December 30, 2011 - Last full Day :(

I am head over heals in love with Key West... what's not to like? the laid back atmosphere, the great restaurants the huge cultural diversity and last but by no means least the weather.  Wow winter in your shorts and sandals and swimming outside, how could you be unhappy???

We headed back to the Banana Cafe for breakfast again today, just Jim and I as our little princess was sleeping in again. Jim pointed out how much I smile down here (you just can't help yourself) I must say the climate and place really agrees with me.

We did a little house hunting again after breakfast and found a very lovely bungalow that has been totally renovated with 2 beds, 2 baths and a pool that was well below our price range.  Ideally I would like to have 3 bedrooms because I'm sure we would get a lot of visitors but it really was awesome.  With the poor real estate market we might actually afford to retire here.  We had always thought we would like to be snowbirds but with the housing market so high we thought we would just rent down here and keep a home up north but now we are thinking of owning down here and renting up north might be a better solution.  No purchasing yet, we are just thinking.

We returned back to the house and Bailey was awake and dressed (shock) so we went out for a little shopping.  Our hosts have been very kind and gave us a gift certificate for a very nice shop (not a tourist trap) and that was fun.  We then had lunch at Blue Heaven (http://www.blueheavenkw.com) the sister restaurant to Salute on the Beach.  There were so many rosters, hens and baby chicks I felt like I was back on my grandparents farm :D.  It was a wonderful lunch and Bailey ate another jumbo piece of mile high Key Lime Key (ok, so I helped a little).

awww, little baby

as you can see Virgil likes to drop his toy in the pool 

We came back to the house and Bailey and I floated in the pool and played toy once again with Virgil (he's 7 years old but man is he spry and smart) then laid on the deck for a bit.  I am so going to miss the blue sky and sun when we return to Ohio.  I will be happy to see Chloe and Lola but will miss the sunshine.







We just returned from an gastric delight at Cafe Marquesa ( http://www.marquesa.com/cafe-marquesa.htm)  I guess my New Year's resolution will have to be to return to a healthy diet and more exercise... I really don't want to know how much weight I've gained on this vacation, it feels like we've eaten a lot!  We then hopped into the hot tub for a last evening (crying).  I am happy to get home to my doggies and other things but wish I could take the sunshine with me (not to mention the warm weather).


Tomorrow will be a very busy traveling day so I am afraid I must put this vacation to bed, until the next time.... Hugs!

the sun going down behind the trees

the church from the front of the house

December 27th & 28th

Sorry everyone, I realize that I'm sort of falling down of my job,  but I've really been enjoying my down time not only have I been able to get some reading done but I've been working on a new knitting project as well.

Tuesday was a beautiful day and we spent part of the day in the pool as well as enjoyed some of the local fine dining.  We had breakfast at the Banana Cafe ( http://www.banana-cafe-key-west.com) a yummy french influenced restaurant.  We were eating on the upstairs deck when Jim noticed the woman at the table behind us was wearing a Muirfield tourney hat and of course I think had to talk to them and it turned out they were from Delaware, Ohio (just a stones throw north of Dublin) and they have been coming here they past 8 years for Christmas so they shared some of their favorite spots. They also shared that last year was unseasonably chilly (highs in the 60's!) so its been really beautiful with highs around 80 (more on that later).

We had a delightful dinner at A & B Lobster House(http://www.aandblobsterhouse.com) and dined overlooking the marina.  Our waiter Gregory was originally from Layfayette, Indiana but has been here a long time and only visits home in the warm weather (we hear a lot of that down here).

Walking back from dinner we encountered this very "festive" house and I couldn't stop myself from snapping a pic "its even more impressive(tacky) in person!


















Later that evening we had some rain showers which did in fact bring some cooler temps yesterday.  It was only 71 degrees and bit windy but we still had a very nice day.  We had lunch on the beach at Salute on the Beach (http://saluteonthebeach.com) and it was quite good and so was the Margarita which was made with freshly squeezed lime (none of that premixed stuff).

As you can see people were still enjoying the beach!

as well as the gypsy chickens too...

people really love riding their bicycles down here

I found this one very intriguing 

We then shared a very big piece of Key Lime Pie with mile high meringue which is supposedly the best on the island (but every restaurant claims this) however it was pretty outstanding!

