Key West - Day 5 & 6

Day 5


On this trip to the Keys, we tried to focus on doing a few 'new things' like eating at new restaurants, trying new touristy type stuff, etc. So today we went on a kayaking and snorkeling trip with Lazy Dog Outfitters out of Hurricane Hole. This is not snorkeling in the Carribean with giant fish and wide open ocean. It is like snorkeling in a rain forest that is two feet deep, where you are looking for little fish among the coral, sea grass and mangroves, when suddenly a channel about ten to fifteen feet deep opens up below you to reveal schools of rainbow fish and a huge grouper or two. It can be quite unsettling when a hole opens below you that is about 3 feet across but an unknown amount of feet deep. Some run down and then turn under the mangroves. We eventually reasoned that my discomfort with them was due to my fear of heights. There is a definite ledge and what can be perceived as a 'fall' down into the hole. Odd but understandable once our guide, Robin, explained it to us. Along the way, we learned about the three different types of mangroves, played with starfish, sea cucumbers and anemones, saw a nurse shark and tried to avoid stepping on coral. We even saw a sea turtle observing us from his underwater perch as we kayaked by!

In the late afternoon, we returned to the site of the 'hot iguana lovin' to try and go fishing on Butch's boat. We succeeded in getting out of the Summerland Key channels but some problems with the engine stopped us from getting out into the deeper areas. We headed back in and cleaned up before our trip back to No Name Pub.

A trip to the Keys is not complete without a visit to this local's pizza place and pub. Decorated entirely with news stories about the former brothel, bait shop and general store, as well as at least 30,000 single and five dollar bills, this restaurant serves the best pizza in the Keys. (Plus it's fun to drive through Big Pine looking for Key deer sitting on the front lawns of homes. We saw three on this drive.) Great pizza, cold beer, and good company with Raye & Butch and our trip to the Keys came to an end.

Day 6 - Travel Day
On our final day in Key West, we tried to get a little exercise before our hours of airline travel. W and I ran down to the end of Summerland and back for a little under a mile and a half. Then we headed next door for a swim at a neighbor's pool. Unfortunately a mama crab got a little lost looking for the ocean and ended up in the pool, with all of her babies on her back. W spent about a half an hour fishing them all out!!! We swam around a little, gathered our belongings and said farewell to Summerland Key.

Butch, W and I met up with Raye downtown and had a leisurely lunch at Hurricane Hole. Much of the conversation at lunch centered around the prospect of opening and running various businesses in the Keys, bars, health clubs, marinas, etc. Raye is planning a wedding for a friend of the family in April and is looking for a photographer....hmmmmmmmm. Maybe we'll be back in Key West sooner than we thought!

A little shopping downtown on a slightly rainy Duval Street and then we headed to the airport as the wind and cold moved in. We left Key West as Fight Night and Boat Week were beginning, which our usual time to visit. Our trip boasted the warmest and most sunny weather we have ever had on a January trip. Perhaps it was the timing in coming down a week earlier? The forecast for Boat Week is cloudy, windy and high of barely 65....brrrrr!

The Key West airport is under major renovation and we sat in the Conch Flyer restaurant for perhaps the last time, talking with the local bartender Mike, a New England native and HUGE Patriots / Sox fan.

It was a painless trip home to Greensboro, except for the 20 degree weather that greeted us!!!!

Send us an email if you plan to go to the Keys - we can definitely give you some referrals on restaurants, bars, activities and places to stay!