The anticipation of returning to Key West (even though this was going to make it our 15th time within 11 years – yes you can say we love Key West) was starting to set in. Normally we would have never picked Easter week, but good friends of ours were planning on going so I booked our trip for the same time. However, plans changed and disappointingly our friends couldn’t go, but I had already booked the airfare so we were committed to go. I was concerned that Easter week would be busy in Key West, but it turned out that many Florida residents do come down for the long Easter weekend, but leave on Sunday so besides being busy that Saturday – the day we arrived, it was just like any other week in Key West.

Our hotel of choice has always been the Gardens Hotel on Angela St. so once again we had our favorite garden view room booked for the week. As an added bonus, I designed their logo last year and was eager to see the logo throughout the hotel when we arrived. https://tinyurl.com/mon7x5e

And as an added side note, I started doing design work almost 2 years ago, for a local musician in Key West. My husband and I thought it would be fun to surprise him.

Saturday, April 25th – Arrival Day

Our flight to Orlando was at 6:00am so we had to get up at 2:30am (ouch!) since the car service was scheduled to pick us up at 3:15am. It was hard to get up that early, but the excitement started to set it I was able to get going. When we arrived at Newark Liberty Airport check-in through security was a breeze. That’s one benefit of being so early – not many people are at the airport yet. Unfortunately it was 4:30am and all we wanted was a hot cup of coffee. Everywhere we looked didn’t open up until 5:00am, so we just walked to the gate and waited until we had to board trying to make the best of it.

Our flight left on time and we actually arrived about 15 minutes early which always seems to happen when we have a long layover. Once we got off the plane we saw a sign that said that Silver Airways was at Gate 13. We were not sure how to get there, but my husband asked one of the airport security and they told us we had to take a shuttle/tram to the next terminal which actually turned into two shuttles that we had to take to get to Terminal A. It was a scenic ride nevertheless.

We got to the Terminal and found a place where we could sit down and have breakfast. About an hour had passed and we walked down to the Gate where our Silver Airways flight was. We checked in and just waited for our flight. It was about another hour to go, but it felt like an eternity.

Eventually it was time to check-in and board the flight. Our flight actually left a few minutes early. There were no issues and before we knew it we were back in Key West by 1:00pm.

We were one of the first people off the plane and grabbed one of the few taxis waiting outside. It is always a great feeling seeing that water off of Higgs Beach on our way to the hotel. Once again we were staying at the Gardens Hotel. We have never stayed anywhere because we love the place so much.

We were welcomed by Jim the hotel manager and he offered us two glasses of prosecco while we quickly signed the paper work. I also noticed the new logo that I did even made it to the champagne glasses and towels.Our room was ready so we were able to unpack our things before making our way down Duval Street. When we entered our room we notice a card welcoming us pack. It read to check the fridge and so we did. It was such a nice gesture that they did.

Our first stop is usually Willie T’s to have a margarita. A local Key West musician, Dallas Doctor was playing. We walked in and it was packed. We couldn’t find one seat available. Standing room only.We decided to walk down further on Duval onto Caroline Street and grab a few key lime margaritas for our first stop at Kelly’s.It was a great call because the place was quiet. We sat down and just took it all in. We were back to one of our favorite places – Key West!

After our margaritas we remembered that one of our friends, Gabriel Wright (who I also did some design work for) was playing at Captain Tony’s. We walked down and sat down at the bar. He recognized us and enjoyed listening to him play.

I kept checking the time because we wanted to see Zack Seemiller play at Rick’s. I have been doing artwork for him for a while now (as I mentioned earlier) and he had no idea that we were coming down. So after a few beers at Captain Tony’s we made our way to Rick’s. Once Zack finished a song we walked in and I think it took him a second to realize it was us! We had pulled off the surprise!! Of course I had to get a few photos with him and the banner that I designed after he finished his set. He told us that he was playing also at the Smokin’ Tuna later that evening so we were excited to see him there. The Smokin’ Tuna is one of our favorite places to sit and listen to music in Key West.

We walked back to the Gardens to freshen up before heading back to the Tuna. We made it back down Duval and to the Tuna. https://tinyurl.com/myqo2kwIt wasn’t too crowded and we sat down at our favorite seats. It was a nice way to ease into the trip listening to Zack play.

We couldn’t stay for the entire show because we had dinner reservations at Deuce’s Off the Hook which is conveniently located just behind the Gardens. We said good bye to Zack and walked back. We were both quiet hungry at this point so it was a good call.

We were seated in a booth and I ordered grouper ceviche and the snapper with a side of cheesy grits and haricot vert. My husband had the tuna tartare and the french onion burger. Our meals were delicious. At that point we were feeling the affects of the 2:30am wake up and the long travel day. We wanted to try and catch Caffeine Carl at the Tuna but we just couldn’t do it. It was time to get to bed.

Sunday April 16th – Easter

This was the first time we were away from home during Easter and heard that several restaurants in Key West are know for brunch on Easter. I heard that Louie’s Backyard was one of them, so i made reservations several weeks in advance. We haven’t been to Louie’s Backyard since our very first trip to Key West back in 2006.

Our reservations were not until 11:30, but we figured we would walk down towards that side of the island and check it out since we usually don’t go that way. Before we started our long walk, my husband remembered that a friend of his who recently stayed in Key West recommended this place near the Garden’s called Cuban Coffee Queen. http://www.cubancoffeequeen.com/ It was only about a block away just off Duval. We had to wait a few minutes for it, but boy it was worth the wait. The coffee was delicious – I personally recommend the cuban american.

With our coffee in hand, we walked all the way down to the Southernmost Point. I thought about getting another photo, but then i saw the line of about 50 people waiting to get their photo taken at the point so I decided that we’ve been there done that.

It was getting warm out and we were getting thirsty. We agreed that a cold drink was in order, so we went to Southernmost Beach Cafe. We noticed that the water was quite rough too. It was a nice to look at the view from our seats.

We then decided just to walk to Louie’s Backyard just to be sure we knew where it was. We walked by, but it wasn’t open yet. We then stumbled upon this little hole in the wall… the Patio Bar. You had to open the fence and walk through the back. We weren’t sure what to expect, but when we turned the corner it was a really neat little place.

We had a drink a piece before it was time to walk back to Louie’s Backyard. We walked to the entrance and saw a line of people. I guess everyone had the same idea to have brunch at Louie’s Backyard for Easter. Luckily it moved pretty quickly and we were seated at a nice table outside on the porch.

It was perfect. We started off with a rock shrimp and mango appetizer served with chicharrones. For our main course, I decided to go with the eggs benedict while my husband had the Asian chicken salad with green tea soba noodles and a spicy peanut sauce – which was huge. Everything was delicious and the service was spot on. It was a nice way to spend Easter in Key West.

We made the walk back to the Gardens to freshen up. Then we remembered that Gabriel Wright was playing at Hogs Breath. We regrouped and made our way back down Duval. (Yes we did a lot of walking during this trip – especially this day – over 8 miles.) We stopped at Hogs Breath for a while.

I knew it was also Jazz at the Gardens later that evening and we wanted to stop by again before making our way to Mallory Square to catch the sunset. When we walked in, they were in the process of setting up, but we were able to find two seats by the pool. It was a beautiful evening to listen to the music for a bit.

We only stayed for about an hour so we could make sunset – or at least that is what we had planned. We walked back down Duval and when we walked by Willie T’s we noticed that this musician John LaMere was playing. We saw him last year and thought it would be fun to stop in and we hadn’t been to Willie T’s yet. While I was waiting for my husband to get us two drinks, I recognized Zack Seemiller’s son, Kai. We talked for a few minutes and he was getting ready to play a few songs with John. I wanted to stay and hear them play so we sat down.

While they were playing Zack wound up showing up. So then he wound up playing a few songs with his son. Needless to say we didn’t make sunset. It was fun though just to watch them play. Then we hung out for a bit before calling it a night. It was definitely a different way for us to spend Easter. https://youtu.be/HQ3QWUqnZRo

Eventually it was time for us to make our way back for the evening, but then we both realized we never had any dinner! Thankfully Margaritaville was still open so we stopped in to grab some much needed food. At this point I can’t recollect what we actually ate, but I think we shared several appetizers a piece. After that we were both ready to pack it in.

Monday April 17th – Truman Annex and the Rooftop Café

Usually the first morning in Key West for breakfast we go to Blue Heaven, but since we had the brunch at Louie’s the day before for Easter, that was put on hold. Unfortunately we woke up to rain. We first made a stop again at Cuban Coffee Queen for coffee. The rain appeared to be stopping so we walked down to Blue Heaven. When we walked in all the tables were still wet and they were not ready to serve outside yet. They said there was seating available inside. I was a bit disappointed but we figured we would come back another day and try somewhere else for breakfast.

We walked along Whitehead Street when we both agreed to go back to Bagatelle’s. https://bagatellekw.com We always have had a decent breakfast there. Once we were seated I decided to go with the eggs benedict with smoked salmon. It definitely hit the spot. And the mimosa was a nice accompaniment.

After breakfast I remembered that I inquired about a potential place to stay for our return trip (whenever that may be). We do love the Gardens, but it is getting to be a bit pricey. I found this great 2 bedroom condo in the Truman Annex area. I got in touch with the property owner prior to our trip and agreed to meet him at 11:00am. We walked into Truman Annex and it was just so beautiful and quiet. Plus the sun had come back out.

We walked around the front and there was the owner. He greeted us with a friendly smile and showed us around. We both looked at each other and agreed we could definitely stay here at some point down the road. We especially liked how it was only a quarter of a mile off of Duval.

Once we were finished looking around we thanked the owner.

We went back to the Gardens to relax for a bit. Once we got our composure together we grabbed our things and you guessed it, made that walk back town Duval. When we walked by Rick’s we saw Miguel. We always seem to run into him at Rick’s when we go and he’s always an entertaining guy. We grabbed two seats that are just right outside the bar. We talked for a bit and just watched the people go by.  

It was getting to be that time to start to motivate to our next stop. Gabriel Wright was playing again at Captain Tony’s so that was our next order of business. https://youtu.be/svsPmg3WeN0 We walked in and sat down for a bit. It rained on and off all day, but we didn’t mind staying indoors for the rest of the day. Then we recognized one of Key West’s most famous icons. Buddy! He is such a friendly dog and it was nice to see him.

Then our next stop was to check out Zack at Hog’s Breath. So after a few beverages we were on our way again. It was kind of crowded but managed to find a few seats to listen to him play. It was a nice afternoon. After he was done with his show I made sure I got a photo.

We were getting hungry and figured we should go back to the Gardens to freshen up and pick somewhere for dinner. I always enjoyed dinner at the Rooftop Café so we made the long walk back. http://www.rooftopcafekeywest.com It wasn’t too crowded so we were able to be seated right away. I ordered the pork belly appetizer and then the grilled mahi mahi with a mango salsa. It was delicious. My husband enjoyed the flame grilled 8 oz. filet that he ordered.

We have never had a bad meal there and this was another time it didn’t disappoint. After we finished our meals it was time for us to head back “home” to the Gardens.

Tuesday April 18th – Overcast and Rainy Day

We woke up to another rainy morning. I was disheartened because I wanted to go to Blue Heaven, but knowing what happened the day before, we would have to eat inside. We grabbed a couple of umbrellas from the Gardens and just started walking.

It was one of those mornings that we just felt like walking, probably since we had the late dinner at the Rooftop Café. Again our first stop was Cuban Coffee Queen. This time there wasn’t much of a wait. We got our two Cuban Americans and began the trek down Simonton St. As we were walking I thought about Harpoon Harry’s. http://www.harpoonharryskeywest.com As we started walking further away from the Garden’s the rain just got worse. Thank goodness we had our umbrellas, but when it rains that heavy, the water has nowhere to go. We were dodging puddles left and right. It was quite the adventure just to get to breakfast.

We finally made it to Harpoon Harry’s where we could sit down for breakfast and dry off. Once we ordered we did have to wait for a bit. Luckily we had our coffee to pass by the time. We did eventually get our order and it was a tasty breakfast. I always order the grits there because they taste so good. It was still raining once we were done so it wasn’t really the time to walk around. Ultimately we did walk all the way back in the rain to the Gardens – again we were soaked. We were supposed to meet up with Zack at this place called Don’s but the rain wasn’t letting up. We got in touch with him and told him we would have to take a rain check.

Once the rain subsided we both decided to go back out and walk around. We really hadn’t been to the Bight yet so we found our way back to the Half Shell Raw Bar. Usually when we go there it is before lunch so it is generally quite. However, by the time we got there it was close to 1:00pm and it was filled with people. Obviously with the weather it makes everyone want to find somewhere indoors to grab something to eat and drink like us.Luckily two people were leaving and we found two seats at the bar. It was a little tough to start drinking a beer but we got through it.

The skies started to get brighter and we both wanted to go somewhere with a view of the water. My husband suggested the Sunset Tiki Bar at the Galleon Resort. http://www.sunsettikibar.com It is kind of off the beaten path and the views of the water are always great there. We walked along the Bight and walked into the Tiki Bar. There were a few people there but it wasn’t too bad. It was nice and quiet while we enjoyed a few beverages.

Then I realized that it was Tuesday and our friend Al (who works at the Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key Resort) should be working. We thanked the bartender at the Tiki Bar and we were on our way again. The weather was becoming overcast again but once we got to Sunset Pier we saw a couple of guys playing. The one guy was Tony Baltimore but unfortunately I don’t remember who the other guy was. They sounded very good as we had another beverage. We then noticed that we didn’t see Al, and were told that he switched with another bartender. I guess we would just have to come back another day.

It was getting to be about that time to catch Zack playing at Willie T’s. We were on our way before we saw El Meson De Pepe which have really good mojitos. They are bit pricey but taste darn good. We only had one a piece before walking towards Willie T’s.We walked in and it was a nice surprise to see both Zack and his son playing together. We sat down and enjoyed them play until their show was done. https://youtu.be/elVijgUP3tkWe then made our way back to the Gardens to get some energy back and freshen up. Both our stomachs were quite hungry and realized that we hadn’t been to the Tuna since our first night. We walked in and a young musician by the name of Mick Fury was playing. He is originally from Syracuse, NY and then moved down to Nashville, TN. He had a great voice and we listened to him for a bit.

We didn’t feel like moving so we ordered a few appetizers to share. Once he was done we talked to him for a bit. I was then starting to feel the day and it was time to go back to the Gardens. Plus we had a fishing charter with our good friend Billy Rentz of Six Pack Charters the next day, so we didn’t want to stay out too late. http://tinyurl.com/n5hfnxc

Wednesday April 19th – Fishing with Billy We woke up to a beautiful morning. Since we were meeting Billy at 9:00am we had our breakfast at the Gardens. The Gardens does offer a nice variety for breakfast besides the standard continental fare. They had several chafing dishes filled with several hotoptions. The one option we both went with, was the egg casserole. The Gardens also offers a Keurig espresso machine. It is a nice alternative to have vs. the regular coffee. After breakfast we met Billy outside where he took us to the marina.  We have been going out with Billy for years now and it was great to see him again. He did mention to us that it was pretty windy but he would to take us to a spot to fish that was on the Leeward side of the island. Another plus was that Billy just recently got a new boat. It was a little smaller then the previous one, but it had full seats, a great sound system and a bathroom which was a huge plus for me. Soon we were on our way and then I realized we never took any Dramamine which we usually do. Thankfully we never did get seasick. The first spot we anchored at it was pretty wavy. There was this perfect seat however where I could fish and sit all at the same time. It made it a lot easier for me. We started catching fish after fish right away, but they were too small to keep. Still it wound up being a lot of fun. About an hour or so had passed and Billy wanted to try another spot to fish closer to our eventual destination, the sand bar. Once we got to the next spot my husband still fished for a while. I was just happy to relax on the back of the boat in the sun.Again my husband did catch a bunch of fish, but too small to keep. We then went over to the sand bar where we just relaxed for a bit. We talked to Billy and just caught up with what we have both been doing since the last time we saw him. It wound up being a nice day to be out on the water and have a change of scenery.After a full day out on the water it was time to go back. We made our way to the marina and then Billy dropped us off back at the Gardens. We thanked him for the day and we made tentative plans to see him again later in the week.

Since we were out on the water all day it was time to freshen up. Once we were ready to go back out we realized that we both got pretty sunburned. It wasn’t too bad but I knew we wouldn’t be relaxing out in the sun the following day. It turned out that Zack was still playing at Willie T’s and so we stopped in to check out the end of his set before we made our second attempt to see the sunset at Mallory Square. We stayed until the end then and told him we were on our way to see the sunset. However, before we did we wanted to back to Martin’s for their happy hour special. https://www.martinskeywest.comIt is a great deal where you have a variety of items to choose from off their tapas menu. I thought that the happy hour was from 4-7pm, but when we got there it was packed. We asked the gentlemen at the front if there were any tables available. He said to wait a few minutes and he could see what he could do. Only a few minutes passed and he found a table available for us.

We were seated outside in the back. It was a really nice setting. Once we got the menus the server told us that happy hour was about over. We literally made it by one minute! The happy hour only went until 6 not 7. We ordered their calamari ceviche martini, escargot, lamb chops, tuna tataki, grilled lamp chops and the pork tenderloin & bermuda onion skewer. Everything came out in a timely fashion and each one was as good as the next. Once we were done with our early dinner we were determined to make to sunset. We walked along Duval and onto Greene St. As we were passing Captain Tony’s we saw that Gabriel Wright was playing. I also noticed a gentlemen sitting at the bar with a familiar hat. It was Ralph DePalma. He is a very well known photographer down in Key West which so happens also photographs Zack and I had been doing some work for him as well. So we made the turn into the bar where I met Ralph. He was very nice and had some crazy stories to share with us. We asked Gabriel when he was playing next and it wasn’t until Saturday, the day we were leaving so we grabbed to seats at the bar since it was the last time we would see him play. We weren’t making the sunset again.

As we were listening to Gabriel play I noticed a familiar face outside on his bike. It was Zack. He came in and joined us for a while. We talked for a bit and then another artist came on to play. It wasn’t too late, but we were getting tired. When you are out on the water all day it definitely drains your energy.Zack mentioned to us that Caffeine Carl may be playing at the Lazy Gecko and we hadn’t seen him yet. We said our goodbyes and we walked down towards the Gecko. When we walked by it wasn’t Carl. Just as well because the best thing for us was to go back to the Gardens.

We walked back and got a couple glasses of wine at the Garden’s wine bar. It probably wasn’t the best idea, because once we sat on our porch we couldn’t even finish the wine. It was a long day and it was time to go to bed.

Thursday – April 20th – Cafe Solé and finally made it to Mallory Square We slept in a bit since we were going to attempt to see Caffeine Carl play at the Smokin’ Tuna later that evening. This was our last night without consequence as my husband always says. It’s basically our last night we can stay out late and not have to get up early.

It was a sunny morning and we could finally go to Blue Heaven! It was just past 9:00am and knew if we went to Blue Heaven we may have an issue since it was late. We figured that we would chance it, but the first stop was much needed coffee at Cuban Coffee Queen. We walked down to Blue Heaven and just like we suspected, it was crowded. We walked up to the hostess and she said it would be about a 20 minute wait to sit outside. We had our coffee already so it wasn’t really a big issue for us. We got a couple seats at the bar and my husband ordered a Bloody Mary. I tried it but I just can’t drink them. I wish I could because they look so good.

Instead of 20 minutes it wound up being over 30 minutes. We were seated at a table where the server read all of the benedict specials. They sounded delicious but, I had eggs benedict for several days now, so I just felt like two eggs with grits and bacon. My husband ordered the same thing but with sausage and potatoes.

The breakfast was good as usual and it is always entertaining to watch the roosters and chickens run around. After breakfast we went back to the Gardens to relax on our porch/balcony for a while.
I was starting to get antsy and we got ready to go back out. We hadn’t been to Irish Kevin’s so that was our next stop. We were literally the only ones in there, which was fine since we were able to make a few song requests. Irish Kevin’s is a great place to go too if it is hot out since they always have the AC blasting, but after one beer I needed to get back outside. I was freezing.
We walked all the way out to Sunset Pier to see if Al was working. As we walked in, we saw a familiar face. It was Al and he recognized us right away. We found a couple of seats along the water. Al was pretty busy but he made a point to come over to talk to us for a bit. We caught up on things and it was great to see him.We said our goodbyes and then walked around for a bit. We wound up walking back to Sunset Tiki bar the Galleon. It was a beautiful day.

(On a side note, my husband wears a FitBit while we walk around Key West. On average we would walk between 7 to 8 miles a day. You don’t realize it.)

We had a couple of drinks and then stopped back at Willie T’s to catch Zack play. We couldn’t stay for too long, since i made dinner reservations at Café Solé at 5:30pm. We were able to stay for a little bit before we had to leave.  We told him that we had dinner and that maybe we would run into him later. We made it back to the Gardens to freshen up once again. The Gardens is such a beautiful place to stay but we are barely there. I probably would have hung out more by the pool if I didn’t get so sunburn the other day on the boat.

We made our way towards Café Solé, which isn’t too far from the Gardens. We used to get lost trying to find it but basically you walk down Simonton Street which is right behind the Gardens and make a right onto Southard St. and it’s straight down the road. We walked in and were seated at a very nice table. I love the location and setting of the restaurant since it is off the beaten path and generally very quiet. My husband ordered the beef carpaccio while I had the angels on horseback (which are dates wrapped in bacon stuffed with garlic). Both appetizers were very good. Then we both ordered the hogfish snapper for dinner which the restaurant is known for. It was delicious. http://tinyurl.com/ludwg96

My husband and I were quite full after dinner and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to walk around and make our way towards Mallory Square.

The skies started to get more overcast unfortunately but it just felt good to walk.
We walked on over to check out the new Margaritaville Hotel which is the former Westin. Everything looked the same besides the new branding of the signs. We wanted to see if Mojito Jimmy was working still at his cart. On our way we ran into Zack and Kai. At this point I started not feeling too well. I don’t know if was from the richness of the dinner or drinking but I needed to sit. They suggested that I should try coconut water which is served in an actual coconut. I was determined to feel better so I gave it ago. Let’s just say I wasn’t a fan. It really didn’t taste like much but it was lukewarm which just made it not very appealing. I eventually got most of it down.

We found a spot to sit down for a while to hang out and watch the acrobats perform at Mallory Square. It wound up being too cloudy for sunset but it was a fun evening nevertheless. We said our goodbyes and started walking back towards the Gardens.
 I was actually started to feel better so we walked to the Tuna wait for Caffeine Carl. I guess the coconut water actually worked! We grabbed two seats at the bar enjoyed Mick Fury play before Caffeine Carl came on. Once his set was over, he came by and we talked to him for a bit. He was a really nice guy. I was feeling revived in a way and we wound up staying out the latest we had all during our vacation. I think we made it to about midnight before we called it a night.

Friday – April 21st – Our Last Full Day
Was it really our last full day already? I thought staying a full week would feel like eternity, but the trip just flew by.

After being up the previous night pretty late (for us) we slept in for a bit. The weather was overcast again. We freshened up before we walked to Cuban Coffee Queen for coffee. Since we were feeling a bit sluggish, we wound going to Sarabeth’s for breakfast since it is so close to the hotel. http://sarabethskeywest.comWe walked down the Simonton St. and were seated outside at a nice corner table. The rain held off while we enjoyed a much needed breakfast. I had the cheddar omelet while my husband ordered the green and white omelet which is basically scallions and cream cheese. When we were done with breakfast we went back to the Gardens to relax for a bit. This gave us the opportunity to set up our pickup to the airport through the front desk before we went back to the room. We asked to be picked up by 6:00am since our flight was at 7:10am. I would have probably made it a little earlier, but I was able to print out our boarding passes from the hotel so we could go straight to the security line and not the ticket counter.

I also used the opportunity to pack most of our things so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later on. The sense of the trip nearing the end just sat with me for the rest of the day. I tried to make the best of it and realized how lucky we are for being able to return to Key West each and every year, sometimes twice a year. We relaxed for a bit and eventually made our way back towards the Bight. My husband suggest going to Dante’s for a drink since we had not been there yet. It wound up not being a very good suggestion. We sat down and noticed loud music playing. I looked around and noticed a lot of bachelorette parties. As we tried to get our drinks down a DJ came on and mentioned that it was the Dante’s Poolside Party. I was starting to get flashbacks of spring break in Panama City Beach, FL many years ago. We definitely felt out of place. We didn’t even finish our drinks before leaving. It wasn’t bad, but just not what we were in the mood for.

We walked back down towards the Galleon since we needed a quiet place to hang out. We found two seats where we just enjoyed conversation with the bartender and the view for a bit. Since we wanted to see Zack and Caffeine Carl play later on back at the Smokin’ Tuna, we didn’t want to stay out for too long, so we walked back down Duval to the Garden’s. Before we got back, we stopped in at Rick’s to catch the last few songs of Zack’s show. After the show was over, we did mention to him how I would love a picture of my husband and I with him and Caffeine Carl. He said that it shouldn’t be a problem when we went to the Tuna later. We made it back to the Gardens to regroup one last time.

We planned on going to the Tuna a bit earlier to catch Mick Fury, the musician we saw at the Tuna the night before from Nashville. Before we camped out (if you will) at the Tuna, we walked back to Kelly’s for one last key lime margarita. It was nice and refreshing.We were getting a bit antsy making sure we would get our favorite seats at the bar, so we made our way back to the Tuna. It wasn’t crowded at all so we had no problem finding our seats. We also order some dinner while we were listening to Mick Fury.

I ordered the jalapeno poppers and fried snapper sandwich. It wasn’t the healthiest thing I have ever eaten, but I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel to stay up for a while that evening and not feel terrible the next morning.

