About a month ago we booked a trip to Key West to hang with Petal and her BFF. Petal decided to head back home earlier last month so Hubby and I were left to our own devices in the Conch Republic. It is typical that we make two trips a year to the colorful likes of the Florida Keys and this trip was timed about right.
I woke up at the ass crack of dawn on Saturday and just decided to get ready to go. We packed up the car and headed out to run a couple errands in town before hitting the road. At our first stop, and after only 7 minutes in the car, I wanted to murder my darling husband. Long story short he wanted to cash a check (earned from handyman duty) for mad money and the lobby was closed. I am still mystified over why he wanted to cash it instead of deposit but he fussed and I got agitated because I could not understand his insistence. When he relented to my logic I couldn't find a pen. He didn't even want to stop the car for a minute to give me the opportunity to look through my handbag thoroughly. Sooooo...we moved on to our next stop. Coffee. Dunkin Donuts coffee thankfully rescued us from a mental meltdown of catastrophic proportions. The "dough-nads," as Hubby affectionately termed the Munchkins, were ordered to his specifications. Hubby hates the jellies and I love them but he won't even consider that when deciding which dough-nads to get. He typically will specifically state, "No jelly please." This time he didn't. I thought he was being nice and would allow the surprise of mistakenly biting into a jelly because he felt bad for the whole cash the check and pen fiasco that occurred only a few moments before. Yeah right. We got our delicious coffee and dough-nads, amazingly with no jellies in the box to his relief, and headed to the turnpike. Then I remembered where I stashed a pen. Since he was now drinking coffee the fog obviously lifted. He decided to go to the next branch of our bank to deposit the check and pull out the cash. Duh! It's what I suggested to begin with but thought it better to just let him believe it was all his idea.
Now we are on the road! The trip was uneventful and it came time to stop for the potty and lunch. When we arrived to Islamorada I began our trip theme. Didnt' intend to have a theme for the weekend but ended up with one by way of Jimmy Buffet on the CD player. The lost shaker chapter begins.
We hit one of our favorite places in Marathon - The Keys Fishery of Marathon. If you didn't know this place was there you would miss it easily. The restaurant is located on the docks and is open air dining. They are known most for their lobster rueben which is typically very yummy. This trip proved to be disappointing. They changed the bread, which I normally liked. It's now served on toasted slices of french bread. The rueben I got seemed to have been prepared 30 minutes earlier by mistake then reheated and given to me. The cheese was rubber, the sauce was dried up and the bread was stale. To top it off the lobster was full of shells. Yuck! The fries with malt vinegar was the best part of that meal. Hubby wasn't all that impressed by his usual order this time either. The seasoning was over powering and just didn't do it for him. We are heading back in October and think we'll skip this stop on the way in and opt for something new. After a stop at Publix for ice, beer, and cheap wine we hit the road again.
On to Key West! We made it to the island and stopped at the welcome center to pick up some brochures for a buddy at work. We drove past the building then around the building twice for Hubby to park two buildings away...for me to go in the welcome center alone. Nice of you to just drop me at the door buddy. What was with all the circling to park the car if you weren't going in with me? LOL!
Not sure how it happens but we occasionally book our trip to Key West to inadvertently fall on some kind of celebration. This weekend happened to be the ending to Hemingway Days. Its fun to see all the look-a-likes in and out of bars dressed in Hemingway inspired running of the bull outfits. Many of the old men I've seen before and may possibly be locals. fun imes!
Duval was blocked off so we had to find a different way up to our hotel, The Crowne Plaza La Concha..easy enough. Check in was easy and quick. Service at all points was exemplary. The room was small but updated, modern, and most importantly, clean. Depending on the person, you may judge this gripe to be either minor or major, to me it was just a nuisance...the toilet didn't flush most times unless you held the handle down. That's all. Otherwise the location is perfect in relation to participating in a self guided Duval Krawl. There is a rooftop bar with a fantastic view of the island, sunset, and sunrise. The swimming pool was very small but we didn't bother, opting instead for cooling down by way of cold refreshing beer.
