latitudes and attitudes

Key West or bust, baby!  Today we picked up Mamaw and Paps for a day in Key West.  We had quite the adventure planned for us all...

First stop, ALWAYS, is at Kino's for some new sandals.  I lost one off the dock in the big blow we've had for days.  Truth be told, it was the left one, which means I could still wear the right one with my boot.  But, they had new styles....and colors....and Mamaw couldn't resist! (Neither could I!)

For $13.00, it's the most comfortable sandals you'll ever wear.  You can watch them being made, too.  Check them out on the internet- Kino's Sandals- tell them Karyn sent you, lol.  Stephanie, save your pennies- we're going back!

Donnie was kind enough to make several laps around the downtown so Sister could do some quick power shopping.  She only had about 20 minutes as we had a 12:45pm boat to catch.  She scored a tshirt and iPhone wristlet purse :)

We ended up down at the docks where the cruise ships were pulled in to port.  Key West was hopping with tourons.

100' power boats like this one, and even larger ones, are a dime a dozen down in the Bahamas.  Nice ride.

We caught the ferry out to Sunset Key, to enjoy lunch at Lattitudes, which is run by the Westin Hotel.

What a beautiful view of the sailboats, power boats, schooners, jet skis and para-sailers.  My 99 yo Grandma would have loved for me to wheel her up to that bench on the right, and given her a margarita to watch the water.  I could just hear her saying, "You can just leave me here, it's so beautiful."  She would be right, you know?  This was her kind of day we had planned.  I wish she was down here to share it with us.

Just walking up to the place we knew we were in for a special treat.

Elliebug sweet talked our server into preparing a special order of coconut shrimp as an appetizer for her Grandpa.  He was surprised, as it is his favorite seafood treat.  They were the biggest shrimp I have ever seen and they were fabulous.

Ellie ordered the harvest salad which had an "impressive presentation" :)  It had apples, sliced almonds, strawberries, arugula and mixed greens wrapped with pickled cucumbers in a wonderful dressing and goat cheese.  The grilled chicken was so tender you could cut it with a fork alone.  I had grilled grouper with black beans and rice and plantains, and the rest had cubanos served on pretzel rolls with sweet potato salad.  Everything was so delicious, we took our time and really enjoyed ourselves and the meal.  It was a day of fine dining I will remember. 

We sat in these oversized bar stools looking out over the water.  Our server brought Mamaw and Paps some pillows for their backs so they would be more comfortable....that's the kind of place this was :)

If it were about twenty degrees warmer, we would have taken a table out by the beach.  The next time around, we will :)

There's some of my favorite people right there.  What a view, huh?!  If only I had the other four kids, their spouses, the two grandkids, my mom and Grandma, the day would have been absolutely perfect.  It was 99.5% there.  I love my family.

I got an extra squeeze from Mamaw- they had a great time, too :)

It was still chilly out on the water waiting for the ferry to pick us up.  She's a pretty bug- one of the servers wanted to know if she was a local- she caught the eye of several people today.  The girl can turn the boy's heads alright.

Our ride is here, time to go back...

I admire these two people so much.  They are such a loving example to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 61 years together and still going strong...isn't that beautiful?

Thank you honey, for such a special date :)

The day wasn't over yet- Paps treated us all to gelato from our favorite place on Duvall Street. YUM!

You know me, I can't pass up a pretty flower.  It seemed to be some kind of tropical palm of some sort. Anybody want to look it up and tell me what it is?!

Donnie only thought he was being funny as I gimped around Key West today...dern cat.

We even got back in time to enjoy an hour by the pool in the sunshine.  The wind had really laid down this afternoon, and it was perfect.  We met some new international friends- Carlos from Argentina, and his wife, Vickie from England.  They now live in Spain along the Mediterranean coast- our kind of people!   We are taking them on a sunset sail with us tomorrow evening.  Cap'n never meets a stranger, or misses out on an opportunity to take new friends out for a sunset cruise.

As if we couldn't squeeze enough into our day, it was Friday Night Pizza Night with the gang.  Willis was a little upset that he wasn't invited.  He came running from the mangroves to greet us when we got back from being gone all day. 

I couldn't resist giving him some back scratches and belly rubs before we left again.  Poor little buddy.

Ken and Lucille are such gracious hosts for pizza and movie nights.  They have a beautiful condo.

I think there were 13 of us tonight.  The pizzas came from a place we've never tried, and they were fabulous.  They tasted like the pies we got in Europe.  I have been a glutton all day....*sigh*

Kenny is taking us out tomorrow morning to the reef on his boat.  Ellie tried on her new dive skin- it matches all of her pink and black dive gear :)  She could be a model for one of the dive magazines, don't you think?

She tried on her BC, too, while Donnie got the rest of the gear together. I gave El a quick lesson with my dive camera, so I hope to have some underwater pics to show you tomorrow. I'm going along for the ride to bubble watch, since I can't dive yet.  I'm hoping if I lay off the toes awhile longer, I can dive with Mike and Susan towards the end of next week.  We sure had a beautiful day in paradise.  Tomorrow looks to be even better....the wind has finally turned out of the E, only 5-10 knots, and it will be in the upper 70's.  This was the weather we were supposed to have had to go to the Dry Tortugas.  I would love to take Em and El out there together next year.  Well, AIS is 9:30am, so I getter hit the sack.  G'nite, y'all!