Zack came by earlier so we could catch the Yankees vs. Pittsburgh baseball game, however they didn’t have the broadcast on the tv, but it was just as well because it gave us an opportunity to just hang out for a bit.

Soon it was time for him to get set up for the show and my husband reminded me about the photo. We walked up and asked if it was okay for a photo and it wasn’t a problem at all. So we finally got the photo I wanted! I was so happy!

Once the band came on we just sat back and had a great time. https://youtu.be/4-80CjqrwfQ Mick Fury also wound up hanging out with us for a while too. It was a great night and the sense of leaving the next day started to hit me. I did keep it together without getting upset. It was so much fun but I knew we had to get back to reality.

When the band had a break, Zack came over and we were able to talk for a few minutes. Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and thought until next year (fingers crossed). We made it back just before midnight. I was quite relieved that I had packed all of our things ahead of time.

Saturday – April 22nd – Going Home
The 5:00am alarm came quickly and we freshened up before the flight back home. The one thing that we were able to do, is book a direct flight that United started offering during the high season. This made it a lot easier for us leaving knowing that we would be back home before noon.

Once we had everything ready to go I wasn’t sure what to do with our keys. We normally leave them in the drop off basket outside the main house, however sometimes they would call me later on looking for them. So I decided to leave them in the room.

We walked out to the front and realized it was a very bad decision. There is a gate that is locked to get out of the Gardens and you need a key to get out. During the day it is open. The sense of panic started to set in. We were not going to be able to get out!

Thankfully my husband thought quickly and hoped over the railing on the porch. I then handed him our luggage and I was able get over the railing as well. We were so relieved but then we hit another obstacle. We had the front main gate to tackle next! Fortunately my husband remembered the combination and we were finally outside of the hotel. A huge sense of relief overwhelmed us. Within minutes there was the taxi ready to take us to the airport.

We got to the airport and went straight to the security line. We had to wait a few minutes, but we had plenty of time before we boarded. When we got to the gate we noticed that the rain was coming down heavy. Even the airport personnel told everyone that umbrellas were available to use when we had to walk to the plane.

They called our flight number and we walked out onto the runway. It was pouring so hard it was hard to find our plane. There were around 4 planes that were boarding the same time and they all looked the same. Finally we saw one of the air traffic controllers and they were calling out United. Our plane was one of the furthest one away to get to and we were soaked.

Soon we were on our way and the flight only took about 2 and 1/2 hours. We wound up landing about 40 minutes early. Our car service picked us up on time and we were home by 11:00am. We both looked at each and thought were we just in Key West?

Once again, Key West is a special place that never disappoints. We have met some great people and made great friendships throught out the years of visiting. People keep asking me why do we keep going back to the same place year after year -and I just look at them and smile…. because there is no other place like Key West and we love it.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog. Until the next time!

Even though we were just in Key West 3 months prior, my husband and I were excited to return again to one of our favorite places. (Making it our 14th time back within 10 years does say a lot.) We were also returning to our usual place to stay the Gardens Hotel. It has sort of become a second home to us because of its familiarity with the hotel and staff. I shipped a box of our toiletries ahead of time to the hotel so we only had to bring carryon with us which we find to be more convenient then waiting for checked baggage and worrying about if it doesn’t make the connecting flight.

July 3 – Arrival Day (Day 1)

Once again we had to be up early on a Sunday morning and I still get anxious about our arrival day after oversleeping two years ago. I think by now I should realize that I won’t let that happen again. Ironically I wound up waking up literally 5 min. before my alarm was set to go off at 3:00am. After getting ready, it was soon 4am and time for our car service to take us to the airport. Luckily he was on time and we had no issues getting there. After all the things that have been going on around the world we were nervous with the security lines. Thankfully I have the United Credit Card which gives us the premier access. The lines weren’t too long and we actually had time to relax in the lounge a bit. Our flight left on time at 7:30am to Ft. Myers.

Once we arrived in Ft. Myers around 10:30 we checked to see where the Silver Airways gate would be. It turned out that we arrived in a different terminal then Silver Airways (unlike Ft. Lauderdale) so we had to walk through security again to get to the other terminal. It was a bit frustrating but we made it through quickly and had time for a beverage before going to the gate. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:43pm and with previous experience on Silver Airways, we had a feeling that the flight would not leave on time. It was just after 11:00 and we figured we would check and see about the flight. We had to take an elevator down one flight of stairs to the gate. As soon as we walked over, the ticket agent called our names and told us they were ready to board. We were both shocked. The agent gave us the baggage tags for our luggage and within minutes we were walking to the plane. The plane was barely half full so we all had to sit from row 7 back to keep the weight of the plane in balance (always comforting). 

We were number 3 for take off so we didn’t wait long. The flight from Ft. Myers to Key West is probably one of the quickest routes we have ever taken. The pilot said it would be 36 min. but I am pretty sure it was faster then that. Around 12:20pm we touched down and we were back! In a way it felt like we never left because we were just there 3 months ago, which in a way was a plus because the trip did feel a lot longer then usual.

We were one of the first people off the plane and with no baggage to wait for, we were able to grab one of the first taxis in line. Once we got into the taxi, we noticed two people also waiting for a taxis and they started waving at my husband. After a few seconds he realized it was one of his customers (he owns his own auto repair garage back home). He asked the driver to stop but he didn’t hear him. Eventually he was able to get in touch with them later on, so that we could meet up with them at some point.

Meanwhile, a friend of ours, Nancy and her friend just arrived as well via the Key West Express Ferry from Ft. Myers. They were staying at the Gardens Hotel as well, so I had a feeling we would be running into them when we arrived at the hotel. 

Once we got to the hotel we walked in to the receptionist desk and noticed two people already checking in. And sure enough if was them! We all hunged and she introduced us to her friend. So we wound up all checking in to our rooms the same time. We have been staying at the Gardens Hotel so many times that check in is very quick. Our rooms weren’t ready yet but we were able to use their large changing room near the pool to freshen up.

It was just after 1pm so we had plenty of time to hit a few of our favorite places. Our first stop is always Willie T’s. When we got there it was quite crowded so we had to sit in the back. It actually wasn’t that bad of a seat since we were out of the way of the action where we could catch up for a bit. I even pointed out to them the banner for the musician down there Zack Seemiller. Unfortunately he left town for a bit and I was bummed out that I couldn’t see him, but it did give us an opportunity to check out other music during our stay. 

After a few mojitos we made our way to Kelly’s. It wasn’t too crowded so we found a nice table near the bar. Happy hour didn’t start yet so we didn’t order anything to eat. We probably should have but we enjoyed a round of their Key Lime Margaritas before walking back towards the hotel to check into our rooms. Before we did, we stopped at Rick’s. Our friend Nancy and my husband wanted to have a pickle back shot since they both had one a couple of years ago when we were visiting. 

It was a quick stop and then we made it back to our room. Our rooms were both ready and all of our luggage was already brought in. We prefer the garden view rooms on the 2nd floor since they have great views of the grounds and lush vegetation throughout the property. Nancy and her friend decided to go for a swim while we unpacked and got ready for dinner. I made reservations later that evening for the 4 of us. Deuce’s Off the Hook is located conveniently right behind the hotel and serves delicious food. It is definitely a plus to go there after a long day of travel.

Once we were all ready we walked down the restaurant. We were a little early but the restaurant offered us a few cocktails outside while we waited for a table which we all thought was a nice touch. We were all quite hungry so we looked over the menus so we would know what to order once we were seated. There was no hesitation what my husband and I would order since hogfish was their special catch of the day. This is our favorite fish to eat. Its a type of snapper that has such a sweet and delicate flavor. 

What felt like an eternity wound up only being about 15 minutes. We were seated in a booth and all placed our orders almost immediately when the server came over. I ordered their grouper ceviche and I can’t recall what everyone else ordered for their appetizers. My husband and I had the hogfish special, while our friends had the shrimp and grits and the Zuppa de Deuces (which was a combination of shrimp, scallops and other seafood over pasta). Everyone enjoyed their meal and we walked away quite satisfied.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d5565929-r392582836-Deuce_s_Off_the_Hook_Grill-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html#SHOW_USER_REVIEW

At this point we were all exhausted and called it a night. We decided to regroup at 8:30 in the morning and go to Blue Heaven for breakfast.

July 4 – Independence Day and Sunset Sail on the Appledore Star (Day 2) 

We woke up and saw that the clock was 8:25am! We both immediately rushed to get ready since we were meeting our friends for breakfast. While I was getting ready we noticed it was still dark out. My husband went downstairs to get coffee for us. A few minutes later, he came back and said our room clock was wrong! It was only 7:15am! Well since we were already up, we walked down to Wallgreens to get bottled water for the room and a few other items I forgot to pack. I always like walking down Duval early in the morning. It is just so quiet and empty. We made it back and our friends were ready to walk down to Blue Heaven. 

We were early enough that there wasn’t a wait. We sat down ordered our breakfasts. I really enjoy their key lime hollandaise sauce so I like to order as a side with their omelets. I find their prices to be on the high side for what you get but it is a Key West institution to eat there at least once during your visit. You can’t beat the atmosphere with the roosters and chickens running around.

Since our friends were leaving on the ferry later on that day they wanted to head back to the hotel to pack up.

Once everyone was ready to go we decided to walk along Simonton Street since it is less busy then Duval. We made our way up towards the bight looking at all the fish swimming in the water. Eventually we stopped in the Schooner Wharf for a drink. There wasn’t any entertainment yet but it is always great to stop in at one of the iconic places in Key West. When we left the Schooner Wharf we noticed up above the Waterfront Brewery, there was something going on. I wasn’t sure what it was, but then I heard Nick Norman started to play. I wanted to check it out but I wasn’t sure if it was open to the public or not so we just kept walking. 

So we made our way back towards Duval. It was around 1pm and I knew Gabriel Wright was playing at Captain Tony’s. I wound up putting together the graphics for his latest album and wanted to stop in and say hello. We walked in and grabbed a couple of seats and said hello. It was nice to just relax for a bit and listen to him play. Of course I had to request Eddie Vedder’s Hard Sun like I always do. I ask him to play Mumford and Son’s I Will Wait which was fun to hear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZthSmQsXy4&spfreload=10

We all then had to put the iconic dollar as a remembrance of our visit to Captain Tony’s. It was funny because I found our dollar from a couple of years ago which was faded, so I thought it would be perfect to put the new one on top. 

Our friends wanted to head back to the hotel so they could grab their luggage and head towards the ferry terminal. We said good bye to Gabriel and made our way back towards the Gardens, but not without a pickle back shot at Ricks. Nancy and my husband did one last one for old time sake while I just took a few pictures.

Once we got back to the hotel we said good bye to our friends. It was a short visit, but at least we got to spend some time together. We used the opportunity to freshen up the July 4th Sunset sail I booked with the Sebago on the Appledore Star. We didn’t have to check in until 6:30, but I wanted to grab something to eat ahead of time. The Sebago sail did offer food but I wasn’t too keen on the food options.

Since it was around 5pm it wound up being the perfect time to check out Martin’s happy hour. We never made it back to Martin’s last trip and regretted not going. We walked down to Martin’s, which located just a couple of blocks from the Gardens, and sat at the bar. I ordered a glass of white wine, while my husband ordered a dirty martini (both which were half off for the happy hour special). We looked through the menu and agreed upon six different appetizers to share. We ordered the lamb chops, calamari, pate, tuna, escargot and the crab cakes. Everything was delicious. After making our way through the appetizers we were both satisfied enough to walk towards the Bight to check in for the sunset sail. 

Once we got to the Sebago check-in it was packed with people waiting for all of the different sunset sails. I was glad I booked the Appledore Star since it only had space for 16 people. We didn’t have to wait to long for check-in and soon it was time to head onto the schooner. It was as a beautiful evening to watch the sunset.

We sat sail and started talking to a few people on the boat. We noticed a young couple on board with a photographer taking photos of them. I thought what a great back drop for photos. As the sun started to set, I started to take endless photos of it.

I was using my iPhone so I just kept hitting the button. The sun dropped straight down into the water and no clouds were blocking the view. While the sun was setting, we looked over and the young man of the couple with the photographer proposed to his girlfriend. When she said yes everyone started to clap. It was so nice to see that. Afterwards I started to look at all the sunset photos I took and then noticed a flash next to the sun. Could it be? Did I just capture the infamous “green flash”? 

Unfortunately the flash itself wasn’t quite green, but there was definitely something. I asked a few people and some agreed while others weren’t so sure. Then I realized that being I used an iPhone vs. a regular camera, it probably couldn’t process the green color as well. Throughout the rest of our trip I showed other locals my photo and I pretty much got the answer “yes that is the green flash”. That made me very happy!

Once the skies got dark, we sailed around to face the island. The staff then brought out the food for everyone. At this point it was getting late (just about 9pm) and was glad that we ate ahead of time because I would have been quite hungry. The fireworks began shortly after that and it was exciting to watch. We hadn’t been away in a while on the 4th of July and normally watch the NYC fireworks on tv so it was a real treat to see. 

After the fireworks ended, it was time for us to make our way back towards the dock. It was just after 10 and we both remembered that Caffeine Carl was playing at the Smokin Tuna. It was on our way back so we stopped in for a few songs and of course see ourselves on the webcam. We were both getting pretty tired so we thought it would be a good idea to just walk back to the hotel and call it a night.

July 5 – Small World (Day 3)

We woke up to another beautiful sunny and hot day. We noticed that it didn’t feel as humid as it did the previous days. We usually make an effort to go to Croissants de France/Le Bistro for breakfast and it was the perfect day to go back. I ordered my normal go-to breakfast of smoked salmon eggs benedict why my husband had the regular style and as usual it was very good.

After breakfast we walked back to the hotel to relax by the pool for a bit and figure out what to do for the day. We had not stopped at the Galleon Tiki Bar and we wanted to see if the bartender Dave was working. When we walked up to the bar we noticed that Dave was working. It was great to see him and the ironic thing was he told us how he was leaving Key West in a few weeks to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. I mention the irony since my husband and I try to go every October to St. John for anniversary. Plus it turns out that he did get a job working at one of the bars on St. John. We talked for a bit before making our way on to the next stop. We told him we would try and stop by again to see him, if not we would see him in October.

I felt like listening to some live music so we walked into the Hogs Breath. We found a couple of bar seats and ordered a couple of beers. As we were sitting there my husband notices a familiar face walking into the bar. It turned out to be his customer that we saw when we first arrived at the airport. He was walking in to buy a shirt so instead he sat down and called over his girlfriend. We wound up chatting for a while and they mentioned how neither of them had been to Key West before. Now of course my husband and I are fans of the Smokin Tuna so we talked them into going with us for a bite to eat and catch some live music.

I also looked at the music schedule at the Smokin Tuna to see who was playing the early evening shift. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t Nick Norman but a new artist by the name of Brent Byrd. So I did look up his bio to read a little bit about him and apparently he goes between Gainesville and Nashville. I thought well then he can’t be half bad and curious to hear him. Plus I wanted to see if he was in need of an artist to do some design work.

After finding our favorite seats at the end of the bar I saw Brent Byrd setting up. I wound up walking over to him to introduce myself. I told him that he was looking for any graphics work done to let me know. He seemed like he was so I was pretty excited. I walked back to join the others and we ordered much need food. As we ate, we really enjoyed Brent Byrd. His sound was really good.

We both wound up having fishing charters planned for the next day so we didn’t want to stay out too late. We said good by and talked about maybe getting together tomorrow.

We made the walk back down Duval and back to the Gardens.

July 6 – Fishing with Billy (Day 4)

A few months ago we planned to go out with Billy for a half day of fishing and the sand bar but unforeseen circumstances occurred and we had to cancel. However, this time it worked out perfectly. We had another beautiful day to be out on the water.

Since we didn’t have too much time before Billy was picking us up we wanted to have breakfast somewhere close by. Deuce’s Off the Hook right behind the Gardens offers breakfast so it made our breakfast choice easy that morning. We sat at the bar and I ordered their omelet of the day while my husband ordered the eggs benedict. Their breakfast was just as good as their dinner. I honestly can’t say anything negative about this place. If you get the opportunity, definitely check this place out.

When we were finished with breakfast we went back to the hotel to wait for Billy. I also had to stop in at the front desk to grab a few towels for our trip. Billy showed up and we headed to the marina. Once we got on the boat, Billy noticed that the wind had picked up. We didn’t go out too far, but far enough where we past Sunset Key.

We did wind up catching a bunch of fish but nothing worthy of keeping. It was still a great day out on the water.

After a few hours Billy took us to the sand bar. We just relaxed for a bit talked about things. I even jumped in the water for a little swim. We wound up meeting Billy several years ago when he used to work at the Gardens Hotel bartending. We had been going out with him fishing ever since. It was great to catch up. 

We made it back to the marina and Billy dropped us back off at the hotel. We thanked him again and told him we would see him next year.

Being that we were out on the water for a good part of the day we wanted to freshen up before going back out.

When we walked to Blue Heaven last time we saw the new place that opened up a few months ago called The Blue Macaw. It looked quite inviting and we were really curious to check the place out. Plus an added bonus was that Nick Norman was playing. We walked down towards Bahama Village and to the Blue Macaw, which is not too far from the Gardens Hotel. 

We sat at the bar while we listened to Nick Norman play. We looked around and the place definitely gave out the Caribbean vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pozvtRshzUc&spfreload=10

We also read over the menu but weren’t quite hungry yet. After Nick’s set we walked back to the Smokin’ Tuna to catch Brent Byrd again. Plus my husband reached out to his customers and they were on their way as well. 

We all met up at the Tuna and talked about our fishing trips. Neither one of us caught the big one but it was nice to exchange stories. As the sun fell lower in the sky we realized that we should take them to see the sunset at Mallory Square since its usually one of those things you should do if its your first visit to Key West. 

Even though it is technically low season, when we got to Mallory Square it was still filled with many people. It wasn’t quite as crowded when we were there a few months ago but there was still a line to get a mojito and a green thing. Unfortunately Mr. Mojito wasn’t working but we did order a few of drinks and watched the sun fall behind Sunset Key.

We were all pretty hungry so we suggested the Rooftop Cafe, again another place where we have always had a very good dinner and plus its so close to Mallory Square.

We walked up the stairs and didn’t have to wait at all for a table. They sat us outside overlooking Front Street.   I am not exactly sure what everyone ordered, but I had the pork belly as an appetizer and the grey snapper special. It was delicious. Everyone really enjoyed dinner and we were stuffed.

Since they were staying at the Hilton on the other side, they needed to catch a taxi back. We walked back up to Rick’s and Sloppy Joe’s where there always seems to be an abundance of taxis.

Sure enough, within in seconds one appeared and they were on their way.

We were going to stop at the Tuna for one, but the guy that stands out on the corner for the Tuna recognized us and told us that Caffeine Carl was playing at the Lazy Gecko. So of course we had to stop in for one to hear him play. We didn’t last too long with the day out on the water catching up with us. We made the wise decision and called it a night.

 July 7 – Up a Little Too Late (Day 5) 

We woke up again to another beautiful day. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were with the weather since this time of year in Florida can get those popup thunderstorms. Since we had a late dinner at the Rooftop Cafe the night before we weren’t that hungry. We started walking down Simonton while my husband asked me if there was any other breakfast places that we hadn’t tried yet. It took me a few minutes, but then I realized that I have heard good things about Harpoon Harry’s so we agreed to give it a try. I looked up the location on my phone and it wasn’t too far away on Caroline St. We walked pasted Pepe’s and then saw the retro looking sign. We walked in and it definitely had that old school diner feel. We sat down at a booth and ordered. At this point we worked up an appetite from the walk.  My husband ordered the 222 and i tried the salmon, tomato and cream cheese omelet with a size of grits. The food was quite good and everything tasted fresh. We would come back to this place for sure the next time we’re in Key West.

Since we were near Peppers we made that our next stop.  Neither of us wanted to do the tasting but we have been there so many times before that we know what our favorites are. We looked around and made our selections. And as usual we had them ship the box back home for us since we don’t have to worry about checking it at the airport. We decided to walk back to the hotel for a bit and relax by the pool. This is why I love the Gardens Hotel. It is conveniently located right off Duval, but if you need time to regroup, etc. you can.  Once we were fully recharged we made our way back to the Sunset Pier to see if we could catch Al working. We found two seats along the water with some shade. Luckily Al was working and it was nice to catch up with him. He told us how he was expecting his second and congratulated him. It was nice to see him but it was getting hot since the wind seemed to stop. Meanwhile I was checking to see if Gabriel was playing at Captain Tony’s but he was off today. I wound up getting in touch with him and figured out that we would meet up at Hog’s Breath for a drink. We said our goodbyes to Al and told him we would try and stop by again the next day before we headed back home that Saturday.
The sun was beaming down on us and it was time to move someplace with shade – Hog’s Breath. We walked on over and again found two seats right near the musician who was playing. it was nice and cool and there as we ordered a couple of cold beers. I was having fun with my friends to check out the webcam and they would send screen captures back to us. Then I saw Gabriel walking up to the bar. We managed to keep a seat open so we were able to stay where we were. It was good to see him and talked to us about visiting his family the following week. It was fun, but before I realized it we were there for a while. We all agreed it was time motivate. We wished Gabriel well and told him we would catch him next year.We wound up back at the Gardens to freshen up and figure out where to go to eat. I did have a copy with me of all the Happy Hours in Key West that is posted on Trip Advisor by one forumite. It really did come in handy since we wanted to hit one. However I remembered last time I wanted to try the Thirsty Mermaid and never got there. We decided it would be a good call since it was some place new to try. After having the opportunity to go to Key West 14 times, we should try something new. The Thirsty Mermaid is located just off Duval on Fleming and really close to the Gardens. We actually walked along Simonton to get there. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is bright and clean. Only a few tables were taken so we had our choice to sit at the bar or a table. We decided to sit at the bar. I ordered the oysters rockefeller while my husband ordered the mac & cheese croquettes which I had to try.

They were delicious. For dinner we both decided to have the local snapper sandwiches which were also very tasty. I was glad we stopped in because the food was quite good.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d10055624-r392579792-Thirsty_Mermaid-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html#SHOW_USER_REVIEW

Then it was time to catch Brent Byrd again before his set was over. We walked on over and sat in our usual seats at the end of the bar. He sounded great but unfortunately we got there just when he had only a few songs left to play. Soon it was time for Caffeine Carl to come on. Once Caffeine Carl came on we just wound up in our seats for quite some time. It was probably too long but we were having a great time. It was getting late but we figured that we could stay up since we could sleep in the next day. Eventually we did get up and leave but instead of going straight back to the Gardens, we heard a couple of guys playing at Willie T’s. The smart thing to have done would be to go back to the hotel. However I was feeling pretty good and said that we should stop in. As soon as I walked in I requested the guys to play my favorite band Pearl Jam and within minutes they started playing Elderly Woman. I was pretty happy to hear  it and then they played two more songs. Meanwhile there were a couple of german guys having a good time and we started to talk to them. They were hilarious and kept us there a little longer then we intended. After another drink to many it was time to get to bed. I think we wound up getting back to the Gardens around 2am. We had never stayed up that late before and probably won’t ever again!

July 8 – Last Full Day (Day 6)

Since we were up too late last night we slept in quite late for us. I think we didn’t get up until 10:30 which was unfortunate because we usually have breakfast at Blue Heaven for our last day. Regretting our decision to stay out like we did, we slowly made our way out to grab something to eat. We didn’t feel like walking too far so we decided to go back to Deuce’s Off the Hook. It was perfect since we were really hungry at this point. We were seated at the bar and I chose something a little different for breakfast. It was their shrimp hash with two fried eggs served on top and a much needed big cup of coffee. It was unexpectedly really good. I would definitely order it again.

After breakfast we had to relax a bit by the pool. It was our last day in Key West but we were both feeling the affects of the previous evening. I think the next time we return we will remember how we felt that day and not make that last stop at Willie T’s.I had made dinner reservations as well at Cafe Sole for our last night. The dinner reservations were at 6 so we had some time to hit a place or two before. We hadn’t been to Irish Kevin’s so we wound up going there for one. The beer wasn’t going down too well but it is always entertaining to in there. Plus it is nice and cold when its a hot day in Key West which it was. We then decided not to walk to far for our next stop before dinner and that was Rick’s. The bartender there definitely makes it quite entertaining while sitting there and people watching.
Then I remembered that Nick Norman was playing at the Lazy Gecko and I wanted to stop in to see a few of his songs before we had an early dinner. We stopped in and it wasn’t too crowded so it was perfect. He sounded great as always and it was great to hear him sing “Cheap Cocaine”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGbXzEMPBbc

It was tempting to stay longer but we needed to get back and get ready for dinner. Cafe Sole is a little bit of a walk from the Gardens so we figured that we would get a taxi to take us there and then just walk back to Duval afterwards. It wound up being a great decision since right before we were ready to leave the skies opened up. It started to downpour. We had to wait a little longer for the taxi but the Gardens called the restaurant to let us know we were running late. Once the taxi drive came he told us how once it rains in Key West, its like snow up north, everything gets backed up and delayed. We weren’t too late so it didn’t matter too much. He dropped us off at the restaurant and it was just about quarter after 6. The rain had stopped and the hostess sat us down at a very nice table. She then mentioned to us that since it was before 7pm all drinks and entrées are half off. I remember seeing that on the happy hour list but totally forgot about it. Cafe Sole is known for their hogfish snapper so we didn’t hesitate at all as to what to order. For appetizers I ordered the escargot and my husband ordered the beef carpaccio. Everything came out in a timely manner and was delicious. For dessert we shared the key lime pie which I don’t think we ever had in Key West before. Then since we have been dining at Cafe Sole for years (and apparently we are in the system) the hostess brought us out two little glasses of dessert wine – not that we really needed it, but it was a very nice gesture.