Last night we returned to dinner at Latitudes on Sunset Key and I was pretty sneaky, while we were waiting for our boat I was ninja photographer and snapped a couple of pictures of Jim and Bailey sitting on a bench watching a cruise ship leave.

I also took a couple of pictures of the lights on the palm trees on sunset key, but as usual I don't have the worlds best camera and it was dark so it is what it is....

Jim and I are off to look at some possible homes for retirement (just preliminarily we are not buying right now).  We love the very mild winter weather and for those of you who know me, you are well aware at how much I hate winter.  Talk with you soon... Have a wonderful day!

Boxing Day aka 12/26/11

Sorry I didn't get this posted last night after a day of fun and relaxation (maybe a couple of glasses of Chianti) I was too tired to do this.

We had a nice relaxing day in the warm, sunny KW.  We started by having breakfast at an adorable little place called Sarabeth's (http://sarabethskeywest.com) for my fellow foodies this was a James Beard award winner. I had the heavenly lemon ricotta pancakes with real maple syrup (divine) and I can't forget the lovely four flower juice (very nice).  Nothing like an incredible breakfast to start the day!

I then spent some time back at the house floating in the pool alone!  Can you believe my family didn't join me?  Not sure what was with them. Bailey then decided she would like to get her hair braided and we headed back to Duval Street where she was able to get some cornrows:

 and here we saw a mother chicken and her babies

For those of you who haven't been here before there are many colorful Key West "Gypsy" chickens roaming the streets.  They have been here for over 175 years.  There appears to be some debate between neighbors here regarding the chickens.  Some believe they belong here and others consider them a nuisance and a danger to human health and the ecosystem.  It also appears that the tourist are quite fond of them so my guess is they won't be going anywhere.

 the rosters can also be heard crowing at the crack of dawn as well

after Bailey was finished getting her braids we did a little shopping on Duval.  We managed to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe which may be one of the most unique that I've seen (we didn't eat just a little shopping)

then we head back home to get ready for dinner.  We dined at an incredible Italian place called Antonia's (http://www.antoniaskeywest.com),wow what a meal!  Then we walked back down Duval street to the very new Kilwins.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Kilwins they are a sweet lover's delight which specialties include mouthwatering fudge, chocolates as well as ice cream and I was thrilled to see that they had made it this far south  so we stopped in and purchased some fudge.

                                                                         We returned home for some hot tub time 

so you can see why I was way too tired to blog last night!

Time to get ready to start it all over once again.  Until later I hope you have an awesome day!!!!

 

Christmas Day

First let me just say that " I love Key West"!!!  The totally laid back and very friendly atmosphere is awesome.  

We arrived yesterday afternoon in the one of the world's smallest international airports.  I should have taken a couple of pictures, because it truly was postage stamp sized.  You walked off the plane on outdoor stairs (yes, we have done that before in Cayman and the Bahamas) but thought it might be a little bigger.  Walking inside the airport right inside the door was the single baggage claim area.  We waited quite awhile for our luggage even though it wasn't far from the plane to the baggage claim area, I guess its just a bit of island time thing going on.  Jim walked maybe six feet to procure our rental car, which of course was suppose to be midsized but turned out to be the size of a tuna boat because they were out of midsized.  I think I would rather ride a scooter down here as the roads aren't very wide.  Too bad my hubby thinks all motorcycles/scooters are "donor cycles".

We arrived at our house and it is very fabulous!  The owners are incredible (they live in a small house behind us) and their standard poodle Virgil who is absolutely adorable.  We dined last night at a delectable tapas restaurant Santiago's Bodega (check it out at  http://www.santiagosbodega.com). 

Today we hung out at the house this morning then headed over to Latitudes on Sunset Key and enjoyed a nice boat ride to the restaurant,

we enjoyed a very nice meal with incredible views and a boat ride back to Old Town and met a local with a parrot and Bailey and I took pictures with the parrot but Jim chose not to do so  (as you can see he hasn't been in any pictures yet)

and as you can see Bailey is truly a "parrothead"

 and I got in on the fun and the parrot decided to eat my sunglasses  
                                           
           We returned to the house and ended up enjoying the rest of the day in the pool and hot tub.  Virgil joined us with his new Frisbee that Santa brought him and we played for hours.

I 

as you can see I finally caught Jim ;)   

 I will be back with more pics and stories tomorrow, until then....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all a goodnight!