Key West Day 4

At the Lazy Dog Outfitters, we started our kayak journey through the “Backcountry” of Key West after sunrise. In our single kayaks, we followed our guides through the mangroves, gliding over starfish, mangrove snapper, and jelly fish. Occasionally we would stop for them to teach us something about the ecology of the waters, like picking a sea cucumber out of the water and passing it around for us to hear about it’s disgusting defense mechanism. The best part was that our guide brought her dog, Tucker, with us for the tour!!!

We returned home to do some more Duval St shopping. Ironically, I ran into a boy from FSU that knew my sorority sister—what’a small world!! We stopped in Hog’s Breath for an afternoon beer and an appetizer and then headed back home to clean up. It’s so nice to be able to walk everywhere, we never moved our car all week!! And after we ate to a stuffed capacity at Turtle Kraals (an infamous BBQ joint), we walked it off on our way back home! Or at least that’s our justification for dropping into Blond Giraffe, the homemade Key Lime Pie factory, before making it back to our beds :).




We are so sad to check out today!! :( But my sister and I are looking forward to our next stop—150 miles north—to Miami Beach to meet our mom. One benefit of divorced parents, double the vacations. Move over Kourtney and Khloe, Erin and Shawn have taken over South Beach! “I’m in Miami, trick!”

Key West Day 3

After finally getting a chance to sleep in, we walked 3 blocks down to the public beach area for some R&R. One shout-out I have to give to my local Panhandle is our beaches beat the beaches down here by far (because the ones here are man-made). Sadly, it was overcast and started to drizzle so we headed back to Duval for some shopping.

After making our way in-and-out the little Duval St. boutiques, we made it to Kinos, a handmade sandal shop where my sister and I grabbed our favorite styles for only $12! We loved them so much that we put them on right away and continued our walk to dinner.

We walked down Greene St., past the yachts parked at the long dock and followed the music in the air to Schooner’s Wharf. Claimed to be “One of the Last Pieces of Old Key West,” I was charmed by the old drift wood tiki huts, lined with white lights, that we dined under. My dad and I ordered a round of Kalik, a Jamaican beer, and my sister and I shared the Tuna Tacos (which I’d highly recommend if you like sushi!!). For our entrée we split the Seafood Platter. In the middle of this all, my sister (Erin), looked over to the bar and pointed out two Hemingway “Look-A-Likes.” She grabbed the camera and my hand and made her way to the two men enjoying their beers and asked, “Can we get a picture with you??” They laughed and said it was their “luckiest day” to have their photo taken with two blondes and before we walked away they added, “I’m the winner from 2001 and he won last night.” So by chance, we got our photo taken with the Hemingway “Look-a-like” of 2009!!! Wahoo!!!

To top the night off, we walked on Duval under the lights and grabbed homemade ice cream for our trip home. :)

Key West Day 2

What an exhausting day! I thought this was supposed to be vacation?

8:30 a.m. Roosters woke me up. Went back to sleep.



9:15 a.m. My sister and I did our morning jog again, down Thomas St. to check out one of Key West's most famous restaurants, Blue Heaven. The Caribbean menu was approving so we continued on our path 'til we hit Front street and then jumped back onto Duval. The road was reserved for the Hemingway Days festival so we hopped in-between the tourists checking out the food and art vendors and headed back to our "home".

12:30 p.m. We suited up, loaded the car with our masks and fins, and headed to Captain's Corner for our scheduled 4 hour reef dive. My sister and I were a little nervous for our first dive (past certification) but once we descended down to Rock Key reef, we were blown away by the giant tarpon, lobster, parrot fish, and hogfish snapper we swam right next to!!

6 p.m. After we came back in on our dive boat, we picked up our friend at the airport and cleaned up for dinner. We walked 4 blocks down to Blue Heaven and my dad loved this place! After walking past the tree branches and tropical flowers hanging down, you're greeted by the sleeping local cats and teasing Caribbean aroma. I ordered the Blue Heaven martini and the Boston Bibb Salad, and then shared the BBQ Shrimp with cornbread, rice & beans with my sister. Then our table shared the Banana Heaven (banana bread, grilled bananas and vanilla ice cream). Yummy!!
10 p.m. We "people watched" from the front porch of the Hard Rock Cafe' and spotted 3 Hemingway "Look-A-Likes", numerous entertaining drunk couples, and 1 transvestite. Needless to say, Key West seems like a whole 'nother country compared to the down-home Tallahassee life I am accustomed to.

11 p.m. We finally made it home and passed out on the couch before we could even make it to our beds!!! This trip is exhausting!! But I'm looking forward to tomorrow: beach time with a book and then shopping down Duval. :) Stay tuned!!

Key West

Our Unit, Gulfbreeze

We just arrived to Key West, last night, after a 1o hour drive! We are staying at the cutest little beach house, just a block from the Hemingway House and around the corner from the busy and infamous, Duval Street. It happens to be "Hemingway Days" July 22nd-26th, so this morning on my jog with my sister, we stopped by Ernest Hemingway's house to admire the architecture and fathom his fame. We rented bikes and began our mission for finding a good Scuba Diving deal. At Captain's Corner, we scheduled a 2-reef dive tomorrow from 2-6pm to give my sister and I a chance to test our new scuba diving skills with our well trained Dad.

Hemingway House

We returned home to clean up from our ride (I have a razor-back tan from my workout attire--uhh!!) and hurried on over to the Conch Republic Seafood Co. for a shot of the Weigh-In from the Ernest Hemingway Marlin Fishing Tournament. No marlins were brought in today :( but a hefty amount of dolphin (up to 33 lbs) for the Fun Fish category and 2-4-1 Happy Hour with my dad was the perfect way to end the day. With a Key West Sunset beer, my sister and I shared a Brie Salad and the Snapper Ultimate special (stuffed with crab-meat with a Key Lime Holidae sauce). I think we are going to hit Duval St for some window shopping and some frozen yogurt, so I am bowing out. I promise to upload more photos soon!!!

Conch Republic Seafood Co.

Lilly Pulitzer Giveaway!

I may be new to "blogging," but when I stumbled upon Lauren Nicole's blog, I fell in love. She has a collection of the cutest homemade gifts like a Monogrammed Badge Reel (which would be perfect on my scrubs in Dental school one day...) and her Hand Stamped Silver (which would make a personal gift for my mom's September birthday)! I had my chance to enter my first giveaway on her blog for a Lilly Pulitzer cosmetic bag. I thought this would be a perfect shot for me since I am (very slowly) expanding my Lilly collection that matches my Florida lifestyle. The "Brush Worthy" makeup bag is in Grasshopper Green Dream Weaver and would look great in my suitcase for my trip down to the Keys!

I'm a Reel Keeper

Being a typical Florida girl, I am constantly looking for the gear to keep up with the boys when it comes to fishing. So before we head out on the boat for the summer season, I invest in a few items from Fishin Chix, a local, Pensacola 'Fishing Sisterhood' that outfits ladies like me in the cutest and most sensible fishing gear. My favorite item is my precious gut towel that I swipe my hands on after bringin' that slimey snapper up to the boat. I love it when I catch one of the boys leaning over to wipe their hands off too! My mom surprised me this past Christmas with a cute tee from their website that reads "I'm A Reel Keeper" in the humor of a long-time boyfriend who broke up with me earlier that year. She whispered, "He doesn't know what he lost," after I sported the shirt around the house. Ironically, I am back with that silly boy now but still wear my "Reel Keeper" shirt to remind him of what he has and to remind myself of how special I am. :)