We were both quite full and it was a perfect plan to walk back towards Duval. It was our last night in Key West and of course wanted to stop one last time to Smokin Tuna. By the time we got back to the Tuna, Brent Byrd was finishing his set. We wanted to see more of him play but we just got there too late. Not too long after we were there it was time for Caffeine Carl to come on. It was a nice surprise too that Claire Finley was playing as well that night. Back home we have an AppleTV and we stream the live feed a lot while at home and watch them play. It was kind of fitting for our last night in Key West. We both wanted to stay longer but knew we didn’t want to wake up for our travel day feeling like we did earlier in the morning. So we made the wise decision and called it a night. We waved good bye to Carl and made the last walk down Duval.

July 9 – Departure Day (Day 7)
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00am so we had the Gardens Hotel call us a taxi to have them pick us up at 7:45am. We woke up at 7am to get ready to leave. It was still dark out but we knew it was the correct time. The sun rises a lot later in Key West then back home. We grabbed all of our things and took the walk of woe to the front of the hotel. I dropped off the keys and there was the taxi. The sun was starting to rise as we neared the airport. It was going to be another beautiful day in Key West but I knew it was time to get back home.

Once we got through security and got to the gate, we saw my husband’s customers waiting as well. They were on our same flight(s) home back to NJ. Our Silver Airways flight surprisingly left on time and made it to Ft. Lauderdale a little before 10am. Our connecting flight was at 10:41am so we only had minutes to wait before they began boarding.

Before we knew it we were back home by 3pm and it felt like we never left. As usual, we didn’t really have to much planned for this trip, but Key West continues to be a place where we have a lot of fun, meet terrific people and hear great music.

As I write this I am already trying to figure out when we can come back next year.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog….. until next time!

I am considering to change my blog to say “Key West” and “St. John” travel blog, since it seems to be the only two places we have been going lately, but if you find places you love, why not return when you can?

So this trip down to Key West marked our 10th year since visiting the island back in 2006. We had a mild winter but we were still excited. Meanwhile I met a musician down there during our last visit and have been doing a lot of his design work. I was so eager to get down there and see for myself in person all the things I have done and meet up with him. It was our first trip (since last July) that we didn’t have much planned and it was also the first time going in the spring without a group of friends. We figured that we would just see how it goes this time.

I also love going to Key West in the spring because living in Northwestern NJ it takes a bit longer for everything to come into bloom. It is almost like the Wizard of Oz… we leave NJ which is usually rainy, cold and gray, and then when we get to Key West its like when Dorothy opens the door and everything is in color. 

April 3 – Arrival Day (Day 1)

 

As some of you may know from our last trip back in March of 2015, I wound up oversleeping and we had to get a later flight. And then our connecting flight in Ft. Lauderdale was delayed for hours, making us pretty much miss most of our arrival day. I was a bit anxious the night before but made sure as all of our alarms were set. Our flight was at 7:50am so we still had to get up by 3am to make it to Newark Airport. I made sure I went to bed by 10am and thankfully woke up on time. The car service arrived at 4am and we were on our way. 

The United flight to Ft. Lauderdale was a nice and easy flight. We had no delays, etc. I was hoping that it would be the case since originally we were supposed to be on the Silver Airways flight at 10:20am. However after I initially booked our airfare, our first flight was moved from 7:30am to 7:50am, so they bumped us to the 12:35pm flight. We actually wound up arriving a little bit earlier then expect (9:45am) so we immediately went to the Silver Airways counter to see about getting on the earlier flight. They were very nice and wanted to change it for us, but the lady at the counter said that they couldn’t and we would have to go to the United counter. We ran over to United and at first, the lady would not change our flight saying that Silver Airways had to do it. We explained to her how we were already there and that they said to come to her. After a few minutes she did go back onto the computer and changed the flight for us. Hooray! We were going to be in Key West earlier then we first thought! Relieved and extremely excited, we waited to board our plane. It took us a while to finally take off (around 11:15am) but we were still got there sooner then expected.

About 30 min. into the flight, I looked out and could see the clouds clearing. And there they were…. the Florida Keys! 

It was so beautiful and I just got more and more excited to be returning to one of our favorite places!!  

At about noon we touched down and grabbed the first taxi we could find. (Last year our flight landed the same time as a Delta Flight and we had to wait on a long line and then get into a van with other people and wound up being dropped off last.) In a few minutes the driver dropped us off at the place we have been staying ever since we first starting to come to Key West, the Gardens Hotel. http://tinyurl.com/hob82eh

As an added bonus, I just completed their new logo for their new website which should go live in a few months. Our room wasn’t ready yet but we were able to leave our luggage and change. That is always the best feeling of taking off your shoes and socks and putting on flip flops! (The one advantage staying at the Gardens Hotel, besides how beautiful it is, is the location. We love walking down just one block and there it is, Duval St.) We walked down and turned right and there it was Duval St. Just the sounds of the Conch Train and hearing the mopeds go by always brings a smile to my face.

 

Our tradition is to first stop at Willie T’s and have a margarita. The margarita’s aren’t the best, but they taste quite good when its the first one to start your vacation. And then I noticed a few banners that were displayed for the musician I have been doing work for. It was so cool to see!!! It was awesome quite frankly. I wanted to get a picture of it, but there was a group of people seated right in front of it. I knew we would be back in a few days so I figured I would wait until then. Some guy named Dallas was playing while we were there, not really a fan – so we decided to finish our margaritas and make our way down Duval. I was still in the mood for a margarita, so we went to the place that makes one of the best (IMO) Kelly’s. We sat down in the lush setting and just took it all in. 

I wanted to see the water so we left and walked down towards the Galleon and grabbed two seats at the Tiki Bar. We were hoping to catch the bartender David, but he wasn’t working. It was a good spot to have a cocktail and catch part of the Nascar race. 

We didn’t want to make ourselves too comfortable since we wanted to get back to the Gardens to unpack and see some of the Jazz that they have on Sundays.

On our way back we just had to stop at Rick’s for one. It was getting a bit overcast but we didn’t care. We were feeling quite happy at that point but didn’t want to get too crazy since we also had dinner reservations at Deuce’s Off the Hook later on.

We made it back to the Gardens and our room was all set. It was getting close to Jazz time so we freshened up and found two seats to listen to some music. While we were relaxing, the manager of the Gardens Hotel came up to me and mentioned how much they love the new logo. He said that their new website was going live soon and asked if I wanted to see it. I said of course and we walked up to his office. It was pretty cool to see my logo on the website of the place we have been staying at for years.

It was nice to hear the Jazz playing and we were both starving. Luckily our dinner reservations were not too late. We walked right over and couldn’t wait to eat. We were so happy to see one of our favorite’s on the menu…. hogfish! I started out with the mahi mahi ceviche while my husband ordered the conch fritters. They looked so good and I wanted to try them but have learned the hard way that I am allergic to conch – which is odd because I don’t have any other issues with clams, mussels, oysters etc. For dinner we both ordered the hogfish (big surprise). It was delicious!! After a long day we were both exhausted.

Luckily Deuce’s is literally right behind the Gardens, so it was a quick walk back and bed!

April 4th – First Full Day (Day 2)

I woke up at first thinking I was back home in NJ, but I quickly realized I wasn’t… I was in Key West! I was also excited because I was finally going to meet up with the musician I have been doing to design work for, Zack Seemiller who was playing at Hogsbreath later that day. It was a bit of an overcast day, but being it was a bit humid we didn’t mind.

Another tradition I like to do is walk down to Blue Heaven for our first breakfast in Key West. I always remember to get there before 9am then you won’t have to wait for a table. We walked in and the hostess seated us in the perfect spot. I ordered an omelet with a side of their yummy key lime hollandaise while my husband ordered their eggs bennie with their homemade sausage.

Their food is always good there and it tasted even better! After breakfast we walked down to Wallgreens and stocked up on several bottles of water for the room. Usually at this point we would walk around and buy a few souvenirs, but after 10 years going we have so many things… plus I wanted to save any room in my luggage for a few shirts from Zack that I did.

We regrouped at the Gardens and made our way back down Duval. We walked along towards the Bight. We wound up walking into the Fort Jefferson Museum. It was pretty small, but they had a great replica of Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas. 

We remembered our trip last in July when we took the Seaplane over. I would love to do it again, but it is a bit pricey. Our next stop was the Schooner Wharf. We each ordered a painkiller (which reminds us of another favorite places of our’s the Soggy Dollar Bar, on Jost Van Dyke in the BVIs).

We then walked down to Sunset Pier to see if Al was working. The winds were picking up again and it started to drizzle. We found a couple of seats at the bar protected from the rain and asked about Al. Unfortunately he doesn’t work on Mondays and Tuesdays but we knew that we would return at some point. I decided to stick with a light beer because I knew it was going to be a long day again.

Our next stop was Captain Tony’s. We remembered this one musician Gabriel Wright and we wanted to see if he was playing. We walked in and there he was. 

We sat down towards the entrance and listened to him play. While we were sitting there, a young kid by the name of Jake sat down next to me. He was by himself and started to talked to us. He explained how he made his way all the way down by car from Montana! We thought wow that’s a drive! Soon Gabriel Wright went on break and I approached him and asked if he remembered us. Last year I requested my favorite artist’s song, Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder and he didn’t know all the words. He kind of laughed and did remember. We chatted a bit and I told him how I have been doing the design work for Zack and if he was looking for a designer to give me a shout. Turns out he was looking for someone to do his cd artwork and that we would be in touch. We talked a bit with him and Jake and told them we were going to check out Joal Rush later at the Smokin’ Tuna and catch Caffeine Carl after that. 

Then I realized that it was time to walk on over to Hogsbreath to see Zack play. I wasn’t sure what to expect but we walked in and it was packed. He recognized us as I found one bar stool available. He gave us a shout out and told everyone how I was the designer of his work. I felt a bit embarrassed but also very honored!! Once he took a break he came up to us and I was so happy to see him!! 

Plus he sang a favorite song of mine… Jersey Girl 🙂  https://youtu.be/M-yuN5_TN0c Unfortunately he had a wedding gig later that evening so we told him we would see him at Willie T’s the next day. 

We left and wanted to make our way back towards the Gardens. We then remembered that Joal Rush was at the Tuna. We walked in and there was Jake and Gabriel! 

It was funny to see them there. We hung out a bit and listened to Joal Rush before making it back down Duval again.

On our way back we decided to go the Roof Top Cafe for dinner. I always like the ambiance there sitting up above the street. My husband called and we were able to get a reservation for 8:30. We freshened up and made the long walk back to the Roof Top Cafe. (Just as a side note, my husband was wearing a fitbit during our trip and we would average around 6 miles a day walking around!) 

I started with the crab and shrimp cake which was delicious and my husband had the fried calamari. For dinner, I decided on the mahi mahi while my husband had the shrimp and grits. Again this is another place where we always have a good dinner. Plus we were able to use the Key West restaurant card that we got for the 10% off.

Once we finished dinner we walked back towards the Tuna to catch Caffeine Carl. Unfortunately he called out sick and we couldn’t see him. We were a bit disappointed but figured that we would have one more drink before calling it a night. We did notice however, if he isn’t playing the place was empty! Soon it was time to go back to the Gardens.

April 5 – Beautiful Day (Day 3) 

I woke up feeling a bit rough, but the sun was shining and it was gorgeous! The front moved through and the humidity was low. We walked down to Croissants De France for breakfast. 

ordered the smoked salmon eggs benedict on fresh brioche bread while my husband ordered their egg platter breakfast. The coffee at this place is also very good. The only disappointment was my husband’s bacon. It wasn’t crisp at all and honestly it was barely cooked. Everything else was tasty so we just brushed it off.

We didn’t really know what to do after breakfast. We walked back to the Gardens and tried to think of a game plan for the day. I heard from Zack and we were going to perhaps meet up at Peppers. We always make that one of our stops to order a bunch of hot sauces for family and friends and for ourselves. We walked down Simonton and just could not get over how beautiful it was out. We also noticed a strange looking flowering tree. It kind of reminded me of something from the Dr. Seuss’ Lorax movie. It was the perfect weather.

We made it to Peppers and I just could not do the tasting. Someone had to take one for the team so my husband ponied up. He did well and we picked out a nice variety of hot sauces and marinades and had them ship it back home to NJ for us since we had carryon only.

Zack didn’t make and I told him he would catch him at Willie T’s later that day. After all the hot sauce tastings, my husband was bit thirsty. We walked down the Bight again and made it the Half Shell Raw bar. I sent a picture of the tshirts to Zack and told him I was getting more inspiration for tshirt designs for him (they do have quite a collection of shirts there).

We sat at the bar and were watching on tv highlights of the NCAA tournament and how Villanova won. As we were reminiscing about how the last time (in July) we were there we saw the news on tv how JPP from the NY Giants blew off his fingers with a fireworks accident, I look up and there is Zack.

(One of the few things I always wanted to do was to drive up the Keys. We always fly in to Key West and have never done the drive.) A few months ago, Zack offered for us to borrow his MG and take it up the Keys for the day. He actually drove the car to the Half Shell so we walked outside to check it out. Being that my husband is a mechanic (and owns his own car repair garage) he of course he had to check out the car. We found a spot and just hung out for a bit. 

We thanked him again for letting us borrow his car the next day and told him we would catch up with him later at Wille T’s. 

We walked along back towards Sunset Pier to catch up with Al. He was working that day so we grabbed a couple of seats at the pier and chatted for a bit while listening to the entertainment. Again the weather was just so gorgeous that we just took in the view of that green blue water.

We only stayed for one so we thanked Al and we were on our way again.

Another stop we wanted to do is Rick’s. We always see this bartender there and he is quite a character. 

Plus if you can get seats right in the front, its a great spot to people watch. We sat down and had a few laughs and made our way back down Duval. 

Speaking of laughs, we made to Willie T’s and watched the rest of Zack’s set. As we sat there, I just kept looking at the banner I designed. It came out so good and it looked so impressive. Once Zack was done, I made sure that we got our pictures next to it.

While my husband was taking our picture, people were actually saying how they loved the design. It just warmed my heart to here all the compliments. I felt so gratified and happy!

Zack told us he was playing at Rum Runners later so we said we would stop by later on. We wanted to get back to the Gardens and relax a bit.

Once we were ready to go we were getting quite hungry. I love the fish dip at the Smokin Tuna so we walked back down Duval. We grabbed some food and then made it to Rum Runners. Once he was on break we figured that he could drop his car the next morning after breakfast at the Gardens and we would make the drive up the Keys. At that point, the day was catching up with us so we didn’t stay too long.

April 6 – Bahia Honda State Park, Cafe Marquesa and Mallory Square (Day 4)

We woke up to another picture perfect day. 

Since we were meeting Zack that morning we figured that we would just have breakfast at the Gardens. They had a nice spread but sometimes I just miss eggs benedict!

Zack showed up and we grabbed our things. We thanked him again for letting us use his car and we were on our way. 

The one thing we didn’t realize… how to leave the Keys!! It took a few different turns, but we eventually found our way on A1A (also thanks to GPS on my iPhone). Soon we were making our way out of Key West for the first time. It was amazing to see all the Keys along the way. And one of the funny things was, as we were driving a song came on the radio. We are big fans of the show Bloodline, and sure enough the show’s theme song came on the radio. We both laughed and thought how “ironic” is that?? https://youtu.be/M0cU8VFV9FU

I called my sister along the way since she was quite familiar with the drive. We weren’t sure where to go, but she suggested Bahia Honda State Park. We made our way to mile marker 37 and there it was. We found a parking spot and walked along the beach. 

We then realized on the other side was the public beach. As we walked over, my husband noticed the old bridge and people walking towards it. He asked one of the park rangers working there and he directed us where to go.

We took the trail that leads up to the Old Bridge. It was so beautiful up there. Just taking the view in was quite amazing. 

We walked around a bit before making our way back to the car. 

It was getting hot so we figured we would just drive back to Key West. It was actually a good idea that we did because we noticed there was a lot more traffic on Route 1 then before.

We made it back to the Gardens and Zack came to pick up the car. We thanked again and told him we would catch him later again at Willie T’s. 

After the hot drive we both decided we should freshen up. We remembered that Gabriel Wright was playing again at Captain Tony’s so we made our way back again. We hung out for a bit and then we recognized a familiar face with his dog. It was funny because we saw him 2 years ago with his dog at Hogsbreath.

He mentioned how people like his dog better then him! We talked a bit before making our next move.

We wound up catching the end of Zack’s set and hare my favorite song of his “You’re Harmony” (about his daughter) before heading out to dinner. https://youtu.be/hLbVchQRSPc I had made dinner reservations at Cafe Marquesa and always wanted to eat there. I was quite excited and we were seated at a nice table. It wasn’t too crowded since it was early. Disappointingly, the dinner did not match up to our expectations. We found the food lacked seasoning of any kind.

And my husband’s lobster dinner had a vanilla cream sauce with it. I tried it and it was awful. I felt so bad because I wanted it to be a nice dinner. I had the yellow snapper entree wrapped in phyllo dough and it just smelled fishy once they brought it out. I could barely eat it. 

After a disappointing dinner we decided to walk down towards Mallory Square to catch the sunset. We made it just in time and it was packed with people. We were able to find a spot to watch it. I always hope to see the green flash but no such luck, but it was still a beautiful sunset. 

We walked back down towards the Tuna where Lewis Brice, Joal Rush and Nick Norman were playing. https://youtu.be/-EcLU2ZQnJ4

While we were enjoying the music, they took a break and friends of theirs from South Carolina came on stage. They were called Finnegan Bell and they were quite good. They mentioned that they would be back the next day at 5pm so my husband wanted to make sure we would see them again.

April 7 (Day 5) – No Fishing 😦

We woke up to another beautiful day. We were supposed to go fishing with our good friend Billy that worked at the Gardens. 

I hadn’t heard from him so I wasn’t sure if we were going to go out with him. I checked my phone and he told me about the passing of one of his good friends. I was a bit disappointed but we both completely understood. I told him that we would catch up with him when we head back in July. 

I wanted to go back to Blue Heaven for breakfast and it was still early enough to go. We walked and sat down. My husband and I both ordered the eggs benedict. I opted for the bacon bennie and my husband had the sausage bennie again. It was a nice morning to relax and try to figure out what to do. 

After breakfast we decided to just relax by the pool at the Gardens for a bit. I heard back from Zack and he stopped by. He wanted to show me the new “meow” hats I did for him came in. They came out great! He mentioned how he was leaving town to take his son for his basketball tournament. He also said how he wanted to show us the other banners that I designed as well came in. So we hopped in his car and went back to his house. The other banners I did came out awesome! I can’t wait to see those displayed as well… we talked for a bit and then said our goodbyes. We thanked him again and hope to catch him in July. Really a great guy and so proud to be his designer!

After our walk back to the Gardens we decided to freshen up for the day. We forgot how we never made it to Irish Kevins yet. So we walked back down to Duval and stopped in for a drink. They always have someone entertaining playing there so it was fun to sit down and listen and of course hear the perennial favorite cover of “Wagon Wheel” there.

I wanted to see the water again so we went back to the Galleon. Again David wasn’t working, but we sat down for one. As we sat there I was longing to go out on the water. I suggested for us to go out for a daysail on the Schooner American 2.0 for our last day. I gave them a call and luckily they had two seats available for us. 

We were getting hungry, so we walked back down to Kelly’s to grab a bite to eat. I went with the fish tacos while my husband ordered their wings. This is another place where their food never disappointed us – especially their wings!

It was getting to be about that time to see Finnegan Bell at the Tuna. When we walked in to the place we noticed saw dust everywhere. I guess they were taking down a tree up above the Tuna. It was okay because while Finnegan Bell would play, it would look like snow falling! They sounded great especially their cover of Mumford and Son’s “Awake My Soul”.   https://youtu.be/6le6EiLKCHk

Once they went on break, we chatted with them for a bit. We told them how we saw them the night before and wanted to check them out. They were really nice guys (Shane and Warren) and they mentioned how they were playing with Nick Norman, Joal Rush, Lewis Brice and Chris Weaver at the Lazy Gecko the next night so we would be sure to check it out. They were actually all were down to play the Ramble unfortunately the next day after we were leaving at the Key West Theater.

We wound up leaving to freshen up again at the Gardens before coming back to see Caffeine Carl again. We new this was our last night in Key West where we could stay up late since the following day was our last full day.

We came back to the Tuna where we listened to Caffeine Carl play. We had a good time but realized it was getting late. We made it back to the Gardens and called it a night – it was late!!

April 8 – Schooner American 2.0, Lazy Gecko and More  (Day 6)

It was a slow start but I didn’t feel like eating at the Gardens. It was after 9am so I knew Blue Heaven was out of the question (and it was also a Friday when more people are in town). So my husband suggest Bagatelle’s. We hadn’t been there in a few years and it was another terrific day to go for a walk. And another added bonus they have huervos rancheros – one of my favorite breakfast splurges!

We chose to walk down the quieter street of Simonton and made it to Bagatelle’s. We were seated upstairs outside with a great view of Duval. We both ordered the huervos rancheros. They tasted good but they were bit on the cool side. Maybe it is because they have to walk the food up all the way upstairs or not but it was okay.

After breakfast, we walked back down to the Gardens. We wound up packing up all our things so we had everything ready to go for the next morning. It is always so depressing knowing that you are leaving the next day, but that’s what vacations are. Our flight was at 9:10am, so we asked the Gardens to call us a taxi for a 7:45am pick up. We also made sure all our alarms were set. 

Once everything was in order we left the Gardens and made our way back towards the Bight. We had our daysail on the Schooner American 2.0 at 1:30 but had to check in at 1pm. We walked around and figured we would have a drink at Turtle Kraal Tower Bar. It is always a beautiful view.

We wound up chatting with another person from Pt. Pleasant, NJ heading home on our same flight the next day. We talked about how you plan so many things to do in Key West and it just doesn’t happen. Before we knew it, it was time to check in for our day sail.

Luckily there was only 17 people so it wasn’t crowded at all. The boat itself is so beautiful. We found out ironically it goes back up to New York for the summer. The captain mentioned how it goes out of Chelsea Pier to the Statue of Liberty. Funny how being from NJ I have never been to the Statue of Liberty…. go figure! 

The water was calm and so were the breezes. It was so beautiful to finally go out on the water. My only regret was that we weren’t able to get in the water during this trip.

After the sail it was time to get back to the Gardens and freshen up before checking out all the musicians at the Lazy Gecko. After we showered, we made our last sad walk down Duval. We noticed that it was definitely more crowded since the weekenders were coming in. We walked into the Lazy Gecko and it was packed. I honestly thought we weren’t going to stay but we ran into Shane and Warren. While we were talking to them, thankfully two seats opened up at the bar. 

And that’s when the evening got better. All the guys from South Carolina would get up and take turns playing together. 

It was so much fun! http://tinyurl.com/zwkfze8   http://tinyurl.com/ha8p4hc

Once the show was over everyone headed over to the Smokin Tuna. We probably partied a little too much for our last night in Key West but we had such a good time it was hard to leave. 

We did eventually leave and said our good byes.

April 9 – Departure Day 😦  (Day 7)

And the dread of going back home was upon us. We woke up just before 7am and heard how the weather forecast back home was for snow. We thought just great. We tried to make the best of it as we took the taxi from the Gardens to the airport. We just kept telling ourselves that we will be back in 3 months… but still we just didn’t want to go just yet (but I knew our livers did)….  our Silver Airways flight took off on time and we made our very close connection in Ft. Lauderdale. Before we knew it we were back home where it was in the mid 30s with snow showers.(And black and white like the ending of The Wizard of Oz.)

This may have been our tenth year returning to Key West, but it may be our most memorable one with all the people we met and the friends we made…

And a good rule of thumb is… the best plan to have while in Key West… is to have no plan at all! 

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog….. until next time!

October 22 – 31, 2015
My husband and I were returning to St. John making it our 12th time back and staying at the villa Wings Over Water for the 3rd time. We didn’t have too much planned for the trip besides going over to Jost Van Dyke for the day and having Chef Ted cook for us. We were just excited to go back and relax on the beautiful beaches of St. John.

Thursday, October 22nd – Arrival Day

We woke up around 5am to get picked up to go to the airport. Being it was a week day there were no direct flights to St. Thomas so we had to take a flight to Puerto Rico. We boarded the 9am flight and had a 2 hour layover in San Juan. Once everyone boarded, the captain came over the intercom and told us that there would be a slight delay with the flight due to the handle on the main cabin door was not closing properly. I knew this was more then just a minor problem when I saw one of the techs outside below the plane on his cell phone. After about 15 min. the captain got back on the intercom and told us we had to change planes. Well I figured that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue since we had the long layover.

Once we all got off the plane we were told a new plane will be taking us to Puerto Rico at Gate 126. Meanwhile, we were at Gate 83. It was a long walk, but everyone hussled to get to the gate. Everyone was so quick that we made it before the flight crew. The flight was now scheduled to board at 10:30 and leave at 11am. Our 2 hour window in Puerto Rico was getting smaller.

By the time we boarded and had all the luggage changed over, we didn’t leave until 11:30. We were then scheduled to land at 2:53 and our connecting Cape Air flight was supposed to leave by 2:56. I know they never leave on time so I figured that there was a slight chance but wasn’t too confident at that point.

