Key West Rendezvous

We intended to hit the reefs one last time on Saturday but despite bright blue skies Mother Nature was kicking up 4 - 6 footers off shore which makes snorkeling difficult with the little ones.  Plan B was a road trip to Key West.  My wife's parents joined us on this little adventure. 

We left Key Largo early in order to make the breakfast seating at My Blue Heaven (http://www.blueheavenkw.com/).  This is one of my wife's favorite restaurants and it was immortalized by Jimmy Buffett in the song "Blue Heaven Rendezvous".   This place is like eating in your crazy uncles backyard.  You're outside eating on dirt floors while the bar and stage are built out of what ever hasn't managed to collapse from the last hurricane. Did I mention the flock of roosters, six toed cats and comotose dogs?  My kind of place! I especially liked the ping pong table and outdoor shower that charges "Showers $1.00, To Watch $2.00".  Unfortunately despite a packed house it seemed that everyone had already taken their daily bath so I put away my lucky $2 bill away for another time.

This dog was so friendly.  My daughter loved getting licked in the ear (yuck!).  After a while we had a conversation that went something like this. 

Daughter: "Daddy can we get a doggy?"

Father: "No baby."

Daughter: "But why Daddy?"

Father: "Because."
Daughter: "Because why Daddy?"
Father: "Because doggy's poo everywhere."
Daughter: "Ok Daddy."
Daughter: "Daddy?"

Father: "Yes baby?"

Daughter"Can we get a doggy?"

Father: "Ughh."

After a 1 1/2 hour wait (well spent sipping margaritas and pina coladas) we finally got a table and ordered the lobster benedict.  Simply amazing.

For the kids we suggest ordering the pancakes. Mmmmmm.

After breakfast (now actually lunch by the time we finished eating) it was off for some culture.  We left the parents at Sloppy Joe's and headed off to the John Audubon Museum.  As previously mentioned in an earlier post John Audubon travelled through the Florida Keys in 1832 and spent some time in Key West.  This Museum is located in a three story old key west style house (duh) (http://www.audubonhouse.com/) built by Captain John H. Geiger (Audubon was his friend).  The Museum houses 28 first edition prints.  The kids were fascinated with the furniture and the toilet (ceramic bowl inside a piece of wooden furniture).  I think they now have a greater appreciation for indoor plumbing.  The wife was in love with the house and all the wood trim.  I was surprised how many plants and trees growing in the garden were also in our garden or front landscaping. 

After the Museum we wandered around Duval and Mallory Square.  Late in the afternoon the girls and grandparents took a 1 1/2 hours Conch Tour train ride while the wife and I slipped into The Hogs Breath Saloon.  We sat under the fans and I had my first rum runner of the day.  This was the Key West I always remember as a younger man. 

We left Key West hot and exhausted.  The next stop was dinner at the "No Name Pub" (http://www.nonamepub.com/) in Big Pine Key.  Good luck trying to find this place if you don't have a GPS.  Given the fact that it was late in the day we were able to see several of several of the endangered Key Deer.  

 

We made it to the Pub despite the grandparents desperate pleas of "Where are we? Where are we going? Are we lost?"  It was comical.  This place is a little locals only type pub famous for three things.  Pizza, the floor to ceiling wallpapering with dollar bills and the inability to find this place.  My girls were just itching to rip off a couple handfuls of bills.  What a mission to keep them in line.  We finished up dinner and made the 1 hour drive back home (home for one more day only).  I could tell it was a long day for everyone by the chorus of snores.