Our very first adult beverage came by way of Fat Tuesday slushies. I always get a mixture of the blue one and pina colada. They change the name of the blue one occasionally so I never remember it...just order my drink as the blue one mixed with pina colada. The slushie jerk seems to understand fine...but no shaker here. Hubby gets something called the 44 Magnum. One sip of his and you can light your breath. Seriously strong shit. It was so hot on Saturday the slushies went down fast. We shopped a few of the trade booths and Hubby was having a fit he was so hot so ended up back in the room for a short while to cool him off. While we were chilling out we had a beer from the cooler.
Back out on Duval we walked down to Cap't Tony's. Very popular bar with bras hanging from the ceiling, business cards from all around the world papering the walls, and a live one man band. There is a live tree growing right up through the center of the bar and is supposedly known as the hanging tree. The bar itself was the morgue. Convenient. We didn't find the lost shaker here but the beer was cold.
Next stop was Red Fish Blue Fish. Nice laid back bar and restaurant. Nothing pretentious and Matt the bar tender was charming. We ordered more beer and began the tipsy. My lost shaker wasn't here but we did get a lead for an Italian place that is a local's best kept secret. The fun part was that I ordered draft Key West Sunset Ale...apparently Matt had Corona light on the brain and brought me that. I drank it. I was excited to see I got produce with my beer (wedge of lime) but it didn't occur to me it was a differnet beef then I ordered. When we ordered a second round he asked if I wanted another Corona light and I said, "No honey. I was drinking Sunset." To which he replied, "Oh shit. My bad! I gave you Corona light." Though I was not anywhere near upset, I was tipsy and happy, he paid for my first beer. On a side note, we went back the next day to tank Matt for the lead on the Italian place but he wasn't there. Ty, though, is a stand up comic. Worth stopping in to say hello to him as well.
At some point, and in our tipsy stupor, we stopped in the Wyland gallery. Hubby has this really bad habit of talking to sales people making it seem like he's truly interested in their product. Then leaves. We sat and talked to this guy so long I know he thought he had the $2,000 sale in the bag. Yes, the art was beautifully crafted and original, but I need at least that much for a new couch. Hubby's habit is going to get us in trouble one day. Big time trouble.
So this Italian place is called Mangia Mangia and is know for their fresh made pasta. It's quaint, tidy, and the food was out of this world fantastic! I always judge an Italian place by how well they make Alfredo so I ordered the spinach fettuccine Alfredo with crab. It was orgasmic! The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was rich and creamy. There was so much blue crab on this pasta dish it was incredible. Hubby ordered a di Mare dish that had chunks of fish, scallops, muscles, shrimp, and conch. It was served over pasta with some kind of herbed clam sauce and tossed with peas. Wow! Both dishes were hearty and totally satisfied my fat kid comfort food tummy. The only thing missing was my lost shaker.
We found our way back to our room and showered the days grime off then crashed. It was a great day in Key West!
The next morning Hubby attempted to get sunrise pictures from the roof top but it was storming. He opted instead for a Starbucks coffee (which he hates) and the iPad to catch up on some homework. Since he was gone when I finally woke up I went ahead and started getting ready for the day out. I called him down to the room and presented my written Starbucks order. There is just no way he would ever remember "venti quad shot caramel macchiato with whip." He returned with my coffee about the time I was ready to go and there was a little heated debate about car no car for the day. It was terribly crappy our with the rain and I wasn't in the mood to travel by foot in the rain even with an umbrella. He relented and we got down to the valet...the driveway was flooded and there was only one person running cars with three patrons waiting ahead of us. So I said F it, we can walk.
On our last trip down with the girls, we came across this really neat looking place in Bahama Village called Blue Heaven. Heard great things about this place but they only had one table for diners with dogs and a couple was just seated there with their dog. Hubby hates to wait when it's meal time.