Our flight was a bit bumpy with a lot of turbulence on the way to Puerto Rico. We landed just before 3pm and I immediately got on the phone with Cape Air. They said the next flight wasn’t until 5:30 and it was full. At this point I thought we were going to have to spend the night in San Juan, but just as I was put on hold with Cape Air, the airline stewardess called out all passengers having connecting flights to St. Thomas and Vieques. We were able to deplane before everyone else. One of the airport gate agents escorted us through the airport to the Cape Air ticket counter. This time the construction at the airport seemed to be nearing completion so we didn’t have to take a van to the other side of the airport. We got to the counter and the plane had not left yet. Another couple on our flight was also on the plane to St. Thomas so they were relieved as well. We wound up not even taking off until 3:30 or so. It didn’t matter however, we were getting ever so closer to get to St. John.

Our flight was about 30 min. and we landed in St. Thomas around 4:15. I got in touch with Jackie at Vacation Vistas and she said we probably won’t make the 5 o’clock ferry but would meet us for the 6 o’clock ferry. We found a taxi that would take us to Red Hook. The airport was quiet and we were the only ones in the cab which was great since we could go straight to Red Hook. We couldn’t believe it but when we pulled up to the ferry terminal it was exactly 5 o’clock and the ferry was still there. My husband ran out of the cab and asked if they could hold the ferry. They said they would and we grabbed our stuff, paid for the tickets and we were on our way. It was a beautiful evening. I texted Jackie to let her know we made the 5 o’clock ferry. I was getting so exciting as all the surround BVI islands came into view as we get closer to St. John. And then there was Cruz Bay. It was so beautiful to see once again. Once we got to Cruz Bay we met up with Jackie. Our first stop was Connections to get the two boxes I had shipped out a week prior. Then it was off to Bougainvillea Leasing to get our 4 door jeep wrangler. We then followed Jackie to the villa. Being we were already at the villa 2 times before it was a quick tour of the place. It looked exactly the same besides a few hurricane curtains that now line the outside porch area.

Exhausted and relieved at the same time we both grabbed a beer and toasted to the fact that everything that happened, we still made it to St. John the same time we were supposed to. It was crazy. Luckily I had ordered provisions through St. John Catering, http://villafoodvi.com so we had a nice welcoming platter from Sam and Jack’s deli. It was a perfect meal to have as we took in the lights of St. Thomas. It was a long travel day and we headed to bed.

Friday, October 23rd – Trunk Bay

We woke up to a beautiful morning and which beach to visit first was on both of our minds. I know its the most popular beach, but we decided to go back to Trunk Bay. We hadn’t been to Trunk in a few years and I also saw that no cruise ships were in so I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded.

Since we had breakfast items already delivered, I was able to cook ourselves a nice breakfast before heading out for the morning.

I wound up bringing our snorkel masks but couldn’t fit fins. So we stopped in Mongoose Junction to rent fins for the week at a place called Just Beach. I also forgot our beach bag so we were able to get one there as well. It was a really nice new store.
http://www.justbeach.shoppingstjohn.com

We got to Trunk and noticed there was a caution sign up. The North Shore Beaches were experiencing swells so the snorkeling trail was closed. I wasn’t too disappointed since I mainly just wanted to go in the water. We walked on to the beach and there were a few people already on the beach. The sand was so soft and the water was beautiful. It didn’t take us long before we both went in the water. There was a little bit of a pull so I could see why they didn’t want anyone snorkeling the trail. It was a nice morning to spend on Trunk. The longer we stayed more and more people kept piling in. It was kind of strange to see so many people this time of year on the beach. I guess the secret is out, traveling St. John in October isn’t so quiet anymore.
It was time to go back to the villa to relax by the pool for a bit.

We wanted to try and hit a few happy hours this time instead of just going out to dinner. At around 3:00 we freshened up and headed to town. Our first stop was Joe’s Rum Hut. I had a mango mojito while my husband ordered a regular mojito. It was early enough that it was pretty empty. We enjoyed our first drinks for the afternoon and made our to Cruz Bay landing for a rum punch. The staff was very friendly and their rum punches are quite good. Again it was early so it wasn’t too crowded yet.

The next stop on the list was High Tide. The food they were cooking smelled really good, but we figured we would hold off until we get to Virgin Fire since they have 1/2 off any appetizer.

Being that we were both getting hungry, we walked down to Virgin Fire. It was around 5pm so it was the perfect time to grab a few apps. We ordered a bunch of different appetizers and they were all delicious. It is a great value to go there and do this because you wind up filling up and not spend too much money. We first shared the coconut shrimp skewers, which were my husband’s favorite.

Next we tried the broken artichoke hearts and the cajun crab cake.

Our last small plate we had were the grilled ahi tuna tacos. http://tinyurl.com/pkovmwv

Our next stop was Longboard below Cafe Roma. I remember reading about this new little place and I wanted to check it out. Everyone else apparently wanted to too, because when we got there, the place was hopping. We managed to find 2 seats at the bar where we each had a beer. I did take a peak at their menu and looked very reasonable and had a lot of options. I was too full to eat anything else, but figured we would be back.

It was about that time to head back to the villa. We had to get up early to catch the ferry over to Jost the next morning so we called it an early night.

Saturday, October 24th – Jost Van Dyke

We woke up to another beautiful morning. It was going to be a perfect day. Since we didn’t have too much time, we went into town for breakfast. Unfortunately the Bougainvillea parking area was full, but we were able to find a spot near the ferry dock.

We walked over to Cruz Bay Landing for quick and hot breakfast. http://tinyurl.com/ovrflmd

Everything was delicious and we walked down to catch the ferry. 

The ferry was a few minutes late, but luckily it was going straight to Jost Van Dyke.

We got to the ferry dock to go through customs in Jost but we were not allowed off the boat. We were just standing there and noticed other people waiting at the dock. Turned out the custom agents were late. We had to wait for the to show up. Finally after about 20 min. a boat shows up with the agents. 

We were the first ones on the ferry but the last ones off. (Note to self: sit close to the exit side of the boat). We were the last ones to get through customs and the last ones to get a taxi. Then to top things off, the taxi we got on to (it was one of those open air taxi’s), kept stalling. I looked at my husband and thought we are never going to get to Soggy Dollar! 3 tries later, the taxi started and we barely made it to Soggy Dollar Bar. We told the driver to pick up around 2pm so we had time to stop at Foxy’s before heading back to catch the ferry.

There’s nothing like walking on to White Bay and taking in that view. It was beautiful. My husband ordered a round a painkillers and we settled in. We spent the day on the beach relaxing and swimming.  The weather took a slight turn that I thought that it may rain. We moved our things under a large table and palapa. I thought if it started to rain we would probably make friends since it was such a large table. The skies got dark and it started to drizzle. A nice couple came over and asked if they could join us. They were actually all the way from Alberta, Canada.

They were very nice and we chatted for a bit. They were chartering a boat in the BVIs and they were on their way to Anguilla after the charter. Not a bad way to spend a vacation!

The sun came back out and we went back to a table in the sun. We took a bunch of photos before it was time to get back on the taxi.

Around 2pm I walked in the back and saw a taxi. We thought it was ours but it wound up being Foxy’s son we met a few years back. He said he would take us to Foxy’s. It was kind of a relief since the other cab driver’s taxi barely got us there in the first place!

He dropped us off and we went and grabbed two beers at the bar. At this point we definitely had enough painkillers. The bartender was very friendly and took our picture. If you are able to stop in at Foxy’s be sure to say hi to Leon.

Since the ferry was not at the dock yet, l we wanted to stop in the Sugar and Spice restaurant to see if Joan was working. We walked in and her daughter was managing the restaurant. We met Joan a few years ago an I actually did some design work for her. We never got the shirts done because we ran into some issues with shipping them from the states to the BVIs. Her daughter recognized us and then we walked outside. She called up to the building above the restaurant where Joan was. She told her i was the one that designed the shirts. She gave a big wave and made her way down. It was great to see her again.

Joan made a homemade chicken roti for my husband. We talked for a bit before going back on the ferry. Her daughter mentioned that if I could ship the shirts to Tampa, Florida there was a way they could get them. So I told her I would be in touch once we got back to the states and we would try the shirt designs again.

We got back to Cruz Bay and walked over to Margarita Phil’s. We wanted to get a to go order but unfortunately he was closed. We walked back towards Longboard. Again the place was busy, but we were able to find two bar seats.

We sat down and ordered a few tacos to go. We didn’t wait too long which was good because we were getting tired. We made it back to the villa where we enjoyed the homemade tacos. They were really tasty. After dinner we were exhausted. It was a long day.

Sunday, October 25th – Hawksnest Beach

We woke up to more clouds then sun. It was still halfway nice out so after breakfast we drove to Hawksnest. It was probably one of the earliest times we had ever made it to the beach. It was just after 9am and only a couple of people were on the beach. It was nice having it practically all to ourselves. It wasn’t too hot out, but I wanted get in the water. I grabbed my snorkeling gear and was on my way. I always enjoyed Hawksnest for snorkeling. You don’t have to go out very far before seeing a nice range of fish.

We spent the morning relaxing before more people came to the beach. I noticed that it was getting cloudy and that it looked like it was going to rain. We wanted to be back in time for the Giants game later on that afternoon anyway so we got back in the jeep and drove to town. We stopped at the beach bar for a drink and I was craving a bushwacker. Then we stopped back at High Tide for another rum punch.

We figured that once we got back to the villa we would most likely stay in for dinner. So we made our way to the Starfish Market to get something to grill later on. We saw they had mahi mahi, but the line to get food wasn’t moving (island time). So plan “b” was to make chicken tacos. I took one look at the chicken and passed. I saw a package of ground pork that looked pretty decent and figured that I could make regular tacos. We picked out all of the ingredients and we were on our way back to the villa.

We spent the afternoon watching football. The weather wasn’t great so I didn’t feel like we missing much. Then it was time to watch the Giants game. It was a great game to watch if you are a NY Giants fan, and to see them beat Dallas. We enjoyed the evening and had our tacos for dinner.

We watched more football before calling it a night. During the night we woke up a few times because of the thunder. I had a feeling the next day the weather wasn’t going to be so good.

Monday, October 26th – Overcast Day

We woke up to overcast skies. I made us breakfast as we talked about what to do for the day. It wasn’t sunny enough to go to the beaches so we figured that we would drive out to Mongoose Junction and do a little shopping.

Most of the shops don’t open until 10am and it was just before 10 so we had to wait until they opened up. We browsed a few stores but nothing really caught our eye. We made it down to the Wharfside to do some more shopping. I then remembered how we usually stop at St. John Spice. http://www.stjohnspice.com We walked up the stairs and into the shop. There were a few people shopping as well. We picked out a nice variety of hot sauces. Our favorite now is the Valley Day Hot Sauce which is made locally on St. John. https://www.valleydollhotsauce.com. We asked if we could have the order shipped back home and it was no problem – this way we don’t have to worry about anything breaking and also being the fact that we just do carry-on now, we couldn’t bring it with us anyway.

We were getting thirsty so we went back to High Tide for a rum punch. For some reason the rum punch tastes a little different this year. I wasn’t sure if they changed their recipe a bit.

Not wanting to stay too long at one spot we then made our way up to Woody’s. It started to drizzle so but we were able to get the large table out front. Its a great spot just to people watch.

The skies weren’t getting any lighter so we figured we would drive back to the villa and relax for a bit. On our way back we decided to stop at the Westin for a drink. We used to stay at the Westin years back and wanted to see how the renovations went.

There is now a gate at the front, but they said we were welcome to come in, but we just had to park by the tennis courts. It was strange to walk around since we hadn’t been there in a while. It definitely brought back memories of when we stayed there with our friends, seeing them get married there, waited out Hurricane Omar there, etc. The pool area had new tiles surrounding it with new lounging chairs. We noticed that it looked like they made the area around the pool a lot larger. The pool bar was open so we walked over and had a rum punch. It was nice to see the improvements they made but we prefer to stay at a villa now.

It was getting later in the afternoon and it was time to go back to the villa to have a snack and freshen up.

While we were shopping we heard some people talking about the Lime Inn. I knew that they weren’t fully open but they do have a happy hour. We drove back to down and walked down to the Lime Inn. I was hoping to try their fish dip, however they were out of it. Instead we shared the oysters rockefellar and scallops wrapped in bacon. The apps were small but quite tasty. We knew that we were still going to be hungry so we walked back to High Tide to share a few more apps.

We decided to go with the coconut shrimp and fried callamari. Both were good, but the callamari had too many tentacles instead of rings. It wasn’t bad but prefer the rings to the tentacles.

Before going back to the villa we wanted to check out Drink, the old Motu Bar at Grande Bay. We made our way down and it was jumping with live steel pan music and appetizers out. I guess they were having a welcoming party for the timeshare people at Grande Bay.  We ordered a couple of mojitos and the glasses were slanted so it definitely messed with your mind a bit…I was always curious about if its worth doing something like a timeshare in St. John since we always come down around the same time every year. I think I would missing having an entire house to rent ourselves.

It was fun to listen to the music but we were getting tired. It was time to go back to the villa and get some sleep.

Tuesday, October 27th – Francis Bay

We woke up to cloudy skies but it was definitely brighter then the day before. While we were having our breakfast we noticed the skies started to clear and the sun came out. It was going to be a beach day.

Now which beach to go to. We grabbed our things and made our way back towards the North Shore Beaches. We noticed a lot of taxis taking people up to the beaches. A lot more then we normally would see. Trunk was already quite full even though it was before 10am. Low season in October is becoming not so much anymore. On our way my husband suggested Francis Bay so we drove all the way out past Cinnamon and Maho. The weather was clearing and it we were glad we made the call.

The road to Francis was really beaten up. We managed to find a spot close to the beach and walked down to find a spot to set up for a while. While we were walking, an older couple were on the waters edge and said there was a shark. Sure enough there was a nurse shark swimming along the shore. He was so close that I was able to take a picture of him. I have never seen a shark snorkeling on St. John so this was really neat to see.

We spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon just relaxing on Francis. I did snorkel for a bit but only saw a nice variety of fish. No sharks – in a way I was a bit nervous even though those type of sharks won’t bother you. Unfortunately there was a group of people that had to play their music the entire time for all of us to hear. It was a bit annoying but we made the best of it. I prefer to just listen to the waves roll in, but instead I had to listen to my iPod. All well. We were still glad to see the weather hold up and it was a beautiful day.

We had a share of the sun so we left and made our way back to the villa. Along the way we noticed a jeep come down the road near before Maho and he was way over the orange line. My husband tried to move over but there was no where for us to go. Luckily his mirror just hit ours and it just moved back. I don’t know what this person was thinking, and if they were drinking but clearly it was scary. Thankfully there was no damage or even worse – him running us off the road!

Before making it back to the villa, we stopped at the market right before the Westin to grab some snacks and more eggs for breakfast. We also were out of floss and needed to grab that as well. Well no such luck on the floss. They had toothpaste and few toothbrushes, but that was about it. We figured we would be going back to down later and maybe try in hit the Dolphin Market and/or Starfish.

We came back to the villa to spend the later afternoon by our pool with a few snacks and sangria.

We were thinking about where to go to dinner. We hadn’t been to Morgan’s Mango in a while and wanted to show their support being they just opened up from a bad fire earlier this year. I gave them a call and they were able to get us a table for 6 o’clock. Then I also realized it was Tuesday and Morgan’s Mango has a lobster special on Tuesday’s. We thought perfect!

We relaxed for a little bit and both got ready for dinner. We made our way back to Mongoose Junction and stopped at the Ocean Grill for a cocktail. We immediately recognized the bartender from the previous year. He also recognized us and my husband and him joked about the Raiders helmet that used to be behind the bar.I had a glass of sauvignon blanc and my husband had a Virgin Islands IPA. It was nice to just sit at the bar and enjoy the atmosphere. Soon it was time to make our way over to Morgan’s Mango.

It was about 5:30 and our reservations weren’t until 6pm. They had the bar open so we walked in for a cocktail. It looked exactly the same. You would have never guessed that they had that fire earlier in the year. We enjoyed a round a piece and noticed more and more people started to roll in.

It was close  to 6pm and our bartender said we would be seated shortly. A nice hostess told us our table was ready out front and we sat down. It was a beautiful sunset that night and I realized that means most likely a beautiful beach day tomorrow. Excited and hungry we looked over the menu. I saw they had 3 options for ceviche which I really have become to love a lot after having it several times in Key West. Our server came over and went over the specials, including their lobster specials. We jumped on the lobster special that also had a complimentary glass of white wine. We weren’t too ambitious to try their stuffed lobster but both decided on the regular grilled style. They first started at $35 for the first lb. Being from NJ and knowing that wasn’t enough to fill us we ordered a 1 lb. and a 1/2 which was an extra $8 per quarter pound. A little pricey we thought why not? The apps came out quite prompt and I had the ceviche and my husband ordered the rare tuna topped with fresh watermelon. We both enjoyed our apps but the tuna with watermelon was a bit too sweet after a while. I tried it and agreed. My ceviche however was excellent. It was really fresh and the mangos mixed in was a nice refreshing surprising.

Once we finished our apps we noticed more and more people coming in. Including an older couple that had a case. The elder man pulled out a few bottles of champagne to give to the owner and staff to help celebrate the reopening of Morgan’s Mango – which we both thought was a wonderful thing to do. Soon after both of our lobster entrees came out. We were both pretty impressed with the size of the lobster. It was delicious.

http://tinyurl.com/pupowc5

We were both quite full after. We were going to stop by Virgin Fire for a night cap but we just decided to go back to the villa.

Wednesday, October 28th – Coral Bay/Salt Pond

After going to bed pretty early the night before, we both woke up early and noticed it was a beautiful day. I cooked us breakfast as we discussed what to do for the day. We were either going to go to Cinnamon or take a drive out to Coral Bay.

We actually didn’t decided until we started to drive. We both decided to head out onto Centerline Road and go towards Coral Bay. Along the way we passed by John Head Road which reminded us the first time we rented a villa we stayed at Island Stones in Catherinesberg. The views from that place were extraordinary but it was way too buggy for us. Since we go to St. John during the rainier season, it is better for us to stay on the south side where it is drier and less bugs.

We went by Chateau Bordeau and notice the fence built blocking the overlook view. It was kind of perplexing to see since it literally is only a few feet, but just enough to obstruct the view. Why would they do it?
We drove down into Coral Bay and kept going. We had never driven past the restaurant Aqua Bistro so it was exciting to see a new part of St. John to us. We kept going along the water and views were beautiful. I noticed we passed the one villa that always intrigued me, Coral Cove. It looked spectacular, but it is really far out there. I would consider staying on the Coral Bay side if we would vacation during high season. Again we usually go the end of October so a lot of places are still closed, including Miss Lucy’s which we also saw along the way.

We finally saw the sign for Salt Pond. We made it! We unloaded the jeep and made our way down the rocky pathway. We both thought it was going to be an interesting walk back since it would be going uphill. I thought just drink plenty of water before we leave.

It was a hot day and we found a nice spot by a lonely palm tree. The water was like a pond and very calm. There was a bunch of stones and sea grass as you walked in. After you passed that area there was soft sand before more sea grass. We saw a few people snorkeling and figured why not? We grabbed our snorkel gear and went into the water. As we snorkeled over the sea grass you could see fish below. It was hard to see at first, but eventually it was easier to see. Then all of a sudden my husband called me over and I went over towards him. He was looking down at a huge tarpon. I was little nervous at first, but he just hung out. Pretty impressive to see.

Then we snorkeled along the beach and then saw a huge turtle. He was grazing on the grass down below. I think this was the largest turtle we have even seen. I almost wished that I had an underwater camera, but just watched him eat.

After a while it was time to go back to hang out on the beach. Again it was a very hot day, so from time to time I would go back in the water just to cool off. I also collected a few of the stones along the water’s edge. I was also looking for sea glass but no such luck.

It was then time to make our way back towards the villa. Along the way we wanted to stop at Aqua Bistro for something cold to drink. For some reason whenever we stop there it is quite buggy. We hung out for a beer and were on our way.

The next stop was Skinny Legs. We hadn’t been there in at least 4 or 5 years and it looked exactly the same. Again we ordered a couple of beers. We talked about how the last time we were there, I think we saw that balloon boy coverage on the tv. This time they just were playing a rebroadcast of the Colts and Saints Superbowl.

When we were done we stopped in the gift shop to look around and made our way back.

We wanted to get back to the villa to relax a bit before having Chef Ted come over to cook for us. He was scheduled to start cooking around 5:30 so we had time to just lounge by the pool.

We freshened up and noticed that the sky was starting to change. The sun was setting and the skies were beautiful. We took a bunch of pictures. When Chef Ted arrived he noticed the sky. He even took a picture for us.

It was great to see him again and we were both starving. We didn’t eat since breakfast because we knew we were in for a lot of wonderful food. He started us off with his pan fried tuna dumplings with a balsamic dipping sauce. Next he served us pan seared boat scallops with smashed fingerling potatoes in a light truffle oil.

It was also accompanied with his signature skillet roasted focaccia bread. At this point we were getting quiet full.

Next it was a lightly warmed baby spinach salad severed with crisp bacon and apple slices. It was delicious.

I had just did a load of laundry so Ted said to take our time and we bought it away while he was preparing out main dinner, which was fine because we needed time to digest all of the food.

For dinner he served us fresh grilled wahoo with a breaded eggplant, tomato and roasted red pepper tarine.

Lastly Chef Ted served us his island lime tarts with fresh berries. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful dinner. We thanked Ted for his wonderful food and he was on his way. If you have the opportunity to have Chef Ted cook for you, it is well worth. Plus you will have leftover focaccia bread that goes well with fried eggs the very next morning!

http://tedssupperclub.com/welcome.html

It was food overload at this point and we were so tired. We tried to stay up a little while and then went to bed. At least we would be up early the next day.

Thursday, October 29th – Cinnamon Bay

We woke up to another sunny morning. We enjoyed breakfast at the villa and talked about going to Cinnamon. It was a perfect day to spend it on Cinnamon. We drove up along the north shore and stopped once again to take more pictures of the Trunk Bay overlook. The sun was in the perfect spot and no one was at the overlook so we definitely took advantage of taking more pictures.

We got to Cinnamon and realized we forgot insect spray. We figured that we would stay as long as we could. We found a nice spot on the beach where we camped out for a few hours. There was a strong breeze which helped keep the bugs away.

I went in the water and tried to snorkel but the clarity was a bit poor. There was a strong current making the visibility difficult and I am not a fan of snorkeling where you cannot see that well. I do not like surprises while I snorkel. I only saw one fish and was hesitant to snorkel out too far by myself. I came back in and then just would swim in the water instead. The weather was beautiful.

Then it was time to grab our things and go back to Mongoose Junction to drop off our rental equipment (snorkel fins) at Just Beach. It was after 1 o’clock and we were a bit thirsty. We walked up to the Sun Dog Cafe and grabbed a few beers.

We noticed the other day a store that said wines back near the public restrooms so we walked back to take a look. http://islandcork.com
The owner was friendly and knew a lot about wines. He had a nice selection to choose from. We were hoping for a little tasting but it was strictly wines sold by the bottle. We probably would have bought one if we were on St. John longer.

Next we walked to the Tap Room to have a beer. The temporary location is located next to the old one. They were still working on it but it looked like they were making good progress.

The sun was out and it was time to go back to the villa and relax by the pool for a bit. The skies were just so blue and clear. It was a wonderful afternoon just spent doing absolutely nothing.

It was time to freshen up and go back into town to grab some appetizers and cocktails. We tried to park by Bougainvillea but there were no spots so we went back to Slim Man’s Parking lot. We wanted to try the new restaurant Extra Virgin and walked back up that way. Unfortunately when we got there they were still setting up. They said they wouldn’t be open for another 15 minutes or so.

Instead we went back down to Longboard for a few apps. We ordered their ceviche of the day (which was shrimp) and their fried calamari. Both apps were wonderful and hit the spot.

http://tinyurl.com/ns65r2u

Still hungry we wanted to go and grab another bite to eat.

I suggested Cruz Bay Landing and we walked down to sit at the bar. It was funny because a couple sitting there recognized me from my travel blog, etc. Small world! We chatted a bit while we waited for our food. My husband ordered the cheeseburger, and I opted for their fish tacos. As usual their food did not disappoint and we were very happy – and as an added bonus they had live entertainment that evening.

Feeling quite full (again), we walked back towards the parking lot to pick up our jeep. Before we did, we stopped at High Tide for a nightcap. It was pretty quiet, but I guess since it was a Thursday night, not too many people were out.

I couldn’t finish my rum punch, so we grabbed a to-go cup and we were on our way. We got back to the villa to watch part of the Thursday Night Football game. As we watched the Patriots just walk all over the Dolphins it was time for bed.

Friday, October 30th – Last Full Day

Our last full day on the island always comes so quick and it definitely puts you in a different mood. We enjoyed another breakfast at the villa. It was another gorgeous day and we went back and forth what do and where to go. I noticed on the weather report online there was an advisory for strong rip currents so I thought that wherever we would wind up I was probably not going to snorkel. Also since we returned our snorkel fins it would make a bit harder to snorkel as well if the currents were indeed strong.

We grabbed our things and headed back out to the north shore beaches. We stopped at the Virgin Islands National Park sign and saw the hiking trail to Solomon and Honeymoon Beach. We figured we would walk down and check it out. However, I was not wearing my regular hiking sandals and rather flip flops so I was having a difficult time walking down the rocky trail. About halfway down we realized this was going to be even more of a challenge coming back with wet and sandy feet. So we turned around and made it back to the jeep.

Since it was an easy walk and close by we just decided to go back to Hawksnest. We walked down the beach to find a spot and noticed that the waves were a bit stronger. It was still a gorgeous day and we both tried to take it in knowing it was our last day on the beach. I did go in the water several times and there was definitely a pull. I didn’t go in too far but saw other people go in the water. A few people ventured out to snorkel, but mostly everyone just went in the water to swim and hang out.

