picked them up and went back to the timeshare. Around 5:30 we all met at the Crafty Crab Restaurant for dinner. Al and Cindy recommended it and what a fun place it was, and the food was good. After beer all day Al had a long island iced tea. That did him in (and I was close behind) so they went home and us other 6 found a Publix grocery store to stock up on food. The Wyndham Timeshare at 615 N. Ocean Blvd was very nice with 3 swimming pools, an outdoor bar and a deli. It was also just across the street from the beautiful sandy beach. Ted and Connie had a single bedroom on one side of the complex and us other 4 had a 2 bedroom in a different building. The weather was so nice, warm, sunny and not humid.
Thursday 4-9: For the 3 days we stayed in the timeshares, I was designated as breakfast cook, so we had breakfast burrito's before heading out. We were meeting Al and Cindy for an airboat ride. We had reservations at Sawgrass Recreational Park near Weston, Fl. It's part of the Everglades but it's more of grassland and water without trees. There are some bushes but mostly grass. Our Captain, Tim is a family member of the owners and our 1.5-hour private tour was wonderful. Captain Tim is very knowledgeable on the wildlife and he found plenty of it. We saw alligators, fish, turtle (in an alligator's mouth) and lots of birds. The trip was great, weather hot and sunny and plenty of sunscreen was needed. Alice and I rode back to the timeshare with Al and Cindy with a stop at Alligator Alley Harley Davidson shop to get poker chips for our nephew. It was a huge Harley store. Back at the timeshare we all sat around the pool and had drinks enjoying the sun. Near dark we went to the Dangerous Minds Brewery for food and craft beer. Alice and I had a steak and peach pizza with goat cheese on it. Who knew those flavors went so well together. Back at the resort we walked to the beach to hear the waves lapping the sandy shoreline in darkness. It was kind of eerie. Al and Cindy came back to the room and we talked and caught up on the last year and half.
Friday 4-9: I was up at 6:00 am so Alice and I could watch the sun rise on the Atlantic Ocean. It was beautiful and very peaceful. We weren't the only ones with that idea as the beach was busy with folks walking and jogging. At 9:00 am I cooked biscuits and gravy (from a can) then we sat around the pool lounging and playing tourist. Opened my first beer at 11:00. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!! Harold is not feeling well so he stayed in the room and after Ted and I got tired of pooling, we went to the room and played poker with Harold until the ladies came back. Next was the tiki bar which was around one of the other pools where Al and Cindy met us for more drinks. Then us 4 went over to the beach. Al and Cindy have beach chairs, an umbrella and a cooler with, yep you guessed it, more beer. The sun was hot, and I had to use SPF100 but Alice, well she was getting darker every day. Ted and Connie joined us later for bit then we all got ready for dinner. My cousin Kirk only lives 40 minutes north of Pompano Beach and I invited him to join us for supper. It was great talking and spending a couple hours with him after not seeing him for 10 years. Facebook posts just are not the same as being in person. We ate at the Luck Fish Grill and they had good food. Everywhere we ate so far was very good. Unfortunately, Kirk had to work 3rd shift so we said our goodbyes and went back to the room and talked with Al and Cindy until bedtime. We said our goodbyes to them as tomorrow we leave the timeshare for Key West and we won't see them again until August.
Saturday 4-10: The six of us loaded into Teds SUV and hit the road to Key West by 10:00 am after cooking all the leftover breakfast food I could scrounge. We didn't have room in the car for extra food or gear. In fact, Ted had a car top carrier to put some luggage in so we would have more room. Alice and I are the youngest and the shortest of the six of us, so we always get to sit in the far back seat. There's not a lot of leg room so we stopped often so we could stretch. We drove away from Pompano Beach, past Miami and into the Keys. Our first stop was on Key Largo where we found the Shipwreck bar and Grill with dollar draught PBR's and jalapeno popper appetizers. Holy shit were they hot and everyone was sweating and drinking and drinking and drinking and crying, all except Alice and Ted who don't eat them. We crammed back in the vehicle and drove farther south towards Cuba. The Keys are connected by bridges which gave us a good view of the ocean and gulf waters. The ocean is such a pretty blue to turquoise color that was so mesmerizing to us Midwest folks. Next, we saw the Florida Keys Brewing Company and I begged to stop. A nice spot with good cold beers and live acoustical music. We could have stayed there all day, but we had to keep moving. We next stopped 20 miles from our destination at a restaurant/bar called Boondocks. Ted and I got the groper special, the catch of the day. It was very good but $26.00? After food we arrived at our rental house on Stock Island around 6:00 pm. The house is in a gated community with a central pool located close to us. The 2-story house had one bedroom down and 2 up with each having its own bathroom and outside patio. The building was on concrete stilts we assumed because of hurricanes in that area. Harold and I played cornhole while the others drove over to the Key West Island, found a grocery store and stocked up on food. Later we all played card games and left, right, center until a midnight bedtime.
