Key West, Florida

We had the best of intentions when we started our grand road trip around the country. We had planned on driving all the way to the southernmost tip of Florida -- Key West -- for the 4th of July and Kim's birthday. It seemed like a great way to sort of "kick off" our our drive. Alas, that was not meant to be, as we ended up spending almost 3 weeks in Louisiana and Mississippi dealing with poor Kim's unexpected gall bladder issues.

To get back on track, we had to skip most of Florida, and drove straight through to Savannah, GA for the 4th of July (Kim's birthday). We promised ourselves that we'd visit Key West and southern Florida again some time.

As Lady Luck would have it, I was working in Orlando, FL the last week of October (our first week back from the trip). We made some arrangements with Mathias and Patricia (our friends and hosts from Montreal), and met them in Miami, rented a car, and spent Halloween weekend (a.k.a. Fantasy Fest) in Key West.

Our escapades are chronicled below...

Just across the street from our hotel stood this cute little gem that Kim deemed absolutely adorable. "Kimberly's Sweets and Treats". Pretty perfect.

We had breakfast for lunch at the Blue Heaven. My sister, Leigh, had given us a gift certificate way back when we thought we were going to be in Key West in July. This place inspired a Jimmy Buffet tune of the same name.

It has a charming little courtyard with chickens roaming around. We ate outside and enjoyed the glorious October weather.

After we straightened out a minor issue with the hotel reservation, we finally checked into our room -- a gorgeous two-bedroom suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Casa Marina property on the southern end of Key West.

The resort was really nice! We had an extensive balcony.

And a view of the Atlantic Ocean and the pool -- both of which we enjoyed each day of our weekend.

There was also a little gazebo attached to the resort, out over the water.

All four of us walked out to watch a sunset.

Now this was, in fact, October 31st, Halloween. When Mathias and I booked this trip, we had never heard of Fantasy Fest. I just noticed that hotel accommodations were far more expensive than what I had previously booked on dive trips down to the keys. In any case, we were in for a really exciting night.

Mathias and Patricia dressed in matching sailor costumes, while Kim and I dressed as Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton from HBO's True Blood.

A little True Blood Budweiser helped me get "in character" :-)

Ahhh, that's better...

Fantasy Fest itself was really quite fun. Kim being from New Orleans (and me from Baton Rouge), we're quite familiar with Mardi Gras and parades. Fantasy Fest is perhaps similar to Mardi Gras, involving parades and alcohol and debauchery. Many of the characters in the parade were wearing almost nothing more than body paint, and so I don't have many pictures to show you here :-)

We had a great time at the parade though, which was really long (2+ hours).

I started the next morning out with a little snorkeling from the shore. I swam around the small reef, noting a few barracuda and other small fish.

...after which a guy from the resort brought us all frozen towels. Oh, that was awesome!

Later that day, we booked an excursion to watch the dolphins.

The four of us had a great time on the water.

After about an hour and a half cruising around, we finally spotted a few small families of dolphins.

It was really neat, seeing them surface, and dive back under.

We watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just before heading back to the port.
For our last night in Key West, we treated ourselves to a fine dinner at Cafe Sole. We might have had a few second thoughts as we walked in, and a disgruntled pair of patrons were having an argument with a nearby table and eventually the owner. But we quickly realized that they were just ornery, and we had a fabulous night.

Kim and Patricia...

Mathias and Dustin...

We left Key West on Monday morning, driving the rental car back to Miami where our flights left in the early evening. We had a bit of time to kill during the day, so we spent it at an alligator farm just south of Miami in the northern end of the Keys. Being from Louisiana, I've seen my fair share of alligators. Mathias and Patricia on the other hand, not so much :-)

We watched an "alligator show", with this guy "taming" the savage beast.

It was pretty impressive to see...

After the show, each of held a baby alligator. Some of us took more encouragement than others ;-) I'm proud of you, Kimmie!

Patricia showed this picture to her students back in Montreal. I bet they were probably impressed ;-)

And Mathias and I got a turn.

Finally, we watched a "feeding". You do not want to be on the other side of this fence when this gal is chunking dead rats over. Wow.

What a weekend!

Needless to say, Kim and I were excited to get down to Key West after having missed most of Florida on our travels a few months earlier. And of course, hanging out with Mathias and Patricia again was a real treat. Fantasy Fest was completely unexpected, but an awesome way to spend Halloween. We were pleased with how many people recognized us as Bill and Sookie :-) Snorkeling, dolphin watching, good food, and alligator farms -- all icing on the cake!

:-Dustin