A couple of hours passed by and I was getting a bit anxious of our departure the next day and wanted to pack up some things. We took a last look at the beach and made our way back to the villa. We cleaned out the fridge of things that were not going to last and I packed most of our things so we didn’t have too much to do the next morning. We opened a few of our last remaining beers and sat by the pool for the afternoon. Its amazing how when you first start your vacation the days seem to  last and last, but as you near your departure date, the days go by quicker and quicker.

We wanted to have an early dinner so we freshened up after a few hours. We made our way back to Cruz Bay. We parked our jeep at Slim Man’s parking and walked down to Joe’s Rum Hut for a few mojitos.

I especially enjoy their mango mojito. Its very refreshing without being too sweet.

Then our next stop was High Tide. I also felt like another mojito but didn’t see any on the menu so I decided to go with a margarita on the rocks with salt. The bartendar made an excellent version I must say. It was quite good. We also noticed that the local kids were walking around and stopping at the restaurants for halloween. I heard they wanted to have the trick or treating a day early so the kids could trick or treat right after school.

Not wanting to get too comfortable there we walked towards Rhumblines to see about having a few small plates. It was only 5:30 so when we walked in they were still setting up. They weren’t ready for us so we walked down towards Mongoose Junction hoping to see if Margarita Phil’s was back open. Sure enough when we got down there it was. There were a bunch of kids as well trick or treating but we managed to find a spot at the bar.

The bartender mentioned how they just opened and she was getting things settled. We said that was fine and we just were going to have a few drinks and order a to go order. We both ordered the regular size margarita, but the bartender was very generous and gave us the mega size versions for the same price! I had the mango margarita and my husband had the jalapeno margarita. While we waited for our to go ordered we ordered some chips and dip. It was quite good. Once our order came out we thanked the bartender and were on our way back to the villa.

After we enjoyed our dinner from Margarita Phils we just sat outside and gazed at the stars. It was a beautiful and clear night. We didn’t stay up too late, knowing are trip back home was looming the next day.

Saturday, October 31st – Departure Day

We woke just before 7am to have our last breakfast at the villa and enjoy the views at Wings Over Water one last time. It of course was another beautiful day. I think every time since we have been coming to St. John, our departure day is always perfect weather.

We were planning on taking the 10am ferry over to Red Hook. We had some time to have another cup of coffee and I was looking at the ferry schedule on my phone and noticed the one to Charlotte Amalie was at 8:45am and it was 8:15. We weren’t going to make that one, but was feeling a bit antsy about waiting until the 10am ferry – thinking it would be really crowded. So we decided to leave and try to make the 9am ferry.

We packed up our things and grabbed the trash. We made sure we turned off the AC and let Jackie at Vacation Vistas we were leaving. We said our goodbyes to the villa and made the drive back to town. Since it was before 10am on a Saturday, the roads were pretty quiet. We got to Bougainvillea to drop off our jeep and walked down to the ferry. When we went to purchase the tickets, the lady asked us which ferry we wanted to take. We then thought we will take the ferry to Charlotte Amalie instead of Red Hook to avoid the long taxi ride through St. Thomas. We realized it was only 8:35am and we were going to make the ferry!

We enjoyed the ride as we eventually watched St. John fade into the distance.

It was great to take the ferry over to Charlotte Amalie. Its a longer ferry ride but you wind up only being around 10 min. away from the airport. Once we docked, one of the taxi’s offered to hold our luggage and asked us what time our flight was. We told him it was at 1:50pm and he said if we left by 11am it would be plenty of time. Perfect.

We walked around St. Thomas and it was extremely hot. The only stores that were open were jewelry stores. Nothing really interested us and every where we went the shop owners were outside the trying to get us to come in. It was a bit annoying but we made the best of it.

It was just after 10am and saw a bar down one alley way called Rum Island Pub. They were just setting up but the bartender said to come on in (Ed). He was quite friendly.

There was also another younger guy sitting down and started talking to us. He was a pretty funny character named Calvin. They were discussing their night before and it seemed that it was quite an eventful evening. We ordered up couple of drinks and they said they would start their morning with breakfast.

I thought okay that makes sense, but then I noticed a line of shots down the bar. It was basically a shot of Jim Bean Maple and another shot of orange juice. They told us to have some “breakfast” as well and that it would taste like pancakes and orange juice. I was really skeptical but figured it was our last day. Well I did the shot and to me it tasted like french toast. It really was pretty good. The only thing that probably would have made it better would have been if the orange juice was cold.

The half hour we had there went by so fast just hanging there. Good thing we had a short time because I could easily see getting pretty buzzed if you stayed there long enough. It was a really good time. We said goodbye to Ed and Calvin and said we would see them next year.

We walked back to our taxi and also noticed the other couple that did the same thing walking as well. We jumped on in and told them about our “experience” at the bar Rum Island Bar down the alley way called “Drake’s”. They said they just had breakfast but saw it. We told them they should have stopped in. We then just talked about where we stayed on St. John and our vacation stories. http://tinyurl.com/nhxhzfv

We got to the airport in about 10 min. and checked in for our flight. Customs was pretty easy especially not needing a form. They just ask you a few questions and you are on your way. Our flight was on time and even landed earlier then expected. Soon we were on our way home and our St. John trip was already becoming a distant memory.

Once again St. John didn’t disappoint and made it hard to leave. Jackie at Vacation Vistas was great and highly recommend using them http://www.vacationvistas.com  as well as Bougainvillea Leasing for a jeep rental http://stjohnjeeps.com. Carry-on is the way to go and if you can, ship any toiletry items ahead of time to Connections (be sure to contact them ahead of time before you do so). http://www.connectionsstjohn.com

Provisioning for us has always been the way to go and I will continue to do so. This time we used St. John Provisioning and they delivered everything that I ordered and nothing was missed. http://tinyurl.com/qyqnldb

I also pack way to much and for the ladies, if you have just a coverup to wear each day to the beach pack one, it saves a lot more room in your suitcase then several shorts and tops.

I really enjoyed going in to town early for a few happy hour specials and a light dinner. I would also suggest going to Morgan’s Mango on a Tuesday for their lobster night. We did notice a few people walking around Cruz Bay later at night that made us a little on guard, but overall we never felt threatened or not safe.

St. John continues to be one of my happy places that holds so many memories for my husband and myself. I hope we are fortunate enough to continue on making more memories next year.

Thanks again for taking the time to check out my blog….
until next time!

Originally my husband and I were planning a trip to the Finger Lakes, NY for a few days after July 4th, but after our most recent trip to Key West back in March our “Keys Disease” was setting in pretty good. Ever since we returned, we would check out webcams from the Smokin’ Tuna, Willie T’s, Schooner Wharf, etc. on weekends just to listen to some good music and feel the vibe of Key West again. I also purchased The Best of Key West, Vol. 1 on iTunes to hear the likes of Caffeine Carl, Zack Seemiller and Nick Norman. Yup we had it bad!

So after contemplating what to do, we decided to change our plans and head back down to Key West. I was able to use United miles to book our flights and reserve 5 nights at our favorite place the Gardens Hotel.

This would now make it our 12th time back to Key West. Ever since we started coming down back in 2006 we would always stay at the Gardens and request the same room. Luckily every time they do honor our request which makes it extra special returning there. You can check out my review of the Gardens here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34345-d227346-Reviews-The_Gardens_Hotel-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

Day One – July 5th – Off to a Good Start and So Glad to be Back

Back in March, I wound up hitting the alarm ‘off’ instead of snooze and wound up missing our flight – and it turned into getting into Key West around 6pm instead of 11:30am. I was determined NOT to make that same mistake this time. It was a bit challenging since the day before was Independence Day and we were hanging out with friends, but I made sure to take it easy and be in bed no later then 10pm since we had to get up at 3am (our flight was at 6am). 3am came quickly and I was able to get up on time and we were off to the airport. The car service made good time and we only had carryons so the check in process was easy and quick.

Soon we were on our way to Orlando where our connection was. We landed on time and we had about an hour and a 1/2 layover. I noticed when we landed our flight via Silver Airways was delayed. (Oh no here we go again) I started having flashbacks of our March trip where we wound up sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport for over 4 hours. We walked over to the gate and the agent behind the counter announced that the flight crew came into Key West much later then expected the night before so they had to be sure they had the required amount of rest before flying back to Orlando (which made sense). So our flight was delayed only about an hour and he reassured us it was on its way from Key West.

While we were waiting my husband realized he forgot his Kindle on the plane which he uses all the time to read (especially if we were planning on relaxing at the Gardens pool). We figured we would replace it when we get back home and try to find a book store to get something to read. About a 1/2 hour passed and I see an agent from United carrying a Kindle. She was waving it in the air asking if anyone lost it. I couldn’t believe it! I guess they saw how it was left on my husband’s seat and they checked to see who was sitting there and saw we were connecting to Key West. I never thought that would happen. Needless to say my husband was quite happy and relieved!

Finally Silver Airways announced that they were ready to board. We were supposed to leave at 10:00am and it was close to 11:00am. It wasn’t too bad considering what happened last time. This was the first time we had a connection in Orlando and the flight was about an hour to Key West. We landed just past noon and were excited to be back in Key West. Since we had carryon, again no waiting, we grabbed our luggage, flagged down the first taxi we saw and we were on our way. 

We checked in to the Gardens and we were able to drop off our luggage in our room. We thought about freshening up, but figured we would be back in a few hours to see our friend Billy who bartends at the Gardens on Sundays. 

It was about 1:30 in the afternoon and we still had a good rest of the day left. Our traditional first stop is Willie T’s to grab a margarita. I don’t think they are really good margaritas but that first one in Key West does taste good.

My husband and I talked about how we wanted to try and hit new places that we had never been before this trip. The one place (believe or not) we had never been to was Irish Kevin’s. I think the main reason is when we usually go to Key West its in the spring and after spending a winter in NJ always indoors, I usually want to sit outside in Key West. After we finished our two margaritas we walked down to Irish Kevin’s.It didn’t take long to realize why so many people say to stop in.It was definitely entertaining.

The next stop has become our favorite place to see music is the Smokin’ Tuna. It was before 5pm so no one was playing. We figured that we would stop in and see who was playing that evening. http://www.smokintunasaloon.com

It was getting to be about that time that Billy was bartending at the Gardens and we wanted to freshen up. After our round we walked back to the Gardens.

Not before long we saw Billy at the bar. It was great to see him. I actually did some design work for his fishing charter business so as a thank you he wanted to take us out on a the Seaplane to the Dry Tortugas. It’s still a work in progress, but you can check it out the temporary site here: http://billyrentzcharters.weebly.com

We were scheduled to take the first flight out that Tuesday so we talked about what time we would meet, etc.

At this point we were pretty hungry and wanted to go some place nearby to eat. I gave Deuce’s Of the Hook a call to see what their catch of the day was. I was so glad I did because it was indeed our favorite – hogfish! I was able to get my husband and I a seat at the bar for 6:30. Perfect! We said our good-byes to Billy and got ready for dinner.

I love the fact that Deuce’s is so close to the Gardens. 

The food is prepared very well and the service is very attentive. For appetizers, I had the mahi mahi ceviche and my husband had the fresh grilled shrimp with a mango salsa. Surprisingly, my husband and I both ordered the hogfish special. Everything was delicious. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34345-d5565929-Reviews-Deuce_s_Off_the_Hook_Grill-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

It was still light out and I was too full to just go back to our room. I realized we had not stopped at Kelly’s yet for the key lime margarita.

I know we were past happy hour but I was craving one. Plus I thought we could walk off our dinner at the same time. We walked down Duval to Kelly’s for a margarita. It was quite tasty. It was also completely empty. We noticed that this time of year you can pretty much walk in anywhere and find a place to sit (unlike spring break) which I prefer.

We each had one margarita and started to feel the long day settle upon us. We thanked the bartender and decided to walk back to the Gardens. On the way back we made the mistake of stopping in Margaritaville. It was crowded due to the fact that the Women’s Soccer World Cup was on, but the one large table in the front of the place was empty. We sat down and ordered two margaritas. At this point I was pretty tired and had a nice buzz on…. as a result the waitress talked me into a margarita that was served in a blender. Yes a blender – well it wasn’t a real blender but a small replica.

In a way I am glad I did get it because the margarita was awful (especially after the one at Kelly’s – all sour mix) but at least I had a souvenir to bring back home. Once we heard that the USA won we headed on back to the Gardens.

After a long day, we called it a night.

Day Two – July 6th – First Full Day in Key West

I think we were asleep by 10pm the night before so we woke up around 7:30am (even though I heard the roosters at around 5:30).

Keeping with tradition, we wanted to go to Blue Heaven for breakfast. We usually try and get there by 8:00am so we don’t have to wait to be seated. Well when we got there it was empty.

Maybe several tables or so had people, but again it was quite different then high season.

We sat down and treated ourselves to a mimosa and screwdriver.

For breakfast I had the omelet special filled with Key West pink shrimp and my husband had the eggs benedict with sausage.

We walked back to the Gardens to freshen up and grab a few things before heading out for the day. 

We also realized that they finally completed the construction of the Firehouse Parking area across the street and it came out nice. We walked along Duval and did some shopping and sightseeing.

We walked down to Peppers to do our usual tasting. We then placed our order to be shipped back home. (funny when we got home, sure enough the box was waiting for us on our front porch)

After sampling the hot sauces it was time to have something cold to drink.

We walked down to the Schooner Wharf for a few painkillers. I thought to myself how if I was at work at that point I would be stuck in a meeting. This was a lot better!

I wanted to get our friends a couple of things from the Half Shell, because when they visited Key West a few years back they really liked the place. After our drinks we walked down to the Half Shell. There were tv’s on and we were watching the World Cup and the Nascar Sprint Cup race highlights (which were crazy). And then the wonderful news about the NY Giants… really JPP???

I purchased a few things for our friends and for ourselves before heading out to the next.

The temperature was getting a bit hot so we figured we would head to the water to catch a breeze.

We remember this bartender at the Galleon’s Sunset Tiki Bar from March named David.

He was a character and wanted to see if he was still working. Sure enough when we walked in you can recognize his voice immediately.

They were doing a raffle for all of the timeshare people there, but we were able to grab a couple of seats. We chatted with David for a bit.

His stories just make you crack up.

Keeping to the water theme, we picked the Sunset Pier to be our next stop.

We also wanted to say hello to Al. When we got there we realized he wasn’t working.

All well – we had time to have a cold beer before moving on to the next.

Back in March I put up a dollar in Captain Tony’s and wanted to see if it was there.

We left Sunset Pier and made our way to Captain Tony’s.

Before we stopped there, we made a quick detour for a mojito at El Meson De Pepe.

There we talked to the bartender for a little bit even though he kept wanting to talk about one of his favorite movies… Corina, Corina? Very pleasant gentleman however.

I realized that we were beginning to go back to our usual places. All well.

Some places you just have to go back to!

We popped in Captain Tony’s to do a dollar check and it was still there! And since we were there … yup grabbed a cold one.

A young musician named Gabriel Wright was playing so we listened to him for a bit.

I requested Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder, he didn’t know all the words but I give him props for trying!  

We were getting hungry so we made our way back towards the Gardens, but not before stopping by Rick’s.

Made a few friends before we were on our way again. 

Before we got to the Gardens, we made a quick stop at DJ’s clam shack for a bite to eat.

Once we freshened up we went back out to 2 Cents for some dinner.

We ordered the jalapeños wrapped in bacon and their fried calamari. 

The food has been consistently good the past few times we have stopped in.

Since we had to be up early the next day for the Seaplane to the Dry Tortugas, we figured that we would call it an early night, but not before having a glass of wine at the Gardens d’vine Wine Gallery. 

Day Three – July 7th – Seaplane to the Dry Tortugas

Our flight to the Dry Tortugas was at 8am and we had to be there at 7:30am. It wasn’t really hard for us to wake up early because we were both really excited. We always wanted to go to the Dry Tortugas, but the 3+ hour ferry each way really was a deterrent for us. We grabbed two cups of coffee and waited for Billy and his friend Bryan to pick us up.

The Key West Seaplane Adventures operates right out of the airport so it is easy to find.Before we got on our plane, the staff would go over everything and give us a cooler with things to drink and if we needed snorkel gear. Luckily Billy and Bryan brought some snacks and drinks to tide us over.

As we neared the plane, the pilot mentioned that anyone can sit in the copilot seat. Since I was leading the way I immediately jumped at the chance to sit up front. The plane probably held around 10 people or so.

Before take off, the pilot mentioned that the flight would take about 35 minutes and we would be passing over other keys, shipwrecks, etc. 

When we took off we were told to put on the supplied headphones so that we could listen to him speak, as well as the prerecorded taping of the tour. 

We didn’t travel too high up in the sky, like the planes we take to get to Key West, so there was a great overhead view of Key West. The flight was just simply amazing. In a way I wished it was longer then 35 minutes. They also play music as well that you can listen to which makes the experience even more enjoyable. 

As we neared Dry Tortugas you could just see it appear right in the middle of the Gulf. It was a sight to see. The plane lowered towards the water to land. I was a bit apprehensive but you could not even feel the plane land on the water. 

Once we got to shore, we all got off the plane. The pilot explained where the restrooms/changing rooms were, the beach for snorkeling and also to be sure to take some time to walk around Fort Jefferson. We only had a little over 2 hours so we didn’t want to spend too much time walking around the fort, but the views from above were beautiful. 

The advantage of taking the 8am tour was that we were practically the only ones on the island, besides a few campers. 

We made our way to this beautiful beach. I immediately went in the water to snorkel. Unfortunately the rental equipment I had, had a leak in it. I made the best of it – plus it was so shallow that I could just stand up if need be to get the water out. The water was warm and you could see a nice variety of fish closer to the wall of the fort.

Our friend Billy stayed out longer and he wound up spotting a manatee. I was so jealous!! I always wanted to see one. 

In a way it was good that my husband and I came out sooner then later, because when Yankee Freedom Ferry approached the Dry Tortugas, there was a surge of water that came up on the beach. If we weren’t there, all of our stuff (phones, cameras, shoes) would have been submerged in the water. The pilot did warn us about that, but we totally forgot about it.

The couple of hours that we spent on the Dry Tortugas went by so fast. There was another couple that were on the plane that had the full day. I can now see why. It is expensive but if I could do it again I would do the full day. 

We had to be back by the plane a little after 11am for the flight back. We all met up with the pilot and loaded back onto the plane. I offered up the copilot seat but there were no takers. Plus the pilot mentioned to sit on the same side of the plane on the way back so that you can see the things you missed on the way there. I had no problem with that and back in the copilot seat I went. The takeoff was awesome since the pilot had to bank the plane towards one side. 

On the way back I could actually see turtles down below. The flight back was just as enjoyable as the flight there. I think the flight was the best part of the entire trip. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in Key West. It is pricey, but if you can, it is definitely worth it! Here is video of us landing back into Key West: 

After we got off the plane, Billy and Bryan dropped us off. We thanked them again for taking us out on the tour and told Billy that we would be in touch about going out on his fishing boat. 

We got back to the Gardens and freshened up. Did we really just go to the Dry Tortugas? It was just 1pm and it felt like we never left. I just kept looking at photos I took on my phone and my camera just to be sure.

My review of the Seaplane Tour: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34345-d1821848-Reviews-Key_West_Seaplane_Adventures-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

Since we really didn’t eat much while at the Dry Tortugas we were both quite hungry. We just started walking Duval and then I thought that why don’t we go back to Kelly’s?I love the atmosphere there and I know they have decent food. We walked into Kelly’s and again it was pretty quiet. We were the only ones at the bar. It was so nice not to have to wait for a seat and/or table. 

We both ordered mahi mahi. I had the tacos while my husband had the po’ boy – and to wash it down a cold key lime margarita. (we realized that when they make the margaritas they add the liquor KeKe juice – hmmm something we may have to try at home)

The lunch was very good and just what we needed to refuel ourselves. Feeling back to normal, we walked towards Sunset Pier. This time Al was working so we made sure we said hello. 

It was pretty hot so after our drinks, we walked towards Hogsbreath to see who was playing. It wasn’t anyone that we recognized but we had a beer before heading back to the Smokin’ Tuna. However, on our way we had to stop by and see this guy again at Rick’s.

I remembered that the Smokin’ Tuna has entertainment usually starting around 5/5:30pm and it was around that time. We left Rick’s and went to the Tuna. And again, empty – which it was still so odd to see. We did visit Key West last July as well, but it was for only 2 nights so we didn’t have much time to walk around.

There was some new guy playing there named Kevin So. We figured we were there already so lets give him a try. When he began playing we were quite impressed. He had a really good voice.   After a while he took his break and we wound up talking to him. He was from Nashville and it was his first time in Key West. We told him that normally the place has more people, but this time of year its really quiet – especially during the week.

We talked for a bit and he even had us meet his dog Monk. It was time for us to head out, but we told him we would catch him again the next day.

We walked down towards the Gardens and my husband mentioned that he wanted to check out the Little Room Jazz Club. Its not to far from the Gardens so I didn’t mind. When we walked in it was pretty crowded and they had a decent jazz band playing.

After a couple of songs and sangria I was done – time for bed!

We made it back to our room and it was lights out!!

Day Four – July 8th – Willie T’s, Sunset at Mallory Square & Virgilio’s

We woke up a little later this morning since we didn’t have anything planned. I was feeling a little rough and in need of a good breakfast. I remembered last time we had a tasty breakfast at Croissants de France.  We grabbed coffee to go at the Gardens and made our way to Croissants de France. We sat down towards the back and ordered more coffee. It was much needed this morning. The coffee is really good and hot there too.For breakfast I had the eggs benedict with smoked salmon (my favorite) while my husband had the americanos which was an open faced butter croissant topped with three scrambled eggs.

As we were enjoying our breakfast we noticed that the table next to us had a rooster and chicken begging for food.They would just stare at you and wait. And then the rooster would peck at the lady’s backside if she ignored him….it was hilarious. Once they left, the pair were onto us. Luckily I had part of my brioche roll left that I could feed them. I know there are roosters, chickens all over Key West (and especially at Blue Heaven) but I have never seen them beg like that before. The rooster would just stare at you – like a dog!

We were still groggy and wanted to relax. Billy was available to take us out on his boat, but I just couldn’t do it. My stomach was feeling a bit rough and didn’t want to chance it out on the water.  We wound up just relaxing at the Gardens pool for a bit. We were on the go for the past few days so it was nice to sit back for a while. 

I checked my phone to see this facebook site I just recently learned about to tell you who’s playing wear that day in Key West called “Who and Where in Key West”. I saw that this one musician Zack Seemiller was playing later on at Willie T’s and wanted to be sure to stop on by to hear a few songs. https://www.facebook.com/whoandwherekw?fref=ts

A few hours passed and it was time to freshen up.

Being in Key West you tend to drink a fair share of different drinks and at this point of the trip, it was getting a bit difficult to figure out what we wanted to drink.Then we realized that the sangria at the Little Room Jazz Club are decent and being they have happy hour from 12pm – 8pm, two glasses of sangria for $8 is not a bad deal.

We sat down inside for a few minutes just to get out of the heat. We talked to the bartender (David I think) and he thought we were actually locals (I wish). I guess we have that vibe from time to time – but no we told him we have been coming down for years and are from NJ. He also mentioned to us about a place down the street called Martin’s. He said that they have this great happy hour from 4-6pm daily where martini’s are 1/2 price and all appetizers are 1/2 price. And that its a place where a lot of the locals go and its more or less a tapas type of a place. I am not a big martini fan, but we figured its a place we could perhaps try. Sometimes the best places are where the locals recommend.

We moved back outside for a little bit to get some air, plus its a great spot to people watch. We grabbed two to-go cups for our sangria and it was time to head to Willie T’s. As we walked down Duval, a few tourists stopped us and asked us if we were drinking alcohol in the streets (I assume first timers in Key West). We told them if you have a to-go cup you should be good to go. 

We made it down to Willie T’s and sat down to hear Zack play. I didn’t realize when he plays by himself he is quite the entertainer. I swear I don’t think we stopped laughing the entire time we were there. I was also happy to hear his new song that I am quite a fan of called “You’re Harmony” which is written about his daughter. 

Instead of stopping by for a few songs, we wound up staying for his entire set! Time just flew by. If you are ever walking by Willie T’s and he’s playing, be sure to stop on in. 

He then mentioned that he was playing later on at Virgilio’s with Caffeine Carl. My husband is a big fan of Caffeine Carl so we thought perfect! We told him we would check them out later but not before I could get a photo with the “Z” man:

We also wanted to check out the sunset at Mallory Square, but at this time of year it doesn’t set until 8:20pm. We had time to kill so we went back to Irish Kevin’s before grabbing a bite to eat at Smokin’ Tuna. Irish Kevin himself was playing and he was having a fun time busting on a young guy (named Jon Snow – kept referencing Game of Thrones- LOL) during his bachelor party celebration. 

We were both getting pretty hungry so we made our way down to Smokin’ Tuna. Kevin So was playing again so we listened to him for a bit. We ordered a couple of appetizers before heading down towards Mallory Square. Funny along the way we saw someone familiar riding on their motorcycle. 

When we got to Mallory Square we were surprised how crowded it was. I guess it doesn’t matter what time of year – Mallory Square does indeed bring in locals and tourists a like. We walked down to see if Jimmy was working the cart, but unfortunately he was off. We still ordered a couple of green things to enjoy during the sunset. 

During this time of year the sun sets behind Sunset Key. It was still a beautiful sunset, but I was a bit disappointed missing the sun dropping down into the water.  

