Vacation Pictures

Before Key West becomes too much of a faded memory, I better get my pictures posted. I have spent more time this week wearing my teacher, wife, and mom hats - so much so that my stitching/quilting hat has been MIA. I plan to correct that this weekend.

Our week in Florida was a return trip to Key West. Our first visit was ten years ago just after I retired. That trip was in June, though, and there is a big difference in both the temperatures and the tourists from what we just experienced in March. This time our weather was warm, not stifling, and most days were partly sunny. The crowds were more evident, too, due largely to being traditional spring break time."High season," I believe it's called.

Much of what I enjoyed the most throughout our week at Key West was walking everywhere. We logged a lot of miles, which was wonderful. The neighborhoods are so pretty, and some of the houses are breathtakingly beautiful. Above are three that caught my eye, and this barely scratches the surface. That pink house was on Simonton Street, just a block or two from our hotel, and it is in the back of a house - more like where a garage would be. It was so cute and quaint, tucked back in there; I am sure I would never have even seen it had I been in a car, but from the sidewalk it was a sweet little surprising pop of color tucked back off the street.

One day we bought tickets for an island trolley tour which included a tour of this rum distillery - Papa's Pilar Rum. Papa is Ernest Hemingway's nickname, and Pilar was his nickname for one of his wives. The Hemingway family is on board with this commercialized use of his name, and donate their portion of the profits to preserving ocean quality. The tour ended with a tasting, which was surprisingly good. We sampled a light rum (less aging time) and a dark rum (more aging time), then the two were mixed together for an altogether different taste. The factory was small, but the guide was super-knowledgeable and funny and interesting. It was a great little bonus tour we would never have thought to do on our own. Here's their Facebook page.

Above is a view of the Atlantic from some part of the southerly shore. This type of cloudiness was more the norm of the week, but we did get some hot, sunny afternoons. Honestly, we still felt the sun even through the clouds and kept ourselves protected with sunblock. We set off each morning around 8 to get some exercise, trying to take a different route each time thus seeing as much as possible.

The imposing building above is the Customs House, now a museum operated by the local historical society. Friends who live on KW gave us guest tickets, and we are so glad we used them. This was a fascinating tour through all manner of history related to the island. An extensive section is devoted to Henry Flagler, the business magnate who funded the first railway to Key West at the turn of the 20th century. Another section that totally captured my attention was the Guy Harvey drawings of Hemingway's book The Old Man and the Sea. You would think that as an English teacher for 30+ years, I would have read that book, but I never have, thinking I wouldn't really care much for it. Well, this exhibit has totally piqued my interest, so much so that I took more than a couple dozen pictures in this section of the museum alone. I also bought a copy of Old Man in the gift shop.

The ginormous tree above is a Kapok Tree, and the photo does nothing to impress upon you the enormity of this tree and its root system. By clicking on this link, perhaps you can get a feel for its size.

Most of our walks included seeing incredibly beautiful flowers, like these orchids growing right out of the side of a palm tree. A-ma-zing. The climate is so perfect for growing the showy tropical flowers; a real treat for we Ohioans.

The four photos above all represent a portion of our gastronomic adventures on the island. Margaritas for sure. We had restaurant variety - Island Dog, Two Friends, Sarabeth's, Jimmy Buffet's Margartaville, Blue Macaw - to name a few.

We did carve out some time to lounge poolside at our hotel. Even on busy Simonton Street, this space was peaceful. We had friendly neighbors throughout our weeklong stay, and especially enjoyed some folks from Michigan, New Jersey, and Australia.

The two of us, totally chilled out after our week away. No makeup and no 'fixy' hair for me! We were heading north to catch our flight back home.

Hope you felt the island vibes in this little look back at our Key West vacation!
Happy Quilting, Friends!