Anywho...I did some reviews of the place and decided it was best to visit Blue Heaven for breakfast and to order their morning specialties, Bloody Goose and Lobster Egg's Benedict. Eggs Benny is one of those items, like the Alfredo at Italian places, I must try at all breakfast establishments. Boy was I disappointed. Even worse no lost shaker. The english muffin was tough, the lobster was luke warm with some shells, and the eggs were over cooked. There was not nearly enough hollandaise to make up for it and there was nothing to accompany the $21 Benny's but a thin sliver of melon and pineapple. Hubby had pineapple pancakes which were light and fluffy but again...no accompaniments. We also read they are famous for their Key Lime Pie. When it came around the corner Hubby exclaimed, "That's a big slice!" So I was hopping for something wonderful. It was more sweet than tart, not classic key lime pie, and was covered in four inches of meringue. Hubby was totally not impressed with that and quite frankly Publix makes a much better key lime pie. So the bonus to this trip was the little Blue Heaven gift shop. I found my lost shaker!!!
So lost shaker traveled with us the rest of the day. We went back to the hotel after breakfast for a breather then hit Jack's bar in the lobby. Silly me forgot that "well" drinks meant liquor of unknown origins so opted for beer. Though I swear I've been to bars were the well vodka was at least Smirnoff or Skkye. Oh well.
We headed downtown again for my Key West Kino's. Its a tradition for me to stop at least once a year to pick up a few pair of the most simple and well made leather sandals. I've done this since I was 20 something and don't plan on letting up. Yeah, I know I can buy them online now but it's just not the same. So we stopped in and I got some for me, a pair for Mom, and a pair for 'lil sis Amzie for stopping in and checking on the Punk. Didn't want him pulling a Joel Goodsen while were were gone.
After the sandal factory we went to Red Fish Blue Fish again but like I mentioned before, Matt was not there and Ty took center stage. We had a couple beers there then walked over to do some shopping on Malory Square. Oh yeah...got the best conch fritters ever at the stand by the aquarium. This is a new tradition for every trip.
Made it to the top for our second drink at the hotel. We got rum and cokes since well rum isn't too hard on the gut. By then I had enough to drink. Hubby was even curling his lip at this drink but when in Rome, right? We watched a magnificent sunset and talked about our dinner plans. Hubby took some pictures of me and my fat arm and double chin. How is it he manages to capture every bad side on my body? For crying out loud man! I have a cleavage! And pretty eyes!
For several years a friend of mine had talked about making sure we visit 7 Fish for dinner. It's a small deep in the neighborhood place with only 13 tables. Yes, we needed a reservation. Lola made a reservation for 9pm. Because you know, what Lola wants, Lola gets. The banana chicken came highly recommended but opted for something off the specials list. Grouper with a mango chutney served over angel hair. It was good but I am still thinking about the pasta we had the night before. Hubby ordered fish in a curry sauce over sticky rice. I like the flavor in his better but he wasn't entirely enthused by it either. The place was quaint. service was very friendly except for the damn bar tender that blocked the door from anyone entering, in deep discussion with another employee, while it was pouring rain. I sweetly said excuse me and shuffled by but he didn't seem to like that too much. Whateva! Bite me, bitch.
Stopped at a Hagen Daz for a scoop of $6 ice cream and headed back to our room for the night.
Our last morning on the island we opted to try another new breakfast place called Pepe's. Cute run down shack by the marina with a simple menu that is reasonably priced. I got eggs benny again. These were MUCH better than the disappointment at Blue Heaven. Hubby though has a complaint...they didn't use fresh mushrooms in his omelet. Yes, he is an omelet connoisseur making his own everyday with whatever is in the fridge. Always with FRESH mushrooms. His omelet fixation is a whole blog on it's own. Someday I will explain this mans obsession with omelets.
We headed home after breakfast and stopped at a few places on the way. I got another pair of casual flip flops at the sandal outlet and a couple small pieces of original art at the Wind Chime Shops - you know, the place with the huge lobster in front. They day nearly went really bad when the car almost ran out of gas. Rather than keep an eye on the gauge he just waited for it to buck and shudder on it's final gasps on fumes as we rolled into the shell station somewhere in west Miami.
Well, I have nattered on and ranted long enough about our trip. For the curious few, lost shaker has found a home on my desk at work helping me remember, to not let the negative vibes ever get me down.
Peace.