It was just after 8:30pm and Caffeine Carl and Zack were not playing until 9:30 at Virgilio’s so we walked back down to Kelly’s. Kelly’s was quiet enough to find two empty seats at the bar. We ordered a round of drinks before walking down to Virgilio’s.

We had never been to Virgilio’s before so this helped knock off another place we had never been to.
We walked down the side street and noticed that the door was open with people walking in and out. We figured that this was considered the “back lounge” where the music was being played. Sure enough it was.

It was a cute little area – a bit dark with tables and chairs, a back bar and a stage area for the entertainment. Caffeine Carl and Zack started to play and we just sat back and enjoyed the music.  It wound up being quite a festive night since Caffeine Carl was celebrating his 30 year class reunion. The music was great and we even managed to dance to a number! It was by far the latest we had stayed up all trip. We had a great time before making back to the Gardens.

Day Five – July 9th – Our Last Full Day

Since it was our last full day in Key West I wanted to go back to Blue Heaven for breakfast. We woke up a little later and didn’t make it to Blue Heaven until after 9am. It was a little more crowded then the previous day, but since it was still slow season we were seated right away. I decided to splurge and order the lobster eggs benedict. The lobster portion was very generous but I felt the lobster may have been a little over cooked and/or maybe previously frozen since it was a little tough.

When we finished breakfast we were still feeling the affects of the day/night before so we went back to the Gardens to lounge by the pool. At this point neither of us could think of drinking anything. After spending several days drinking in Key West – it definitely catches up with you!

A few hours passed and we figured we should motivate and freshen up for our last afternoon/evening in Key West. Plus we didn’t want to stay up too late since we had an early flight the next morning (7:15am) back home.

The day before we started at the Little Room Jazz Club with sangrias and they tasted pretty good, so we made the decision to go back. This time we stayed outside since the bar area was a bit crowded. We enjoyed watching the people and cars go by for a bit. 

Then we walked down to see Al for one last time at the Sunset Pier. He wished us well and told him we would be back next year.

I checked the music schedule on my phone and saw that Zack was playing again at Willie T’s. So we figured we would stop by again since we had so much fun the day before.

We said hello to Zack and found a couple of seats and sat back down and enjoyed the entertainment.Again we wound up staying until his set was over!! This time he also did a cover of one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett’s songs “Tin Cup Chalice”.

Then Zack took a break while a lady came up to talk about how Willie T’s took down the dollars off the wall to donate a check to the Wounded Warriors Project. I thought that it was really cool that they did that. I think it was around $7K! 

When Zack’s set was done we made sure we got another photo w/ Zack before giving Martin’s a try… 

It was getting close to 6pm, but we managed to sit down and get our order in before it was over. 

We wound up ordering appetizers of escargot, baked brie, cheese platter, tuna and scallops wrapped in shrimp. It was delicious. We each had a special martini off the menu. I wasn’t too crazy about mine (but again I am not a big martini fan). When we got the bill we were shocked that it was only around $40! This was definitely a HUGE find and we were so glad that the bartender at the Little Room Jazz Club told us about it! My review here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34345-d779473-Reviews-Martin_s-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

Being it was our last evening we wanted to spend it at our favorite place – the Smokin’ Tuna. We walked back down Duval and caught the end of Kevin So’s act. He recognized us and sat with us for a few. We wished him luck and how maybe some day we’ll visit Nashville and check him out. 

Soon it was time for Caffeine Carl & Friends (w/ Zack) to play. We told ourselves not to stay out too late since we had to be up early the next morning.We didn’t leave before hearing Zack’s “You’re Harmony” once more. Just love the song! Anyway so after listening to a couple more songs we had to pull ourselves away and “be responsible” and head back to the Gardens.

We said our goodbyes to Carl and Zack and made the walk back to the Gardens. We tried to take in the last sights of the Gardens before departing for the night.

Day Six – July 10th – Departure Day

I never sleep good the night before we have to leave. I think we both kept waking up every hour. After 3am I was wide awake. We had our alarms set for 5:30am and woke up without any problems. We were definitely feeling a bit sluggish but knew we had to get going.

We had the Gardens call a taxi the night before so the taxi picked us up at 6:15am. We checked in at the Silver Airways counter and thankfully our 7:15am flight was on time. 

The connection was in Ft. Lauderdale this time so the flight time was about 45 min. We landed in Ft. Lauderdale and had about an hour and 1/2 layover which wasn’t too bad. Soon it was time to board our United flight back to Newark airport. Surprisingly we landed early and we were back home before 2pm.

And now I am back in NJ (and at least it is summer, but its going by too fast…) just trying to figure out when we can return. Maybe March? Most likely with the timing of the Easter holiday it won’t be until April. Sniff….

I guess we’ll just have to settle on watching the webcams again to tide us over for now.

Key West may not be considered a “beach” destination, but there is plenty to do, great people to meet and awesome music to experience.

Thanks for reading my blog… until next time!

We were headed back to Key West to mark our 10th time there. (You could say our 11th time since we had a short return trip last July for two days). This time was going to be extra fun because our friends were coming down for the first time. My husband and I were both very excited to show them around. Plus we were returning to one of our favorite places to stay the Gardens Hotel. http://www.gardenshotel.com You can read my review here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d227346-r262834313-The_Gardens_Hotel-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html#UR262834313 Day One – March 22nd – Rough Start Our flight was on schedule to leave at 6:00am. I had my alarm set for 3:00am and was ready. Unfortunately when my alarm went off I hit off instead of snooze. I remember barely hearing the music playing but fell back to sleep and thought to myself that it had been longer then 10 min. I wake up and look at the clock and it read 4:30am! I thought OMG, what did I just do? In a panic I woke up my husband and checked my cell phone. The driver tried calling it several times and I called him back. He said he was on his way to pick up another couple who was scheduled to get to the airport at 6:00am. The only thing left to do was to drive ourselves to Newark Airport. We grabbed all our things and we were off to the airport. While my husband was driving I called United airlines in a panic. The agent on the line was one of the nicest people I have ever dealt with for United. She told me there was a “Flat Tire” clause where you can be booked on the next available flight without a change fee. Instead of a 6:00am flight that we were scheduled for, she found a 7:40am flight that was also connecting in Ft. Lauderdale and had two first class seats available which we had previously purchased. The connection time for the other flight to Key West on Silver Airways was at 1:45pm. It was a little later than what we had but we were grateful we able to make the change and still get to Key West the same day. Once we reached the airport, parked the jeep and went through security, it was 6:11am. There was no way we would have made the original flight. Our flight was uneventful and made it to Ft. Lauderdale by 11:00am. We had almost 2 and 1/2 hours to wait so we went to the Presidents Club Lounge and grabbed a few snacks and waited. Around 1:15 we gathered our things and made our way to the gate. I checked the flight status screen in the lounge and it said on time. Then when we walked out to the main area in the terminal it was updated to a 2:30 delay. Great. Well we saw that there was a Chili’s and figured if we can’t start our vacation in Key West right now we’ll start it in Ft. Lauderdale. We ordered a round of drinks and waited once again. Another hour passed by and it was now 2:00pm. I checked the flight status and it changed again to 3:30pm. I was beginning to think we were never going to get there. Plus our friends who we were going down with who were on our originally scheduled flight were already down in Key West sending us photos. It was torture…. Meanwhile we started to strike up a conversation with another guy (Ryan) who was supposed to be on the flight to Key West. Ryan was a local and said it happens quite frequently with this airline and that this was his second flight attempt to get to Key West since he missed the first one. It was now 3:15pm and we had enough and walked down to the gate to see what was going on. It was just a mess. People were standing around and waiting. You can see all the scheduled Silver Airway flights to the near by Outer Islands of the Bahamas were too delayed. There was actually one customer who was waiting since the day before. We couldn’t understand what was going on and why there were so many delays. The weather was fine and there was no indication of any mechanical issues. No one could tell us anything. Ryan started to joke and said if we needed a place to stay in Delray Beach where he was from. It was now 4:00pm and we were getting very impatient. Finally someone announced over the speaker that our flight was ready for boarding. We were so relieved at this point. We got on the plane and were on our way to Key West. Unfortunately once we landed a large Delta flight just arrived prior to us so we knew we would have to wait for our luggage and for a cab. Nothing was going smoothly.  Once in the airport we had to wait again for our luggage. It took a while but we did finally get it. Meanwhile all the people from the Delta flight were ahead of us on line waiting for a cab. Before we knew it was us and about 6 other people left online and there were no more cabs. At this point it was 5:30 and all we wanted to do was get to the Gardens. Eventually a taxi van came up and took us all together. And once again we had to wait for everyone else to be dropped off before us. Our patience was wearing thin. And to top things off, there was a couple in our cab that was staying at the Southernmost Hotel and when the cab dropped them off they weren’t sure if it was the correct hotel. I know there are several hotels with the Southernmost name but you would think they would have an idea what the hotel they are staying at looked like. It was now 6:00pm when we got to the Gardens. One of the reasons I wanted to arrive on a Sunday was to catch the Jazz at the Gardens. Every time we have stayed there in the past we never got to see it since it was only on Sundays. Well this didn’t help us checking in at 6:00pm. We were able to check in quickly but had to walk through a sea of people to get to our room. We really didn’t care at this point and we wanted to just get to our room. On our way to our room we stopped by to see our friend Billy who was bartending and was also taking us out on his boat later in the week. It was good to see our friend again. We unpacked our things and freshened up. Our friends who had been enjoying Key West since 12:30 in the afternoon stopped on by. They were staying at the nearby Duval Inn so we walked to check out their place. They invited us to hang out with them for a bit but we wanted to do our annual margarita at Willie T’s. We thanked them and told them we would meet them later for a late dinner. On the way we saw the strangest thing… some guy on a bicycle with a stuffed ostrich in the back….  It was so nice to be back in Key West. We walked down towards to Willie T’s where we saw all the familiar sites and sounds of mopeds and the conch train going by. As we approached Willie T’s we could here the music play. We were so excited to have our first drinks to start our return vacation on Key West. We wanted to catch the end of the jazz and touch base with Billy regarding our fishing trip so we walked back to the hotel. On the way back, we stopped at the Duval Inn to see if our friends were up for dinner. They were quite tired at this point and said they would pass. We said no problem and that we would meet them for breakfast at Blue Heaven in the morning. The place was still crowded but we found two spots at the one of end of the bar. Billy poured us a couple drinks and we confirmed our fishing trip for that Wednesday. The night before I had made reservations at the nearby Deuce’s Off the Hook for dinner since it is so close to the Gardens. Once the jazz ended we headed to the restaurant. The place is quite small so were lucky we had reservations. For our appetizers I had the snapper ceviche and my husband had the ahi tuna ceviche. Both were delicious. Then for our main courses I had opted to try the catch of the day speckled trout. For sides, I chose the order of cheddar grits and the garlic sauteed haricot vert, while my husband had the gnocchi lobster mac and cheese. It was a great dinner after a long day. You can read my full review of the restaurant here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d5565929-r262836058-Deuce_s_Off_the_Hook_Grill-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html#REVIEWS

Day Two – March 23rd – Marathon Bar Hopping We woke up around 8:00am which seemed to be the usual time for us throughout our stay. There was construction going on across the street so that helped us to get up and not sleep the day away. Across from the Gardens is a newly built Firehouse. The construction is complete but they are finishing up the parking area. It wasn’t too much of an inconvenience but it did prevent us from wanting to relax by the pool during the day. We met our friends and made our way through Bahama Village to Blue Heaven. Since we got there before 8:30 we were seated right away. I always love the feeling of sitting at Blue Heaven and watching the roosters and chickens run around. For breakfast I had the suzy omelet with a side of key lime hollandaise sauce. Our friends had the shrimp and grits and the eggs. Everyone enjoyed the breakfast. Since we were near the Hemingway House and our friends had never been there we made that be our next stop. It had been a few years for us but it was nice to return to the house. My husband used to volunteer at a cat shelter so he was eager to see the 6 toed cats once again. We opted out of the tour so we just walked through around the property and through the house. We noticed that they did a lot to fix up the areas where the cats lived. It seemed a lot cleaner. There is a nice view of the lighthouse from the house. It was getting hot out so we walked back to rooms to relax for a little while before making our way back on to Duval. Plus I wanted to grab my Key West bar card that I purchased ahead of time. I never thought the card would be worth it, but for $20 it winds up paying itself and more if you do enjoy having a drink or two at the places listed on the card. I highly recommend purchasing one. http://www.keywestbarcard.com My husband and I had a plan in our minds to show our friends different bars on our first day, but since our plans changed we wanted to be sure to show them around. We first went back to our rooms to grab some extra cash for the day before making our way for a long day of bar hopping. As we walked down Duval we noticed a lot of construction going on throughout the area. It made it a little bit of an obstacle walking down the street but we managed to get to Captain Tony’s. Captain Tony’s isn’t the most visually appealing bar, but I just love the history of it. We all ordered a drink and looked around. We wanted to keep the one drink per place limit so we can get through as many places as possible. Our next stop was to walk towards the water. So the next place we hit was the Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key Resort. We also wanted to see if Al was working. We see him every year and wanted to say hello. Unfortunately he was off that day so we would just have to come back. We took a few photos and then left for the next stop. We headed down towards the bight to walk the Harbor Walk. We walked down past Commodore’s and the Conch Republic. We showed them Jimmy Buffett’s studio and how we never realized that this white cooler looking of a building was indeed his recording studio. We also had a chance to see the Market Hotel. We didn’t walk in but from the outside it did look really nice. We walked into the Schooner Wharf Bar, another iconic place of Key West. It was pretty hot out so we grabbed a few seats in the shade. It wasn’t too crowded yet so we enjoyed a quiet spot. Next on the list was the Top of Turtle Kraals. It has a great view of the water from up top so we thought it would be a nice change of scenery. After a round of drinks we were all getting hungry. We felt like seafood so walked on over to the Half Shell Raw Bar. We were surprised on how busy it was for a Monday afternoon. We ordered a few appetizers to help soak up all the drinks so far. It did help and we were feeling revived. I took a break and got a few things at their gift shop. They do have a nice selection of shirts available. Dante’s is right next to the Half Shell so we made that our next bar stop. The pool area had a lot of people but we found a couple of seats at the bar. We didn’t stay too long because it was pretty crowded. We grabbed our drinks and made our way back towards Duval. I was starting to lose count at this point as to how many places we stopped at but the next was Hog’s Breath. This was more or less a stop to check out their souvenir shop, but we did manage to grab a drink as well. Next stop on the marathon bar hopping tour was Rick’s.  The outside bar area was open so we sat down. It’s the perfect spot to watch all the people and characters walk by.  With only a few more stops to go on the tour, Smokin’ Tuna was next. Unfortunately it was before 5pm and Caffeine Carl wasn’t playing yet but we did get to see him set up. My husband is a fan and wanted a picture with him. We were all feeling quite happy at this point and made our way down towards our rooms. Along the way we passed the Greene Parrot and stopped in for another one.  My husband and our friend played darts while my friend and I had some popcorn. We were getting tired so we wanted to get back to freshen up. We had all intentions to go back to our rooms, but we as we walked by Willie T’s we heard this guy playing on the guitar. He sounded pretty good so we grabbed a table. This probably wasn’t the best idea but we had a few margaritas. I don’t know how we did it but we did. We weren’t sure if the guitarist was that good or the alcohol made him sound that good – we had a great time nevertheless. We didn’t’ have any dinner plans set but we were all hungry from the long day of drinking. Our friends wanted to grab something nearby but we decided to make reservations at the Roof Top Cafe. I figured after a shower and the long walk back to the Roof Top Cafe, it may wake us up a bit. Once we got back to the Gardens I gave them a call and they were able to get us a reservation for 8:30. We didn’t have too much down time after we freshened up before walking back down towards Duval. We were seated towards the end of the balcony which was really nice. We felt like we had the place to ourselves.Sometimes though you can be forgotten if you are not in the view of the servers. Our server however was very accommodating and we had great service. For starters I had the duck confit spring rolls and my husband had the lobster & gnocchi. I was in the mood for shrimp and grits ever since I saw our friend order it for breakfast at Blue Heaven. So I ordered their version of shrimp and grits and my husband ordered the grilled 8oz. filet. We had not been to the Roof Top Cafe in several years and was so glad that we returned. Everything was just delicious. http://www.rooftopcafekeywest.com It was a long day and we were exhausted. After we paid the bill we noticed a few rain drops starting to fall. Luckily we made it back to the inside area of the restaurant before the downpour. We had to wait about 15 minutes or so before it finally subsided to make our way back to the Gardens. Luckily it did stop and we made it back without getting rained on.

Day Three – March 24th – The Perfect Sunset at Latitude’s We woke up again around 8am but this time it was raining. I wasn’t expecting the rain, but I do know you can always expect a popup storm when your on the island. Lucky for us the Gardens supplies every room with umbrellas. We grabbed the umbrellas and two more near the check-in office for our friends. Since it was raining and we didn’t want to walk too far, we headed to Sarabeth’s for breakfast. I always order the “Goldie Lox”. A light and fluffy egg scramble with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Yum! We were all feeling a little bit from the day before but were hoping the breakfast and much needed coffee would give us the boost we needed. We were seated at a nice table inside. The coffee was very good and so was the breakfast. With our minds and bodies revitalized we discussed what we were going to do today. Our friends decided to relax at the Duval Inn for a bit. I wanted to do some shopping so we went back to the Gardens to grab more cash. Thankfully the rains stopped and the skies were starting to clear. We walked back down Duval to do some shopping.  The sun was out in full force and it was hot. We walked around the shops just outside Mallory Square. There were several cruise ships in so it was a bit crowded. We made our way down towards Island Dogs and stopped in for a drink and to cool off a bit.  I was able to use the Key West bar card again so that was a plus. We realized that we had not been to the Galleon Tiki Bar yet and wanted our friends to see the view.  We ordered a round of drinks and chatted with the bartender for a bit. Another place we had not been to yet was the Sunset Pier so we made that our next stop. We always stop at the Sunset Pier every trip. Its another great place to sit look out onto the water. Plus there’s a great bartender/server that works there Al. If you have a chance, be sure to stop by and tell Al hello. We walked around the back streets towards Angela St. We came across a very impressive looking tree called the Kapok Tree.  I had made reservations ahead of time for all us at Latitude’s. Our reservation was for 6:15pm so I knew we had to be by the Westin no later then 6pm to get on the ferry. Plus Caffeine Carl was playing with Scott Kirby that night at the Smokin’ Tuna around 5pm. We figured we would head back to our rooms early to get ready and then meet back up at the Smokin’ Tuna to catch Caffeine Carl for a few before making our way towards the Westin. We walked back towards Angela St. and told our friends we would meet them for dinner. My husband and I then changed our minds and walked further down Duval. We felt like sangria so we made our way down to the Little Room Jazz Club. We sat outside and just watched the people go by. I did notice across the street there was a croissant place. When we left we walked across the street to check out the menu. It looked really good for breakfast so we figured we would try it out the next morning since we wanted some place close for breakfast before going out with Billy for the day. We got back to the Gardens to freshen up for dinner.   We managed to stop by the Gardens Bar for another refreshing drink. We wound up chatting with a nice couple from NJ who have a summer house down the shore in Lavallette where we go to every year. Small world!  When we got to the Smokin’ Tuna we noticed it was just Scott Kirby. Apparently something happened with Caffeine Carl and he didn’t make it. It was a bit of a disappointment but he was scheduled to play again the next several days so we figured we would catch him at some point. We listened to Scott Kirby sing for a little bit and noticed he does sound a lot like James Taylor. 

It was time to walk to the Westin and see Jimmy (a.k.a. Mr. Mojito) before we went on the ferry boat to Sunset Key. Unfortunately when we got to the cart it was two other guys working. He was off! All well we thought we would catch him during the Mallory Square Sunset celebration the next night.  We waited for a few minutes and then all got on to the ferry and headed to Sunset Key. Its a short ride, maybe 10 minutes or so. We were seated at a nice table. The food in my opinion was just okay but the atmosphere is what you pay for. The sunset we saw that night was nearly perfect. The sun just dropped right into the water. It was just beautiful.

Day Four – March 25th – Fishing with Billy We woke up to another beautiful day. We were excited to take our friends out with us to go fishing with Billy. This was our fourth time out with him so we knew we were going to have a great time. We all met again for breakfast. This time we were going to walk down to Croissants De France for breakfast. http://www.croissantsdefrance.com We walked in and were seated towards the back. The coffee was very good here and so was the food. They had different variations of eggs benedict served on fresh homemade brioche bread.
Plus they also had homemade crepes. This was a great find. You can read my full review here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d625757-r263047560-Croissants_de_France_and_Le_Bistro-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html#REVIEWS

After we had breakfast we walked back to the Gardens to wait for Billy. We had time to freshen up a little before our day out on the water. Billy picked us up around 10:30 and we were on our way to get on his boat. We didn’t have too much planned for the day. We just wanted to go fishing for a bit and then perhaps go over to the sandbar to relax. The water was like glass that day. This was our fourth time out with Billy and never had such calm water. I think it maybe affected the fishing however. My husband and our friend caught a few fish but not many. Unfortunately my husband had a large fish on his line, but after a long struggle he got away.

We weren’t sure what it was. Soon it was off to the sandbar. Billy found a great spot where we were able to just relax and jump in the water for a bit. The afternoon was spent catching up and having a terrific time. It was a blast. Plus the weather was perfect.  Billy dropped us back off at the Gardens and we thanked him again. We told our friends we would meet back in an hour or so to get ready for dinner and watch the sunset at Mallory Square. We stopped at the Gardens bar for a very good rum punch made by the bartender. We also were able to say hello to the owner of the Gardens Kate.  After we showered and got ready we stopped at the Duval Inn to pick up our friends. We made our way down to Mallory Square. Since our friends had never been there before we figured they must see the sunset celebration. My husband and I haven’t been in several years and now I remembered why. It was so crowded. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was. There was even a long line to see Jimmy at the cart. We waited patiently for one of his infamous green things. It was definitely worth the wait. Unfortunately the sunset was not as nice as the one as Latitude’s. The sun fell behind the clouds before reaching the horizon.  We were all quite hungry but wanted a more casual meal for dinner. We walked down towards Caroline Street and stopped at Kelly’s. We ordered the key lime margaritas but didn’t see anything on the menu we felt like. So we grabbed our drinks to go and went across the street to Grunt’s.  We walked back to find the Garbo’s Grill food cart. Apparently everyone else had found it too. We did have to wait a little bit for our food but I can see why it was so crowded. The mahi mahi tacos were delicious as well as the yum yum shrimp tacos.  It was another fun filled day and we all were ready to get some sleep. We walked back down to Angela St. and to our rooms.

