Back to the Island

In his song, "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" Jimmy Buffett sings:

Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been
Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure
Makes me want to go back again

Of all the places I've been in my life, there is no place I want to go back to again more than Key West. I was first there with Brian for our honeymoon in 2008. I'm not actually sure how we picked Key West, but I do know that we had decided on it long before we were engaged, so when the time rolled around, planning the honeymoon was the easiest part! We were there for a week, and we absolutely loved it. As soon as we left, we were talking about going back someday. And I must be honest, part of the appeal in moving to Miami was that it was only 3 hours from Key West. We knew that it would afford us opportunities to return that we may not have had otherwise.

And it didn't take long for that opportunity to arise. We were back for only a short time in July 2010, the week after we moved to Miami. Brian's parents stayed to visit, and we ended up driving down for a day. And that one day confirmed that we were still in fact in love with Key West and wanted to return again. And a few months later, we were back, this time with my dad, his wife Ruth and her daughter Sadie for a week at the end of December.

I could go on and on about Key West. The food, the weather, the people, the atmosphere... there is so much to take in there. But I will just post some photo highlights so you can see for yourself.




This is the view from our condo. It was lovely to wake up to the sun and the sparkling ocean every day.





This is St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the oldest non-Catholic church in Florida.




The interior of St. Paul's. They had a program called "Music in Paradise," while we were there. The organist was playing and anyone could stop in and listen. We stayed for a little while, and the music was very pretty.




This is the van for Kermit's Key Lime Shop. They sell just about anything you can imagine that is key lime flavored. The best items are the frozen key lime pie, dipped in chocolate and served on a stick. They have traditional key lime and also a strawberry key lime dipped in white chocolate, which is my favorite.




The Key West Cemetery is very unique. The graves are all above the ground as the water table is high and hurricanes have a tendency to unearth coffins. And the monuments are very elaborate and ornate.




I took this shot on the beach. I just liked the colors.




This was the sunset out first night there. It was gorgeous.





The sunset again.




One day, we rented these scooters and rode all over the island. It was a little scary at first, but ended up being a lot of fun!




We visited the Butterfly Garden. It was very pretty inside, but I spent most of the time making sure nothing landed on me. Brian took these pictures.





Some of the butterflies eating.




The cocoon hatchery.




The Key West Lighthouse.




Every night at Mallory Square there is a sunset festival. There are food vendors, street performers, and lots of people. This dog went around and collected tips while his owner played guitar and sang. It was adorable.





This guy at the sunset festival was impressive. He balanced the torch on his nose and flipped it up to his forehead.




Rick and Rocket, they flying Basset Hound. Rick did some juggling tricks, and Rocket jumped through some (very low!) hoops. They were fun.




The Key West Museum of Art and Culture, located inside the old customs house.




The first exhibit at the museum consists of life sized sculptures for you to pose with. This is me with the first sculpture.




And Brian. As you can see, we had fun with it.





Brian got this shot (and got soaked in the process) on the Higgs Beach Pier.




This pelican landed right on the corner of the pier.




This is J, the leader of the Ghost Tour we took. As you can see, he is pretty into it and it's a lot of fun.




The C.G.C. Ingham, which we toured.





A shot of the Ingham belowdecks.




The Mohawk, which was closed the day we visited.




Some of the famous Key West chickens.




Harry Truman's Little White House. He liked to visit Key West and conducted some official business here.




Ft. Zachary Taylor.




The canons at Ft. Taylor.




The view of the Atlantic from Ft. Taylor.





The fort.




The beach at Ft. Taylor is so pretty, and the water is crystal clear and bright blue.