Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Conch Republic

Saturday we arrived in Key West the southernmost tip of the U.S. While I had been here before on a quick cruise stop with my family several years ago, this was Brett's first visit.


For those of you that have been you know what a cool vibe this city has.Their motto of "One Human Family" rings true as you see no separation of low and high brow - across this gorgeous 4x2 mile island mixed between watercolor pastille homes, turquoise water and palm trees you will see expensive art galleries, Caribbean villas, literary festivals...

mixed in with t-shirt shops with sayings on their merch I'm embarrassed to repeat, clothing optional bars, and drag shows galore. This provided for a confusing experience when we adventured to a highly recommended Mexican spot from our travel guide book. The entrance was down an alley with out indoor seating (the 40 degree weather didn't make that appealing) but the owner assured us they are working with another establishment to use their indoor facilities so grab a seat there. Needless to say we enjoyed amazing Mexican inside a Country Bar that half way through dinner started showing a topless bull riding competition. I kid you not. Watching the folks our parents and grandparents age make this realizing as we did was entertaining to say the least.

More pics of Key West...

Sunset Time on one of the piers of our resort:


Looking back at the resort:
The town's infamous hypocondriac got in the last word on his headstone found in the famous Key West Cemetary:

Ernest Hemingway's home... saw a wedding taking place there when we were exploring

3 comments:

Em and Jud said...

Sounds like a great trip! Enjoy the rest of it and thanks for sharing (esp the baby bump shots!)

Nancy said...

So you're saying you don't want your mother and I bull riding topless--we were planning that for some shower entertainment!!!

The Ginger Ninja said...

I lived there when I was 18 and 19 yrs old and was a DJ on the radio WEOW 92.5 now 92.7. What a great place. So full of characters. If you go up to the The Top of the La Concha on one of the wooden railing my name is still carved into the wood. I hope you had a wonderful time and made a lot of fun memories. Was Croissants de Francais still on Duval?