Day Five – March 26th – Pepe’s, Peppers and Smokin’ Tuna We woke up to another hot and sunny day. We even asked some locals who mentioned the weather was about 5 degrees warmer then it normally is for this time of year. We didn’t complain after the long winter we had. We welcomed the heat and sun! Our friends wanted to check out the Maritime Museum so we decided to have breakfast on our own. We first wanted to go back to Bagatelle’s for breakfast since they have one of my favorite breakfast items huervos rancheros. As we walked down Duval we noticed a traffic light was out. Then my husband noticed that a lot of people were standing outside of the shops and all the lights were out. By the time we got to Bagatelle’s we realized they had no power. I guess we weren’t having breakfast there this time. We turned down Southard St. and headed toward’s the bight. Then I remembered that Pepe’s was nearby. I checked my iPhone and saw that we weren’t. We walked right into Pepe’s and noticed that they had a cute outdoor garden area and an inside dining area. It was packed with people so we weren’t able to sit outside. We were able to get one of the last tables available inside. The coffee was very good but a bit on the cool side. My husband ordered the eggs benedict but was a little disappointed. My omelet special however was very good. The omelet was filled with sauteed onions, ham and mushrooms and served with a garlic white cream sauce. I was a little hesitant ordering it but it was tasty.  It turned out we were real close to Peppers so we went there to do a tasting. Normally I pass on the tastings but this time I decided to give it a try. The young lady that helped us was actually from Monmouth, NJ. We thought it was such a small world. It turned out we met quite a few people both locals and visitors from NJ. We finished our tasting and selected the hot sauces we wanted shipped home. Our mouths were a little bit on fire after tasting so many hot sauces that we were in search of some place to get something to drink. We got in touch with our friends and they were at the Galleon Tiki Bar. Perfect! We walked down and had a much needed cold drink.  We walked around a bit and being it was another hot and sunny day we were in another need of a cold beverage. We were near the Ocean Key Resort so we stopped by the Sunset Pier for a cold one and say hello to Al who was working. Everyone was getting hungry so we went back to the Smokin’ Tuna to grab a bite. My husband and I shared the mahi mahi fish bites which were quite good. We wanted to come back later to catch Scott Kirby with Caffeine Carl so we made our way back to the Gardens and the Duval Inn. On our way back we realized we hadn’t stopped at Margaritaville yet. Its a bit touristy but if you are in Key West…. and it also turned out that only a few days after we leave Jimmy Buffett is playing at the San Carlos Theater which is right near Margaritaville.  We were lucky enough to grab four seats at the bar. The place is always packed, mostly with cruise ship tourists. We all had to order a margarita. Pretty good. The day before I realized I didn’t back enough undergarments so I was able to get our clothes washed at the Gardens. The Gardens offers a laundry service of $16 per bag. I thought why not? Less laundry I have to do when I get back home. It actually wound up working well. I think I may pack less next time and use this service again. It only takes a day and well worth it.  So after our margaritas, we went back to our rooms. I picked up our laundry and we had a drink at the Gardens Bar to cool off. We also spotted another guest that was wondering the grounds. Before we knew it, it was time to get ready and head back out to see Scott Kirby with Caffeine Carl. Our friends wound up doing their own thing for the evening so it was just us. It was fun to see Scott Kirby and Caffeine Carl. They sounded great together. For dinner we felt like hitting a few different places and order appetizers. We left after watching almost 2 sets worth of Scott Kirby and Caffeine Carl, but not before I could get a picture with Scott Kirby. We walked down towards to Kelly’s to order a couple of key lime margaritas. I decided to go with the ahi tuna appetizer and my husband had the fried calamari. We each shared and it hit the spot. We were still hungry so we walked down to Duval and down Applerouth Lane to 2 Cents. Its a small side street right rear Willie T’s. If you blink, you may miss it. We were at 2 Cents last July and had a great dinner there. We walked in and were able to be seated without a reservation. We thought we would start off with ordering a couple of appetizers and see how we felt. We ordered the bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and the truffle fries. You can’t go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon…. It wasn’t that much food but it was quite rich that it filled us up just enough for the time being. We were getting tired and walked back to the Gardens. My husband wanted to stop at DJ’s Clam Shack for another snack. So we hit DJ’s before settling in for the night at the Garden’s. Day Six – March 27th – Last Full Day I woke up and couldn’t believe it was our last full day already. This was our longest stay thus far in Key West and it still goes by so fast. I think a lot has to do with you are on the move and do so many things every day. Since we were leaving early the next morning and knowing that it was our last breakfast in Key West I wanted to go back to Blue Heaven. Our friends weren’t up yet so it was just the two of us. We were running a little late so by the time we got there, there was a wait. It was only 5 minutes so we sat down at the bar and my husband ordered a bloody mary. I tasted it, but I still couldn’t drink it. I decided to order the hibiscus cocktail instead which was a mimosa with vodka added. Not bad at all. For breakfast I decided to splurge and try the lobster eggs benedict and my husband had the eggs benedict with their homemade sausage. I always find it a bit humorous with something so rich as eggs benedict that they serve a little fruit with it. I figure why not just serve home fries with it? Its already a high calorie breakfast – what’s a few more?  We met up with our friends who were having breakfast at Island Dogs. We told them that we wanted to do some more shopping so we walked towards the Schooner Wharf Bar to check out some of the shops along the way. We bought a few things and then stopped at the Schooner Wharf Bar. As usual Michael McCloud was playing and we listened to him for a bit.  Our friends still had not been to Peppers so we left the SWB and walked down to do a tasting. The same young lady was working so she helped us again. We had already purchased a bunch of hot sauces but tried more. The Peppers Asian Marinade is one of our favorites. It is really good.  After the tasting we were in search of something to drink. It was another beautiful day. I wanted to go back to the Sunset Pier to see Al one last time. We had a drink and told Al until next year! We then walked back to Captain Tony’s because they had a shirt I wanted for my husband that was on order. When we walked in I checked to see if they had it in, but unfortunately still out of stock. All well, I will just have to order it online. We all signed and put up a $1 to add to the collection. I wonder if ours will still be there next time? Originally we had reservations for Louie’s Backyard that evening but we didn’t feel like a fancy dinner. We just wanted to go back to the Smokin’ Tuna to catch Caffeine Carl and have something light to eat. So we headed back to the Gardens Hotel to get freshened up for our last evening in Key West. When we got back to the Smokin’ Tuna it wasn’t Scott Kirby with Caffeine Carl but this guy named Nick Norman. He was quite good actually. To me, he sounded a little like David Gray with sometimes a southern twang. We hung out for a bit and we were having a great time.  I was also excited when they did a cover of my favorite band Pearl Jam “Black”.

Caffeine Carl wasn’t quite Mike McCready but he was very good! This time I got a picture with Nick: Looking back we should have probably stayed there to order some food but we decided we would just walk back along Duval and find someplace to eat. However when we left, the skies opened up. It started to pour. We looked across the way and saw there was Sloppy Joe’s. Another place our friends never been to so we walked in. We found one table left and ordered a few appetizers. I was surprised how good their fish dip was. We also noticed that it is now a smoke free place. Maybe its because they get so many day tourists there with the cruise ships coming in, but was really surprised that they changed it. We wanted to show our friends the Little Jazz Bar Room because they didn’t make it with us. We walked down Duval and the skies opened up again. We ran into the Flying Monkey to get a few frozen drinks to go. I am not a fan with their drinks – to me they taste like plastic. We walked further down and the rain was not going to let up so we changed our minds and headed back to the Gardens. We had an early flight the next morning so it probably was a good call. We got back to the Gardens and finally tried their self serving wine bar. We all had a glass before heading to bed. Our friends were on a later flight so we said our good-byes and told them we would see them back home in NJ.

Day Seven – March 28th – Departure Day Because how our trip started we wanted to be sure we were getting up on time. Our flight was at 7:15am so we arranged through the Gardens to have a taxi pick us up at 5:45am. In hind sight it was probably a bit too early but we just wanted to be over cautious. We even had a wake up call set, our alarms and phones all set. Needless to say we got up on time and made it to the airport without fail.  Our flight out of Key West was uneventful to Orlando. Then our flight from Orlando to Newark was also fine and we actually landed 11 minutes early. We were anxious to get our bags and get back to our jeep. I was a little apprehensive leaving it for so long there. We got to the baggage claim and as usual in Newark Airport we had to wait a while for our luggage. When the luggage finally came out we got our one bag but never got our second bag. We waited for a long time and knew that it wasn’t coming. We had to then go to the counter to file a claim. At this point we just wanted to get home. They told us the bag was scanned in Newark but they couldn’t locate it. They reassured us that it would be delivered the next day. I was pretty upset since it had most of our clothes in the bag along with my jewelry. I never usually pack my jewelry but I was so tired in the morning that I just packed it. Never again. Lesson learned. We walked back to the jeep and it was fine. Just as we left it. Thank goodness. We got home and later that evening I contacted United again. It turned out my bag did make it to Newark but then got put back on a flight to Orlando! Eventually I did get my bag delivered the next day and everything was accounted for. It was a huge relief. Next time I think we will only do carry on. I am already thinking about our return to Key West. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to do it again and not miss our flight! Thanks for reading. Until next time…..

October 23 – November 1, 2014

 

This was our 11th time vacationing on St. John and probably one of the most memorable ones. We were able to rent the villa Kaleidoscope where we spent our 10 year anniversary. https://www.kaleidoscopeusvi.com

Plus we had friends of ours make it down for a week during our stay and could not have asked for better weather.

Thursday, October 23rd – Arrival Day

Woke up at 4am and waited for our car service to take us for our 8am flight. It was raining and in the mid 40s. Unfortunately our driver wasn’t at our house by 4:45 so immediately I started to panic and called to see what was going on. It turned out the driver never made it in, so luckily they had a backup to come get us. At around 5:25am the backup driver came to pick us up. 

It turned out he was the owner’s husband and apologized. He made great time and we checked in and made it through security at the airport all by 6:30am. It was a rough start but the anticipation of arriving on St. John later on in the day started to sink in.

Our flight left on time around 8:00am. For some reason our flight was quite turbulent and they even asked the flight crew to fasten their seatbelts for a portion of the flight. We landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico just after 12:00pm. We walked down to where we would normally check-in at the Cape Air counter and noticed the entire section of the airport was blocked and closed. We had to take an elevator down one level and wait for someone to escort us to the doorway. Once he arrived we were taken outside into a van. They took us to the other part of the terminal where they had a temporary set up for Cape Air. Our flight was not until 3:15 and hoped to be moved up to the 12:40pm flight. Unfortunately the flight was full and we had to wait.

We walked down the terminal and eventually found a crowded restaurant/bar called Mangoes. It was the only place to have a drink while we waited. We had a couple of beers and then walked back towards the Cape Air waiting area. After about a half hour they announced that our flight would be delayed a few minutes. Disappointed we just sat there. It turned out the flight was over a half hour late. I then contacted Justin (who was picking us up at the ferry dock in Cruz Bay) that we wouldn’t make the 5pm ferry but were hoping. They eventually called our flight and left San Juan around 3:30. We wound up landing around 4:15pm and were hoping that we would grab a cab that had a quick taxi cab driver. That wasn’t the case. The couple that shared the taxi with us were staying at Blue Beard’s Castle so we had to take a detour to drop them off. I didn’t mind that much since this is where my parents spent part of their honeymoon years ago and always remember the picture of the castle with blue shutters.

Once we dropped them off we were on our way to Red Hook. Traffic was bustling and there was no way we were going to make the 5. I texted Justin and told him we would be on the 6pm ferry.

We got to Red Hook and it was close to 5:30pm. We went to the bar in the terminal and had a couple of rum punches. St. John was getting closer! Once we got the tickets in hand I sent another message to Justin reconfirming our later arrival and assured me that our rental car company were aware. By the time we got on the ferry the sun was setting. This was the first time we were arriving in St. John this late. 

We finally got to the dock and were greeted by Justin’s friend Piper. He drove us up to Bougainvillea to get our rental jeep. We have used them for several years now and always get nice jeeps. I also like the fact they don’t have the rental name all over the jeep. http://stjohnjeeps.com

We followed Piper towards Ditleff Point. When we pulled into the gates of Kaleidoscope, the beauty of the villa came back to me. It was just as impressive as the first time. Justin greeted us at the villa and showed us around and that we did get our provisions from Blue Sky http://blueskyconcierge.com (highly recommend – Shanna is great to work with) He also mentioned that he would be starting a new rental business as well.  http://newsofstjohn.com/2014/11/03/popular-business-new-owners/

It was a long day and we were exhausted. We just sat outside at the bar area taking it all in that we finally were back for 10 days. We had a few snacks and couple of beers before calling it a night.

Friday, October 24th – Hawksnest Beach and La Tapa

Beautiful day. Low humidity… started with breakfast at the villa. This was the first time we were seeing the villa in the daylight and it was stunning.

 

We noticed that the landscaping was fuller and the palms near the pool a little bigger. I walked around taking so many pictures trying to capture how beautiful it is. It is one of those places you just have to see in person.

 

We then headed out for our first beach Hawksnest. Just gorgeous! We did some snorkeling and visibility was terrific. We saw a lot of different fish. It was great beach to spend our first full day on.

 

Then went to town. First stop on the list was High Tide. The rum punch wasn’t as red as I remember but still tasty. Then we wanted to check out the old JJ’s but now Cruz Bay Landing.

 

The place was just so nice. They did such a great job transforming this place. We were served two rum punches in mason jars. Nice touch! And the bartenders were so friendly. We could have stayed longer but wanted to go to Joe’s Rum Hut. http://tinyurl.com/pat8ds9

Joe’s Rum Hut was too packed so we went to the Beach Bar. http://tinyurl.com/paxs2be

Ordered myself a bushwhacker.  It was so good. Then moved to the beach area to finish our drinks. It was time to get our jeep at the parking lot and get a few more provisions for the villa. Stopped at the Starfish Market. Really $8 for shredded cheese??? Grabbed the block of cheese instead for $4.50…. and few other things we needed. Made it back to Kaleidoscope for some afternoon relaxing by the pool. 

Then made reservations for dinner at La Tapa. http://tinyurl.com/ox2notk  This is one of our favorite places and I love sitting out near the road. We weren’t extremely hungry so we decided to go with the tapas menu. Our first course was the assortment of three fine cheeses. One of the servers came out and showed us what kinds of cheese were available and we selected 3.

The next course we choose was the braised pork belly with fennel apple slaw. It was really good. Our 3rd tapas plate was the tuna tartare. Everything hit the spot and we walked back towards our jeep. Being it was a Friday night we couldn’t find any parking spaces available, so we parked in front of our rental company. On the way to Bougainvillea, we walked right up to Fatty Crab. It wasn’t too crowded so we stopped in for a night cap. http://tinyurl.com/p24d932

My husband order a drink called the “Love City”. It consisted of vodka, cucumber, cardamom, basil and lemon. It was so delicious I had to have one for myself.

It was getting late so we finished our drinks and walked back up to our jeep. Once back at Kaleidoscope we went to bed.

Saturday, October 25th 

Woke up to another gorgeous day. I whipped up another breakfast at Kaleidoscope and made the decision to drive to Francis Bay. It took us about 25-30 minutes to get there. And it was a beautiful day. We snorkeled up and down the beach and saw a pretty decent sized ray but no turtles. A few hours had gone by and we were ready to get out of the sun. On the road out of Francis Bay, we saw a buck run right across the road. It was the first time we ever saw a deer this size on St. John.

We wanted to go back to Cruz Bay Landing for a few rum punches. I love how they serve them in mason jars…. after our drinks we headed over to High Tide. There was a DJ there and it was packed.  

As we sat down and looked around, we realized it was the Annual Dingy Poker Run. The place was full of locals and the music was cranking. It was crazy but also a lot of fun. We even got in one of Yelena Roger’s photos. 

Another reason we wanted to stop was because my husband (who runs a garage back home) customer’s nephew works at High Tide. Sure enough we saw him – not to hard to spot with his long dreads… he was so nice. After a few we headed back to the villa to unwind and wait for our friends to arrive on the ferry from St. Thomas.  

Soon it was time to head back into town to grab a bite to eat. We noticed a lot more scooters and motorcycles on the island. I am not so sure I would really want to drive either of those on St. John… Since we hadn’t been to Mongoose Junction we parked our jeep in the parking lot. We first stopped at Ocean Grill to have a couple of cocktails. The bartender was really nice and we mentioned to him we would be back for our last night for dinner on Halloween.

I always wanted to check out Virgin Fire so we headed on over. Our dinner was really good. We sticked with the appetizers but they did not disappoint. http://www.virginfirevi.com  We shared the crispy spring rolls, served with a house made mango chili sauce. Then we tried the coconut shrimp skewers. Another small plate we ordered was the gazpacho shrimp shooters.  Our last plate we choose was the tempura tuna tacos. Everything was delicious and I would highly recommend this place. With are stomachs quite full we walked back to get to our jeep and find a spot in the Wharfside Village, but again, there was no parking available. So as an alternative we parked our jeep up at the Bougainvillea car rental. We walked on down to the ferry to meet our friends. It was great to see them again. Once we got everyone together we headed back to the rental jeep, but first we had to stop at Fatty Crab for their really tasty vodka drinks.

We came back to the villa and partied a bit too late but it was okay. We were with friends! It was finally around midnight when we realized we had to call it a night. It was a long day for friends traveling down from Florida.  

Sunday, October 26th – Villa Gravity Day

The next morning we woke up to another picture perfect day. It was the first time our friends Nancy and Russell saw the villa in the daytime. And just like that they were totally amazed. And after I cooked us a yummy breakfast we decided on a ‘villa gravity’ day. (This is where you spend the day just relaxing at the villa.) Kaleidoscope villa is just the ideal place to stay all day. It is so beautiful that it makes it difficult to leave. My husband made some amazing rum punches and we were all set.  After a few hours just relaxing and catching up, we thought that we would head to town for an early dinner. Our first stop was the beach bar for a few bushwhackers. Then we walked down to High Tide. Everyone was in the mood for (burgers besides me) but I had a pretty good warm spinach salad with fresh mozzarella and blackened shrimp. Our plan was to go to Jost Van Dyke the next day so walked back to get our jeep and on to Kaleidoscope and called it a night.

Monday, October 27th – Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke

Since we had to get up early and be at the Inter Island Ferry over to Jost by 8am, we went to Cruz Bay Landing for breakfast. The server was welcoming and we had a great breakfast. We finished our meals and walked on over to the ferry. We were the first ones there, but only had to wait a few minutes for the lady to open the counter to check us in. There was a bunch of us waiting, including a few ladies celebrating their friend’s birthday. We all just joked about how to fill out the custom forms. It was then 8:30 and the ferry pulled up. It was one of the older models but we were happy to find out it was going straight to Jost instead of heading to Tortola for customs. It was about a 25 minute ride over and we docked at Great Harbor on Jost. We went through customs and the ferry driver told us to be back by the dock around 3pm. We got a cab and we were on our way to Soggy Dollar Bar. The ride is quick but so pretty to see the White Bay Overlook. We got there and had the cab driver come back around 3pm.  

It was a great day on Soggy Dollar. My husband and I played the Ring Toss. He got one from the original location and the other location I actually got one too. Since we were both 1-1 we decided to have a match. Unfortunately we never got the ring on the hook again and I wound up pulling my hamstring. Well how does that happen? I am not sure how but next time I will not be drinking a lot and playing that game! It was a fun time. 

Before we knew it was 3pm and we grabbed a taxi to take us back to the ferry dock. When we got back to the dock, there were a bunch of people were waiting. It was taking a while a we later found out that the ferry headed to Tortola first before going to Jost. No worries… we walked on over to Sugar and Spice…. a tiny little food place with great roti’s and beer. Perfect! The owner actually remembered my husband from our visit last year.

She had a huge smile and was telling us how she needed a logo and t-shirts. I told her I would be sure to come up with some ideas and send them to her (after all I am a graphic designer). While we were waiting the school kids came off the ferry and her daughter came up to us. She gave us her email address and I thanked her. I now have a project to work on when I get home!

The ferry eventually showed up and we were on our way back to St. John. The views were just so pretty. We were back to St. John to face the customs agents. Its always a struggle to act coherent after spending the day at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Luckily we had a friendly agent and we were let right in. We wanted to go to Margarita Phil’s for take out, but it was closed. We then walked on over to Cruz Bay Landing. It was a great choice. My husband and I had the fish tacos, Russell had the jerk chicken which I tasted and it was soooo good. Probably THE best jerk chicken I have ever tasted. Our friend Nancy had the chopped salad with bacon and she thoroughly enjoyed it as well. With our bellies full and a long day, it was time to go ‘home’ to Kaleidoscope.

Tuesday, October 28th – Cinnamon Bay and Private Dinner

Woke up to another beautiful day. We had some breakfast at the villa and then headed out to the beach. Of course we had to stop at the Trunk Bay Overlook. One of our first stops was Jumbie.  We had never been so we wanted to take the trail down to the beach. It was a nice beach but rather small. Then we drove up to Cinnamon Bay. The water was a little rough so we just swam in the water instead of snorkeling. A few hours had passed and we were all thirsty. We drove back to town and stopped at Joe’s Rum Hut. A nice mango mojito did the job.

Chef Ted Robinson from Ted’s Supper Club was cooking for us later that evening so we wanted to get back to the villa so we had some time to freshen up and enjoy the sunset. http://tinyurl.com/mzjw9e8

Chef Ted arrived on schedule and our dinner adventure was about to begin. He first served us pan fried tuna dumplings with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.  He then brought out his infamous skillet roast focaccia bread. Everything was so good. I passed on a piece of the focaccia bread because I knew there was a lot more ahead. The next course was split in two. The ladies had the prosciutto wrapped shrimp with fennel, oranges and arugula. While the men had pan seared day boat scallops with smashed fingerling potatoes with truffle oil. After that, Ted brought out our salad course, which consisted of lightly wilted warm baby spinach with apple wood bacon. We were starting to get a bit full but next was the main course. He did a combination of potato wrapped mahi mahi and roasted rock lobster tail. It was paired with roasted veggies and lemon. It was outstanding. Then for our dessert and final course (thank goodness) was an apple tarte tatin that Ted presented it to us. He even made homemade vanilla ice cream to accompany it. When everything was done we could barely move. We were all so full and exhausted afterwards…. The only thing left to do was call it a night.

Wednesday, October 29th – Another Villa ‘Gravity’ Day and Rhumblines for Dinner

The next day we woke up to a picture perfect day. We were all a bit full from the night before but heated up some of the leftover focaccia bread for breakfast. Being that we were going to be out all day on the Scubadu the next day we decided to just hang out at the villa. With a villa like Kaleidoscope its very hard to leave. After a day of relaxing by the pool we figured that we would go to Rhumblines for dinner for their pad thai which they are know for. Once we got to town we stopped at High Tide for a few rum punches and introduce our friends to the one bartender Max, which in turn is the nephew of one my husband’s customers back home. Small world. We headed on over to Rhumblines and were seated in a nice table towards the back of the restaurant. The men had the ahi tuna for appetizers while I had the pork belly and Nancy had the chicken lettuce wraps. It was then on to the pad thai. Everyone ordered the ultimate pad thai, besides me I just ordered the tofu pad thai. The ultimate pad thai includes shrimp, steak and chicken. Everything was delicious. We didn’t want to stay out too late since we had all long day out on the scubadu.

We came back to the villa and had a night cap before heading to bed.

Thursday, October 30th – Scubadu Day Sail and Manta Ray

We woke up to another wonderful day of weather and had breakfast in the villa before going into town. Today was the day we were meeting Joe aboard the Scubadu http://www.sailvi.com We hadn’t gone out with him for a few years so I was really excited to do it again. Plus our friends Nancy and Russell lived on St. Thomas so they also know Joe quite well.

While we were getting ready, I noticed a bird flew into the villa. It was a banaquit. We were trying to get him out but he kept flying around too high. There wasn’t really anything for us to do. We wound up turning off the fans and AC And left a couple of doors open hoping he would find away out. 

Joe picked us up around 9:30 near the national park dock with his first mate Mary and Potter the “sail” dog. 

We cruised along the beaches of St. John, passing Caneel, Cinnamon, etc. before grabbing a mooring in Maho. The weather was just perfect. At first I wasn’t sure about going into the water, but when the sun came out there was no question. The water was so warm.

When we got back on the boat, all of a sudden Russell and my husband spotted a giant manta ray. He was actually doing back flips in the water. It was a great sight to see. We grabbed our snorkel gear and jumped back into the water. The visibility wasn’t the greatest, so it made it a bit hard to see him. Sure enough we saw him swim on by. It was amazing to see this large ray.

We spent the afternoon just relaxing and snorkeling from time to time with the huge manta. Everyone just talked and caught up with each other. Joe then cooked us delicious mahi mahi fish tacos with garlic ginger black beans. It was a great day. Then before we knew it, it was time to head back to Cruz Bay. Plus Joe had a dinner sail planned so we didn’t want to make him late. Once we passed through customs we said our good-bye’s to Joe. Until next year!

For dinner we wanted to see if Margarita Phil’s was open and get our dinner to-go and bring it back to Kaleidoscope. We walked on over and he was open. We all had a few margarita’s while we waited for our dinner. My husband and I played it safe and ordered the regular size ones. However our friends ordered the ‘grande’ ones. I had forgotten how big these margarita’s are.

While my we were waiting for our order, my husband walked back up to Bougainvillea to get our jeep since it was a bit of a walk from Mongoose. He managed to find a spot right in front. Once we got our order it was time to drive back. When we got back, we were so relieved to see that the banaquit had left!

It was a great evening to watch the lightening in the background and talk about what a fun day we had. Our dinner from Margarita Phil’s hit they spot and it was delicious.

After dinner we were all worn out from the day that we went to bed. We weren’t sure what we were going to do the next day. During the night, the storms that we watching in the distance must have made their way over to St. John. I don’t remember hearing such loud thunder like that. Even when we went to town the next day, islanders were talking about it as well.

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Friday, October 31st – Halloween and Our Last Full Day

In the morning the weather was a bit overcast. The storm hadn’t passed through so we decided to have some breakfast at the villa. Our friends decided that they wanted to stay at the villa and relax. We thought it was a perfect time to drive back into town and do some shopping. It was our last full day so we really didn’t have any other time to go. Last year I saw this beautiful lamp I wanted for our house in a store in Mongoose Junction called Portico. http://www.mongoosejunctionstjohn.com/stores/portico.html

We parked in the lot and found the store. I found the green lamp that I saw last year and placed the order. It was great to find out that they drop ship your order free of charge. So now I have something to look forward to once we get back home.

The next stop we made was St. John Spice. I wanted to order a bunch of hot sauces for us, family and friends. We picked out a few local ones and this newer one called Valley Doll. There are two varieties and they were both in our fridge at our villa that I tried and thoroughly enjoyed. https://www.valleydollhotsauce.com https://www.valleydollhotsauce.com

We asked if we could have the hot sauces shipped back home as well so I didn’t have to worry about them breaking and if we weren’t going to check a bag in at the airport.  http://www.stjohnspice.com

After our shopping was finished we went back to High Tide for one our last visit this trip. It was a bit depressing but we new we had an entire afternoon left. As we left High Tide, we noticed the sky was getting dark and gray. We headed back towards the Wharfside shops and stopped at the Waterfront Bistro. Just as we did, the skies opened up. It was good timing. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of mojitos. The bartender was friendly and asked us where we were from. We told him we were from NJ and being such a small world he said he was originally from Toms River, NJ. We didn’t order lunch, but saw they had a nice variety of burgers – from your typical beef burger to a tuna burger and even a mahi mahi burger. If we would have known earlier we definitely would have gone there for lunch.

The rain finally stopped and it was time to go back to Kaleidoscope. The weather was breaking up and it was an ideal time to go back and relax by the pool. We even spotted a hawk that landed right on top of the “eagles nest”.

It was Halloween and I made reservations at Ocean Grill later that evening for dinner. The afternoon went by too fast as it was our last day. We all talked about what a great time we had. We would definitely do it again! Soon it was time to get ready for dinner and head back to town.

Our reservations weren’t until 6:15, but I figured we would try and get there early since Mongoose Junction gets very busy for Halloween. Luckily we got a parking space and went up to St. John Brewery/The Tap Room for a couple of beers. http://www.stjohnbrewers.com  The inside was pretty crowded so we just sat out on the balcony. It was a nice place to have a drink before dinner.

