A Gathering in Key West, Days 1 and 2

September 15

Flew from Denver to Fort Lauderdale to meet with college friends.  Eventually, I will also reunite with one more college friend down in Key West, FL.  Otto, Lee and I will all be turning 60 within a month of each other's birthdays soon so we decided to do a joint celebration in Key West.

I hate flying for many reasons, but at least this flight didn't involve the "no legroom" complaint:

But first, a rendezvous with Rich R. and Otto B. at the Fort Lauderdale airport.  They picked me up  and drove me to Rich's home in Wellington, FL where I stayed the first night of this trip.

 Otto with one of Rich's two beautiful German Sheperds

Otto, Richard and yours truly at Rich's home

September 16

After Otto fed us a sumptuous breakfast, we drove down in two cars to Homestead FL.  Otto and I had an errand to run in Coral Gables so Rich said he'd meet us there to then guide us to his brother-in-law's house in Key Largo.

The drive down the Florida Turnpike was uneventful except for idiot cagers which Otto spotted handily and avoided.

We did see the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel on the way down:

Traffic was heavy at times, but sometimes was surprisingly light, I guess it being a Monday meant most folks were at work.  Still, we made good time and soon were relaxing in Rich's brother-in-law's weekend home in Key Largo:

 We'll be in this place until Wednesday and then continue down

towards Key West shortly after that.

Rich then guided us in Otto's car down to Islamorada, another key or island further south along US1 where we basically pigged out at an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet place!  Rich's son Michael and his girlfriend Alexis joined us there and we enjoyed great conversations along with the great food.

We returned to the Key Largo house after a stop at a store to get Rich his fishing license and some miscellaneous items for Otto and myself.  It was quite relaxing, if a bit humid and breezy, sitting by the dock...watching distant thunder head clouds over Key Biscayne near Miami, occasionally light up the sky with lightning.

Not much further to report for days 1 & 2, more to follow as we make our slow way down to Key West to meet the third soon-to-be-60 year old, Lee S.  He's flying in direct to Key West from VA where he lives.