Key West recap part 1

Our trip to Key West was wonderful and relaxing and I wish I was still there. I could envision myself selling everything and moving to Key West to live on my boat and sell my art to the tourists, except for the fact that I own neither a boat nor any artistic talent. Oh, that and Ron has something against the heat and 200% humidity.

Like many of the places we have visited, the Florida Keys are far too photogenic. When faced with such beautiful scenery I just cannot stop snapping my shutter, and then I am faced with the task of sorting through over 500 photos from a weekend trip. I had thought I would post a few of my favorites here, but you will just have to go over to my Flickr and look, because they are all my favorites.

Ron and I had no trouble adapting to living on "Key West time"--the first thing we did after checking into the hotel was take a nap. We stayed at the beautiful Island City House, and walking through the old carriage entrance was like stepping into another world.



We had a porch and a hammock and a cat who visited us as we ate breakfast outside each morning. As promised, we did eat too much, including chocolate-dipped key lime pie on a stick and spinach fettucine alfredo with fresh jumbo lump crab. Many of our meals were taken at various restaurants on the harbor, so close to the water that we could have tossed our tortilla chips to the fish, but then what would we have used to scoop up our salsa?

Key West is famous for its sunsets, and we were advised to view them from aboard one of the many boats offering evening cruises. On Saturday morning I called and booked a sunset sail aboard the Floridays for that evening. The boat's brochure promised small groups and more importantly, wine.



There is nowhere in this world that I am happier or more content or more mindful of God's majesty than on the water, and that sunset was every bit as spectacular as promised.



I posted this photo on the other blog already, but the boat pictured below is the schooner Western Union, which also offers sunset sails. We had passed by the Western Union at the dock earlier and wished we hadn't already booked our voyage, because it is one beautiful boat. In the end, we enjoyed our sunset cruise on the Floridays so much that we sailed on the Western Union the next evening. That night's sunset was mostly obscured by clouds, but oh my soul I can't describe the perfection of that sail. The wind was just right and the wooden masts were creaking and the sails were snapping, and it made me think about becoming a pirate.



Imagine Ron with an eyepatch and a hook in place of his hand and a bottle of rum instead of Diet Coke...can't you see him as a pirate captain?



I am so happy remembering that evening that I am going to forgo recounting the next day's voyage on the Catamaran of Death for now. Maybe tomorrow. Bring barf bags.