 

Next it was time to walk down to Ocean Grill. We were seated in a nice table. Surprisingly it wasn’t that crowded, just a large group seated in the middle of the room. For appetizers my friend Nancy and I had the crab stuffed shrimp. Russell and my husband had the coconut shrimp. We all sampled our appetizers and everything was tasty. For our main courses, my husband and I had the tuna served rare, while our friends had mahi mahi and lobster ravioli. No one had any complaints and really enjoyed their meals. It was also nice to hear the steel drum player they had that night. 

We were going to stop somewhere else for a nightcap but we were all pretty tired. We had a long travel day ahead of us so we wanted to get a good night sleep. We went back to the villa and decided to leave at 8am the next morning so we would have time to drop off the jeep rental and have a leisurely breakfast at Cruz Bay Landing.

Saturday, November 1st – Departure Day

We woke up to another beautiful day. Every time we come down to St. John, our departure day is always picture perfect. It was so sad to leave as it always is every time. We had a few cups of coffee before packing up everything and leaving Kaleidoscope behind. It is such a special villa. You can see how the owners put so much care into it. The decor, layout, etc. is so perfectly thought out. 

My husband drove us to town and dropped us off with our bags near Cruz Bay Landing. He headed up to the rental to drop off the jeep. We sat down at Cruz Bay Landing and had a great breakfast of eggs benedict. My personal favorite is substituting the ham with smoked salmon. They easily made my request and it was delicious.

We then went back to the ferry dock to get our tickets for the 10am ferry. The ferry was pretty full but we were able to grab some seats up at top. It was also nice to finally be able to go on the new ferry. It was a beautiful calm ride on over.

The next leg of the trip was the taxi ride on over to the airport. The taxi driver made almost too good amount of time over. We wound up at the airport around 11am. Thankfully both of our airlines had people at the counters so we were able to check in. Both of our flights weren’t until 2:30 – 2:45 so we had time to find a place to have a farewell drink. Unfortunately right now the airport is still going through a lot of construction so the normal place to get a drink and buy duty free items, weren’t open. I did notice the new restrooms and welcome area. Once it is complete, it is going to look really nice – but sometimes I like the feel of an “island” airport. We did eventually find a spot near the Tropic Tours Check-in in the baggage claim terminal with a small bar set up. The guy running it was hilarious. He was so entertaining that we wound up sitting there for an hour and a half. He made some great tropical coolers that consisted of 4 types of rum, with a splash of orange juice and sprite. I would definitely like to replicate them at home for the summer. 

Then it was time to head into customs and endure the painfully long customs/security process. Even though the lines were long we made it through in a decent amount of time. However going through security we had a gentlemen in front of us that decided to wear some sort of enclosed dress sandals without socks….. When he took off his shoes it was just awful. I have never smelled anything like it before. My husband almost lost it, and the couple behind us couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t quite sure that this guy didn’t realize it and/or didn’t wear any foot powder if he an issue. The TSA agents even were screaming for lysol. Luckily they had some and started spraying the area and even inside the security camera belt. In away it was quite humorous to see and hear them shoot “somebody get me some lysol” and covering their faces with their shirts. It definitely made a painful process of going through security a memorable one.

Once inside the place was packed. There were probably around 4 major airlines all leaving within an hour of each other. We walked on over to the duty free shop to get some rum and other liquor before heading home. If you are looking for tobacco they do not sell it in this indoor store (even though they told us otherwise outside).

Unfortunately our flight was a bit delayed leaving Newark into St. Thomas so we had to wait an extra half hour. When our flight finally landed and was ready for boarding, we said good bye to our friends. We had such a great time that it was sad to leave them. Until next time we promised!!

The flight was a lot less turbulent then the way down and the flight crew on this particular United flight were very friendly. We were lucky enough to get first class seats so maybe that helped, but were served a decent late lunch/early dinner and were back in Newark by 7:30pm.

It was a shock to come back to weather in the low 40s with blustery winds and rain. It was almost like the same weather we left behind 10 days ago. Its definitely not the type of weather you want to come back to after being in the islands. By the time we got our checked luggage and had our car service take us home, it was close to 9:30pm. It was a long travel day, but we were grateful for being able to spend another 10 wonderful days in our happy place. Fingers crossed we can do it again next year.

Until then…..  thanks for reading!

Day One – April 1st – Arrival Day

Even though it was our ninth time heading back to Key West, after the long cold and snowy winter we had in NJ, we were extremely excited to return. We had a 6:07am flight out of Newark so we had to be up at 3:00am. It was not a problem because we were heading back to one of our favorite places – Key West. Locals joke about once you visit Key West, you will catch the “Keys Disease”. After nine times… I guess you can say we have it! Our flight from Newark to Tampa was delayed about a half hour because we had to wait for the crew to get to our gate. We weren’t that worried since we had a two and a half hour layover in Tampa. Once the crew finally arrived at the gate, we boarded the plane and we were on our way. We actually only wound up ten minutes later when we landed in Tampa. After sitting in the airport for that long we were very eager to get on the plane to Key West. We went to the lower level of the terminal to Gate A1 (kind of ironic) and waited to board. The flight was operated by a newer airline called Silver Airways instead of Gulfstream which we used to fly. The plane was small but it was nice to see that there was a lavatory on board if need be. The flight from Tampa to Key West took about an hour and ten minutes. It felt like we were never going to get there, but I finally heard the flight attendant tell us to get ready for landing. My sister and her boyfriend were already in Key West so it was nice to know we had friendly faces waiting for us. Unfortunately we landed when two other planes arrived so we had to wait a few minutes for our luggage. Once we got our luggage, my sister and her boyfriend drove us to the Gardens Hotel. http://www.gardenshotel.com We couldn’t get over how warm and sunny the weather was. After a long winter of being surrounded by gray mounds of snow that seemed to last all season long, it was a beautiful sight to see. Check-in was easy and quick, but our room wasn’t ready yet. Luckily we already changed into our warm weather clothes in Tampa so we left our luggage at the Gardens and headed out to our traditional first stop – Willie T’s. The margaritas aren’t the greatest, but you can’t beat the price and the view of Duval to watch people go by as well as the infamous Conch Train. My sister and her boyfriend met us after a quick drink and we were headed to another favorite – Kelly’s. It was before happy hour so the bar area was nice and quiet. I noticed that the Gardens left a message letting us know our room was ready so we decided to make our way back. On the way back my husband and I wanted to show them Smokin’ Tuna Saloon so we made a detour for one more drink. The bartender appeared to have had “a few” so getting our picture taken was a bit of an issue, but eventually he did take it. Not a bad one either.  Once we made it back to the Gardens we all agreed to freshen up and meet back at the Gardens and decide what our next move was. We checked in to our Garden View room and it just felt like we were back in “our” room. It looked just the same as it always did – We were all freshened up and met up at the bar at the Gardens. I mentioned that we should probably head out towards the Bight area since we could grab something to eat and then head over to the Galleon to watch the sunset. By the time we got to the Bight area we were all quite hungry. We start walking by each and every restaurant, Alonzo’s, Conch Republic Seafood, etc. and noticed every place was packed. Then I realized it was happy hour. We eventually made it to Turtle Kraal and walked to the upper deck – with great timing. As we stood by the ‘wait to be seated’ sign a table was getting ready to leave. It was perfect! We ordered several appetizers to share – from ribs, to Key West pinks, to wings, and my favorite – the Hogfish ceviche. I am not sure if it was because we were all starving, but everything tasted really good. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky and it was time to make our way to the Galleon. http://www.galleonresort.com/tiki-bar-deli.htm I read online that the Tiki Bar recently went under a major renovation so I wanted to see what they did. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. When we got there it was packed. The bar area was definitely larger and more accommodating. We grabbed a few seats away from the bar and just made the sunset. It was a beautiful ending to a long day. The day was finally taking a toll on us and we were exhausted. Once the sun went down, we walked back towards the Gardens. We made one stop at Captain Tony’s along the way so I could put my business card up. (Be careful where you leave it – I did have someone actually call me last year from the bar while at work… it was definitely the most random call I have every received at work….) We agreed to meet at Blue Heaven for breakfast the next morning around 8:30. (Usually if you make it to Blue Heaven before 9am you don’t have to wait) We said good night and went back to the Gardens. (My sister and her boyfriend were staying at the Angelina Guest House.) We got back to our room and fell asleep within minutes!

Day Two – April 2nd – Lots of walking, shopping, bar hopping and Latitudes!

We woke up to a beautiful day and were pretty hungry. I guess the appetizers from the night before really didn’t fill us too well. I was feeling a bit slow so I took some advil with a large glass of water. We walked down to Angela St. to Petronia to Blue Heaven. http://www.blueheavenkw.com  My sister wasn’t there yet so we decided to just grab a table. Blue Heaven will not let you sit at a table if you’re entire party isn’t there. I gave her a call and she said to just have breakfast and we’ll catch up later. Not a problem. We sat down with no wait at all. I ordered a veggie omelet filled with cheese, spinach, tomatoes and avocado. It was huge but really good. I also had some hollandaise to put on top. Highly recommend this combination. After the breakfast I finally started feeling like myself again. We were both quite full and wanted to walk it off. We headed back onto Duval to do some shopping. We were a little early so not all of the retail shops were open yet. We did notice however, some bars open before the shops do – gotta love Key West!  My husband and I were on a mission to get ourselves some hats. We had hats from last year, but after our last vacation, they got crushed in our luggage (well mine did). After walking in and out of many stores we each were able to find some. We also wanted to head towards Peppers to get some hot sauce to bring back home. I wasn’t up for it, but my husband tasted several hot sauces. We wound up with quite a few bottles to bring back. I was a bit concerned to put them in our luggage for the way home. Peppers suggested to have the shipped back home for us. Perfect! http://www.peppersofkeywest.com  This way I didn’t have to worry about them breaking, and/or walking around Key West with all these bottles. The morning pasted by and we wound up near the Ocean Key Resort. We hadn’t been to the sunset pier yet so we walked to the pier. http://www.oceankey.com/key-west-sunset-pier.aspx They were just opening the bar and we thought it was a perfect spot to have our first drink of the day.  I gave a call to see where my sister was and she was headed to Sloppy Joe’s for some lunch. We decided that we would meet up afterwards. It was nice just to sit at the pier and enjoy the colors of the water. It was getting a bit hot so we got up and walked back towards Duval. We stopped in the Hog’s Breath store before during our walking tour of Key West so we headed back there for a beer. http://www.hogsbreath.com/keywest/ I contacted my sister and we would meet up there. While we were waiting we met this great dog and his owner. Its great to go into bars that has this – true Key West!  We all met up and had a couple of beers. We didn’t want to get too crazy since I had made reservations for Latitudes later that evening. I made the reservations for 5:45 so we had to be at the Westin ferry by 5:30. I also had contacted Captain Billy (also the bartender at the Gardens Hotel) before we arrived to set up a fishing trip for the next day. I knew he was bartending that afternoon and wanted to touch base with him to finalize everything. We walked back to the Gardens and sure enough there was Billy! (We started going out fishing with him two years ago and try and make a point to do so when we are in Key West) It was great to see him. We introduced him to my sister and her boyfriend who were also joining us on the trip. He said he found someone to cover his shift for the next day so we were all set – yey! We caught up about our year and he talked about how Kate (the owner of the Gardens) was expanding the hotel. He showed us where they were doing construction across the way. It should be beautiful once complete. It will have rooms that have full kitchens and more.  It was then time to freshen up for dinner and make our way towards Mallory Square. We had enough time to catch Mr. Mojito (aka Jimmy) for a couple of his delicious mojitos.  We ventured towards the ferry and timed it perfectly. Everyone was already online and we walked right on. The ride was about 10 minutes or so and the sun was slowly setting. I was hoping to catch the sunset while at dinner.  Once we arrived we were seated at lovely table right in the center. The place always makes you feel like you are miles away on some caribbean island. For the first course my husband had the carpaccio of beef and I had the pork belly. For entrees we had grouper, yellowtail snapper, beef tenderloin, and chicken. Everyone loved their meals. We had time after we ate to walk around a little and see the beach at Sunset Key. The sand wasn’t too soft, but the view was beautiful. http://www.westinsunsetkeycottages.com/latitudes-key-west

It was time to head back on the ferry and back to Key West. On the way back we stopped at Rick’s. My husband wanted a pickle back shot and my sister wanted to try one. So they did!  We wanted to stop by the Green Parrot for one more, but as we walked by it was packed. I guess it was a good call because we were all done. We told my sister and her boyfriend we would meet back at the Gardens in the morning since Billy was going to pick us up at 9am. On the way back to the Gardens we noticed a new food truck. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34345-d6404596-r193800618-Yebo_Island_Grill-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html My husband was hungry so he wound up getting a burger. We noticed quite a few people ordering food so we figured it would be good. Once we got back to our room, my husband realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to order a burger because he was full after about half way through. No worries though… .within minutes of smelling the burger, the new Gardens cat came running up the stairs for some food. Without hesitation my husband obliged. 

Day Three – April 3rd – Catching the BIG fish with Billy! We woke up a little earlier then normal to be sure we would have time to grab a bite to eat before heading out on the boat with Billy. http://www.billyrentz.com Since Sarabeth’s is close by we figured we would have breakfast there. As we were walking to Sarabeth’s, we noticed the air was a bit cooler and the breeze was a bit stronger. We opted to sit inside since it was a bit cool out. We were the only ones in the place so we had great service. For breakfast I had the Goldie Lox (smoked salmon, cream cheese scrample) and my husband had his favorite, the Fat and Fluffy french toast. Breakfast was delicious. We also made sure we took some dremamine too to be on the safe side. We went back to our room to grab our things and also some long sleeved shirts for the boat. The Gardens also has towels that you can use as well for such occasions, so I asked Nancy at the check in desk for a few towels (which conveniently came in a bag). My sister gave me a call asking where we were and I told her we were in our room. She said they were outside waiting for us! Oops. So we headed out to his truck. We did have to make one brief stop to grab some beer (just in case) and some snacks. Then we were off to the dock.  Billy had the boat cleaned off the night before so we were ready to go. Soon we were on our way. Since the wind was a bit on the breezy side, Billy picked a spot different from last year to try some fishing. It wound up being a great spot. Within a few minutes after casting the first line, my husband caught a fish. The first fish was a porgy. Perfect! That will work for dinner – or a least a start. Then he wound up catching a beautiful red grouper. Unfortunately it wasn’t grouper season so he had to go.  I opted not to fish so I could take pictures and watch everyone. The next person to catch something was my sister. It was a lot of work, but she wound up reeling in a 24 inch mutton snapper! Now dinner is served! After that catch we all relaxed since we didn’t have to catch anymore for dinner. However the fishing didn’t stop there. My husband then caught another red grouper. The fish were biting that day. My husband then felt something on his line that was quite large. He kept working the fish closer to the boat, but he could tell he was putting up a fight. Eventually he reeled him in as Billy grabbed the net. It was a HUGE barracuda! We could not believe the size of him! And the teeth! Obviously we had to throw him back but we wanted to make sure we got all our photo opps in.  Everyone had their fill of fishing for the day so Billy suggested heading back to the same sandbar we went to last year.   We made it to the sandbar and I wanted to go in the water. It wasn’t as warm as I thought it was going to be, but I went in just for a few minutes so I could say I went in the water.  Soon it became that time to head back to the dock. When we got back, all the pelicans were waiting for Billy to clean the fish. It took a while since the one mutton snapper was such a large catch but he assured us we had enough food for dinner. On the way back Billy suggested dropping the fish off at this new restaurant right next to the back entrance to the Gardens Hotel called Off the Hook. It was so close we thought it was a perfect idea. Billy dropped us off and we thanked him for a great day on the water. He said he would be back later to finish out his shift at the Gardens so we told him we would see him later and let him know how the dinner was. My sister and her boyfriend went back to the Angelina Guest House to relax while we went back to freshen up. It was only around 2:30/3:00 so we headed back to Duval. We wanted to go some place quiet so instead of walking down towards Willie T’s, etc. we made a left towards Nine One Five. On our way down Duval, we noticed this cute little wine bar called “Vinos”. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34345-d2010275-Reviews-Vinos_on_Duval-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

There was a sign outside that said $5 sangria. We thought perfect! There were only a couple of people so we were able to enjoy the sangria out on the porch. It was great place to sit back and watch the people go by.  I tried to get my sister out, but she was a bit tired from reeling in that mutton snapper. No problem, we would just meet back at the Gardens around 5:30 since we told Off the Hook we would be there at 6pm. We left Vinos and wanted to try one more place. Then we spotted the Little Room Jazz Bar. https://www.facebook.com/LittleRoomJazzClub We walked in and the bar area was quite impressive. They too had sangria so we ordered a couple more. We found a table outside and relaxed for a bit. The sangria wasn’t as good as Vinos but it was cheaper since they offer two for one happy hour everyday from 12pm – 8pm. Now that’s a long happy hour!  It was getting close to dinner time so we walked back towards the Gardens. We took a side street to get back to the Gardens so we could walk by the restaurant. We couldn’t believe how close it was.
We met everyone at the bar and saw that Billy came back to the bar. We made sure we would tell him how the dinner was when we got back.

We walked in and were seated towards the end of the long booth/table set up. The place was very tiny but had a great atmosphere.

 

We didn’t have any lunch so were very hungry. We each ordered appetizers to start, I had the red grouper ceviche, my husband had the conch fritters, my sister had the crab bisque and her boyfriend had the phyllo-type dough stuffed with feta and spinach.  Our server told us that the chef would prepare the fish and serve it to us family style. We were offered two sides a piece. To make it easier I suggested we would have a side of the monteray jack grits and the string beans. When the fish platter came out we were blown away. There was so much!! And boy was it good.  We all ate a lot but could not finish it all. We wound up taking the leftovers back to Billy. Before we left, I noticed that the place was open for breakfast. I thought that maybe we would give it a try before we left. We thanked the staff for a wonderful meal and walked back (very stuffed) to the Gardens. We sat down and could barely move. Billy gave us a few cocktails as we tried to digest our food. Our kittie friend also stopped by for a visit. 
My sister and her boyfriend were leaving the next morning so we didn’t stay up to late. We figured we would finally meet at Blue Heaven for breakfast before they had to drive back to Miami. We said good night and went to bed. Still stuffed.

 

 

 

Day Four – April 4th – Some are leaving and some are arriving

We woke up to another picture perfect day. I could tell that it was a bit warmer and the breeze was less. I felt sad that my sister was leaving but soon we would be there too in another few days. We all met up at Blue Heaven for breakfast. Again we arrived before 9am so we were didn’t have to wait. We enjoyed a good breakfast as we talked about our great fishing trip from the day before. After breakfast they headed back to their room to check out. We wished them a safe drive and flight and would see them back in NJ soon.

We also had friends coming down from Fort Myers via the ferry. So we were planning on meeting them when they arrived, around noon or so. It was a bit warm out, but again we were too full to just go back to the hotel and sit by the pool. We wound up walking down towards Mallory Square and discovered the Sculpture Garden there. It was interesting to read all the people that had their influences in Key West. We also realized where a lot of the names of the streets came from. One thing we were asked to do for friends back home was to bring a photo and hang it up for them in Captain Tony’s.
I had the photo with me so we made our way back to Captain Tony’s.
We walked in and it was pretty empty – probably because it was just around 11am. We ordered a couple of beers as we looked around for a place to hang the picture. Things were looking bleak but I saw an area right next to the fireplace that had paper removed. Perfect I thought! I grabbed the picture and brought tape with us (that we bought at Walgreens) so I was able to hang it up. I took a few pictures and sent it back to them. Hopefully it will still be there next year. It was getting close to noon so we walked back to the Gardens. We got in touch with our friends arriving from the ferry and they weren’t expected to get in until closer to one so we said we would just wait for them at the hotel. It was an easy decision too since they were staying there. We relaxed by the pool for a bit. Once they arrived we wanted to take them to a few spots. One of our stops was Kelly’s. Again it wasn’t too crowded so we had a nice table in the corner to enjoy a few margaritas. I made reservations to have dinner at Cafe Sole that night so after a few stops we made it back to the Gardens.
We got ready and headed back out to Cafe Sole. I didn’t realize its basically a 1/2 mile from the Gardens if you just stay on Southard St. We have walked to the restaurant before, but from the other side of the island so it can get tricky. If you walk from the hotel it is very easy. We sat down and we never realized the ceiling decor. Star Wars? We all had an assortment of appetizers to start, but we all ordered the hogfish for dinner. It never disappoints! We checked the entertainment schedule before and saw that Caffeine Carl was playing at the Smokin’ Tuna that night so we wanted to see him play. (We saw him last year and had a great time) On the way back to Duval and to the Smokin’ Tuna, we made a stop at Rick’s.

Luckily a group of people were leaving one of the tables out front so we sat right down.


Our next stop was Smokin’ Tuna. http://smokintunasaloon.com

The place was crazy, but we made our way to the bar. Thankfully it was a different bartender then the previous visit. We found a great spot at the bar to watch Caffeine Carl.
It was a good time. It was getting late and we were all exhausted. Back to the Gardens and to bed.

 

 

 

Day Five – April 5th – Last Full Day

We woke up to another day but this was by far the warmest its been. We heard from locals that we lucked out a lot by going the week we did, since the previous week was very hot and humid. They also mentioned how hot their winter season was (poor things….) For breakfast this morning my husband suggested Off the Hook. We didn’t see our friends yet so we figured they were sleeping in a bit. We walked right over and sat at the bar. They had a nice variety of items for breakfast. My husband had the eggs benedict and I had the huervos rancheros. It was by far the best breakfast we have had during our stay in Key West. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34345-d5565929-Reviews-Deuce_s_Off_the_Hook_Grill-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

When we were done with breakfast we walked back to the Gardens and there they were. They decided to hang out at the Gardens for the day before they had to head back to the ferry for the 5pm departure. We were all pretty tired from the day/night before but my husband and I wanted to experience Duval St. one last time. We told them we would meet up later on. We walked around a bit and started to get a little down knowing this was our last full day in Key West. It really goes by so fast. We stopped in a few more shops to get some last minute t-shirts and such. We made our way back to Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key Resort and noticed a large portion was blocked off for a wedding. Whomever was getting married there later on that day was quite lucky. The weather was just perfect. We walked by the bar and they were just opening up. The bartender recognized us and pulled out two beers that we were drinking from our previous visit. It was a bit early but we figured why not? Well it probably wasn’t the best thing to start with. We could barely get them down. One was enough. We thanked the bartender and said we would see him next year. Then we walked down to El Pepe Mason by Mallory Square. Its been a couple of years, but we remembered having mojitos there while the sun was setting at Mallory Square. We grabbed two seats and ordered two. $18.50? I thought it was bit much for the size of the drink but they tasted a lot better then the beer did. With our heads feeling better we wanted to walk back down by the Bight. I suggested that maybe we would go to either Turtle Kraal or Dante’s. As we got closer we saw the Schooner Wharf Bar. We realized we hadn’t stopped in for one during our entire trip so we walked in and had a couple. They also had some entertainment so it was a nice to spend our last day there. As we walked back to the Gardens I noticed a lot of people surrounding a food truck. I figured after the recent airing of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” it must be Garbos Grill. And it sure was. I guess that show made it even harder now to get something to eat there. We weren’t really hungry so we kept walking. We made it back to the Gardens in time to have a drink with our friends before they headed back on the ferry. Soon that time came and we said our good byes. For dinner that evening, I wanted to eat somewhere close by to the Garden’s, so I decided on Santiago’s Bodega. Santiago’s Bodega is just a few blocks past Blue Heaven so it was easy to find. In between the two I saw the newer restaurant called Firefly. The menu looked good but not many people inside. I guess everyone was at Santiago’s. I made the reservations for 6pm since we had a very early flight the next morning so it was still considered happy hour. It was very busy but we were seated right away. We decided to order a pitcher of the sangria to share. Our small plate was the Charcuterie.  Our next order was the bacon wrapped mushrooms which was very good. As we waited for our plate we noticed the service was slower and slower. The next plate was the pepper cracked grouper, followed by the lamb chops. We were contemplating whether or not to order another plate but our server disappeared. Finally my husband got his attention and we asked for to go cups for our sangria and the check. It was a shame because the food was really good. It was just so busy that the service just couldn’t keep up with the demand of all the tables. We walked back to the Gardens and we were very tired. We had to be up by 5am the next morning so we were in bed by 9:15!

Day Six – April 6th – Leaving on a jet plane

I set my phone alarm and had the Gardens call our room at 5am to make sure we would wake up. However, we both didn’t sleep that well. With the anticipation of going home and everything it was a restless night sleep. 5am finally arrived and we got ready to leave. The Gardens arranged to have a taxi waiting for us at the airport at 5:45am. We walked out to the front and there she was. Our flight was at 6:40am but checking in at the airport at Key West is quick. We were taking the Silver Airways Airline back and connecting in Tampa again. Unfortunately being its not United leaving, we had to pay for our checked bag $25. (I have the United card so they include the bag fee). We also had to take about 6 lbs. worth of clothes and put them in our carry on bags. If not, they would have charged us another $100 for having an overnight bag. (Tip: men’s cargo shorts weigh around 3 lbs.! – so try and pack lighter weight shorts). Before we knew it we were back on the plane back to Tampa. It was strange leaving Key West before the sunrise but it was pretty to see. Our flight was uneventful and landed in Tampa without any delay. We only had an hour and a half layover in Tampa so we grabbed some breakfast before heading to the gate. After about two hours and twenty minutes we were back in “brown” Newark/NYC area. At least the sun was out, but I already missed the colors of Key West. All and all it was a great trip. We shared both new and old experiences with family and friends. Hoping we’ll be able to head back again to Key West next spring and make it 10!  

Until next time…. thanks for reading 🙂