Xmas vacation is here, or was.
We went to Key West the past few of days. It was a wonderful time. We went with some friends of ours. We stayed at the Southernmost Hotel at the end of Duval Street.
We arrived on the Winter Soltice, Dec. 21st. When we got to town, we took a trolley train around town to get in all of the tourist sights. That took a little over an hour. Then it was on to Duval Street. First stop was Sloppy Joe's Bar, a famous drinking establishment. We didn't need the trolley ride to figure that out, but, we needed to kill some time before we could check into our room.
I had decided before the trip that I was going to basically drink rum drinks the whole time there. My first order was a Rum Runner. It was great. I ordered the Conch Fritters to help get it down.
That evening, we went to Mallory Square to watch the Sunset with what seemed like about a thousand other pagans to worship the sunset before the longest night of the year. I had never seen the "green flash" at sunset, but, that night, I saw it. What a surprise, and of course that called for another round of drinks.
The next morning, er, late morning, we awoke, and headed out again. Started at the Butterfly Museum, but, there were too many kids there, so we headed back up Duval Street. We had breakfast somewhere. All I remember was that the Steak and Eggs tasted wonderful. We headed to the Oyster House because someone in the group wanted clams. Upon arriving and realizing it was 5 o'clock somewhere, a round of drink was ordered to start the afternoon off properly. We had a nice view of the marina, so we stayed there for a couple rounds and buckets of clams.
We strolled/staggered down Duval street again. In and out of a bunch of little touristy shops. At one point CECA started to have pain in her foot so we fetched a taxi back to the hotel were we took a nap.
A few hours later, we were back on Duval street buying more stuff, and having more drinks as we worked up an appetite for dinner. I remember the weather being beautiful, mild with a slight breeze and no humidity! It made for nice sleeping weather. We found a place for dinner near the hotel. As the sun was setting, I ventured out onto a pier to attempt to see a green flash again, but, I must have blinked or something like that, because I didn't even see the sun go down that evening. The were both there one minute, and the next thing I knew I was picking up myself and heading back to the dinner table. Of course, I had to get something to wash down the lump in my throat, so, more rum.
I calculated that we were only awake for about 10 hours that day. Time flies when you are having rum.
Our last day I awoke to the horrid sound of a roaster greeting the morning sunrise with the traditional bird calls. If I had had a gun, there would have been another traditional sound and a cloud of feathers, but, I didn't have a gun.
That morning, I decided that rum was not good in large quantities. However, beer is, so, I started ordering ice cold ones, instead of the shy little drinks that hide behind little umbrellas. Also, it was our last day there.
I knew I wasn't responsible for getting us home, so, at lunch, I tried one of the local microbrewery beers. Not bad. It even helped me win at pool with our friend, who I never beat at pool. That was it for me. Beer was the drink of choice for the remainder of the stay - another 6 hours!
We got home safely.
I must have over did it on the beers or was it the rum. I left on Sunday morning, and today, Wednesday, upon climbing back on the scale, it says that I added ten pounds over the past three days. Hell who cares, we deserved a break, and this vacation was perfect for resting. Lots of sleep.
Back on the diet, and now, I have to wrap a bunch of presents to have under the tree tonight. Merry Xmas to you all.
