I flew to Chicago on the 1st (and that is no April Fool joke). I must say, all of my flights on this trip were perfect! You need to give the airlines an "atta boy" when they come through for you like that! I spent from the 1st through the 20th in Schererville, going between Melissa and Jon's homes so that they didn't get too tired of me !!! What's my Dad's old joke....fish and company are both the same, after three days they both stink! What??? Not ME!!! While in NWI, I got to celebrate Easter and go to a huge Easter egg hunt in Crown Point, hike in the Dunes National Park, watch Tyler play baseball and see his new belt he earned in Karate, saw Ava's track meet, played board games and read books with the kids AND had time to get together with old friends for dinner/lunch! Life is good!
Once I knew Steve was in the Keys, then I was able to make plane reservations to go meet him. I loved the pilot that flew us from Atlanta to Key West. He came on the loud speaker and explained if we hadn't flown into Key West before, it was Delta's shortest landing strip. So, he said as soon as we touched down he would hit the brakes. But not to worry, it was his favorite place to land a jet and he also had many years of Naval flight training behind him. When that jet hit the ground, oh yes, he hit those brakes hard and we landed quickly. We deplaned on the tarmak since they don't have the covered walkways....welcome to sunny Key West. Mr. Steve was right there to meet me!
Since that time, we have been "living on Island time"! It's been warm, sunny and just beautiful. The marina we are in is great and I took some pictures so you could paint a picture in your mind of where we are and what we do. So many people have asked me what we do all day....well, it varies but a lot of it involves finding new places to go and explore. One of my favorites, of course, are the restaurants. Key West never disappoints with their choices of food. We are always on the lookout for great key lime pie and seafood. We've had pie at Blue Heaven and the Key West Key Lime Pie Company....both excellent, I might add! Another favorite is Antonio's with Italian fare....delicious. The A and B Oyster Bar was recommended to us by the marina van driver. The happy hour goes from 4:00 to 6:30 and their drinks and appetizers (which are a meal in themselves) are half price, so it is fun and fairly inexpensive! (which is unique in Key West)
Steve and I both like museums and have found many in our travels. We ended up at the Museum of Arts and Science in downtown Key West. There was a huge exhibit featuring Ernest Hemmingway and we both learned a lot about the man and the early days in Key West. As many of you know, people always come up to Steve and say, "Do you know who you look like?" And their response is Kenny Rogers. Well, one day a gentleman had Steve roll down his window at a stop light and asked the same question and Steve was sure he knew what he would say! Nope! You look like Ernest Hemmingway! Well, Steve didn't know if that was a compliment or not! After seeing many pictures of Mr. Hemmingway at the exhibit, we came upon one that really DID look like Steve. He's one famous man!
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Ernest Hemmingway
The past two weeks have left us tan, rested and WELL FED! We are now ready for a sail to the Dry Tortugas which are 70 miles West of here. We have had to wait for a good weather window, because this little sailor likes calm seas. So, our next blog will fill you in on that adventure.
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