Sunday 4-11: A storm rolled through last night and we lost power. I had to use my cell phone light to get to the bathroom and pee. Strange house, in the dark, half asleep and really having to go, how exciting. In the morning after tea and playing cribbage with Harold, Alice, Harold and I took a walk. It was sunny and warm and no hint of the rain that came crashing down in the night. We walked through the Boyd's Key West Campground where campsites were $105.00 per night. Ouch! On the walk back I found a geocache adding Florida to my list of caches. It was an easy breakfast day with toasted bagels, cream cheese, bananas and granola bars. A block from the house was Jolly's Liquor store. We bought some vodka and found Crown Peach in there. It is hard to get in Ohio, but Key West had it. After a stop at the convenience store next door for tomato juice, we went to the pool with bloody marys for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon all of us went into downtown Key West, which was 2.5-3 miles from the house, and shopped, had lunch at Sloppy Joes, drinks at Hog Breath and Captain Tony's. Everyone got afternoon buzzes. The evening was spaghetti for supper, more card games (A game called Crown 5 was a big hit but it's hard to play if you're not thinking straight) and shots of Crown Peach. Alice and I sat on the patio after dark until rain chased us inside. Thunderstorms rumbled all night.
Monday 4-12: I slept in until 8:02. That's rare for me. Alice had heard about a great place for biscuits and gravy called The Breakfast Club, so we all loaded up and went to town early. By the time we drove 3 miles, the whole island was without electricity. We found out later that a sailboat hit a power line way up north on Marathon Island, knocking out power for every island south of it. No electric, no food. We wondered around town for a while when we came across Pepe's Cafe. The outdoor cafe had a generator and could serve food so after waiting awhile in line we got a chance for breakfast. We were almost finished eating when we heard a funny noise then started seeing smoke from the back wall. Suddenly, the generator died. Come to find out it caught fire and when the bartender pulled the fire alarm, it exploded in his face. A few minutes later in come cops then a firetruck pulls up and firemen start coming in ready for action. The fire was out by then and we got out of there, but it was a good exciting breakfast. The next stop was to the southern most point of the continental United States. The wind was really strong and big waves crashed on shore. Getting a picture was risky if you didn't want wet. After all that excitement we went back to the house to sit by the pool. It was a cloudy day but very warm. After pooling us 3 guys played poker with me winning $12.00 of Ted's money. Lounging around the house was relaxing until 6 when we had reservations for a Tiki Bar Boat Ride. It was a round vessel made to look like a tiki bar and it was BOYB and food. Sandwiches were made by the women and put in the refrigerator until time to leave. For the 2-hour sunset ride our operator was Captain Wendy. She was a stuffy person at first but after spending time with us she opened up. It was pretty cool drinking and riding on the boat. Time to eat...No Sandwiches. No one packed them and we had a good laugh at that. More games rounded out the evening as we ate already made sandwiches.
Tuesday 4-13: Alice and I cooked French toast for breakfast then everyone lazed around the pool until noon. Harold and Laurie wanted to relax at the house so Ted, Connie, Alice and I headed to town, We had lunch at Hanks Hair of the Dog Saloon then walked across the street to First Flight Brewery, the southern most brewery in the centennial United States. I have now seen both southern point of the U.S, in Florida and Hawaii and the same for breweries. Life is really good! Getting back to the house Harold and I played some more cornhole and I beat him really bad. He wouldn't play anymore the rest of the trip. Laurie cooked chicken breasts on the grill and we had salads with chicken strips. It was a nice light meal unlike the restaurant foods we had been having. More card games finished the day.
Wednesday 4-14: I was up before anyone else and grabbed a cup of tea then took a nice long walk. I found another geocache and the Hogfish Bar. Some of the houses and trailers I walked by was in the working mans part of town and at that hour folks were leaving for work and kids going to school. Getting back Alice and I cooked up the rest of the breakfast food then spent more time at the pool. It was the hottest day of the trip so far and that sun was very intense, especially on my fair skin. We went back into town and visited Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park. It has the southernmost Civil War fortress. We did a self-guided tour through the old fort and the view of the ocean was spectacular. It's only 92 miles to Cuba from Key West. There was another geocache in the park and I had trouble finding it. Connie found for me and I think she liked it. Back to town and we had an early supper at Schooners Seafood Restaurant. Chickens and roosters rule the islands. Cock fighting used to be big at one time and when it was outlawed, they just turned the roosters loose. Now they dominant the place. Eating at the outdoor place, Harold had a rooster sitting on a shelf directly behind him, but they are not meat chickens and are protected so we just ignored them. My Mahi fish was really good, and I can say I ate fish on vacation, twice. Ted was not feeling well so we headed back to the house. Since we leave tomorrow low bottles of alcohol were consumed to finish them off. Alice and I took another walk then more card games.
Thursday 4-15: Going home day. It's a 4-hour drive to the airport with Harold and Laurie leaving at 4:30 pm and Alice and I not until 7:22 pm. We left the rental around 10:00 am and after driving off the islands we stopped in Homestead, Fl at the Havana Spice Restaurant for some really good Cuban sandwiches. Ted got us to the airport and since American Airlines is first alphabetically, Alice and I were dropped off. We said our goodbyes and promised to see everyone on May 1st then headed inside. After checking a suitcase, we went through TSA and walked the long corridor to the very end of the airport. Since we had 5 hours to wait for lift off, we found a restaurant that served craft beer. I had two glasses of an amber ale and Alice just had water, but we relaxed while waiting. I paid the bill and it was $30.00 for two beers. Again ouch! We boarded the plane and flew to Columbus arriving a little before 10:00 pm. We grabbed the checked bag, shuttled to the car and headed for home. It sure was nice seeing the house and sleeping in our own bed.
Conclusion: It was a great trip with great friends and seeing friends and family. Key West we decided is like any other tourist destination, you eat, drink and shop. We didn't see any major movie stars or musicians, but lots of chickens and roosters. The Pompano Beach area was fun and more of the ocean vacation beach goers do. Now for our next adventure....
View All Pictures From Key West