A Key West Gathering, Day 5

Otto and I drove down in his Jeep to Key West this morning after a breakfast of Ham Croquettes and Cafe Cubano.

A brief stop at the EAA Aviation Museum resulted in no worthy pics on my part, sorry.  But here's a couple of pics of Seven Mile Bridge as we headed south from Marathon Key:

We got to the Crowne Plaza/La Concha Hotel on Duval street with no issues and really very little in the way of crowds; after all, it's the low season in terms of tourists.

A little bit of exploring and we then reboarded the Jeep and headed over to the Key West airport to meet Lee S. who flew in from northern Virginia today.

We headed back to the hotel, got settled in and soon we were on the streets of Key West headed towards the wharf area where the boat we hope to fish from was located.

That recce completed, we adjourned for a late lunch nearby:

 Large number of Tarpon drawn by the chum created

by the fish cleaning/gutting from the 

returning fishing crews and fishing customers

Lee and Otto

I've known Lee and Otto since the summer of 1981, making it over 38 years that we've been close friends.  They are true friends, and I'm lucky to call them such.

Lunch over with, it was a short walk over to this Cigar Store known to Lee.  He and Otto smoked cigars as all three of us went to get a few beers while awaiting the sunset near Mallory Square.

 Sign at the Cigar Store

Smoking cigars before moving onto the bar next door

The Sunset proved a non-event due to the incoming weather which is making it uncertain for us in terms of being able to go deep sea fishing tomorrow.  The weather decision is 6:30 AM tomorrow, so stay tuned.

We had 8:00 PM dinner reservations at the A & B Restaurant nearby but were seated early due to the low amount of tourists in the area.  Dinner was sumptuous, not inexpensive, but definitely sumptuous and delicious.  I had the Grilled Grouper, preceded by Beef Carpacio (my first) and a Cesar Salad.

Otto and Lee both ordered the same entree: Grouper "Oscar".  We also each ordered fancy drinks, I had the Hava-tini, which was basically a Mojito.

We ate so much we couldn't even think of ordering dessert so we paid and walked out into the cooling evening and back towards the hotel.

Great day, both Otto and I were glad to reunite with Lee and renew our 38 year old friendship.

A Key West Gathering, Day 4

Otto and I said our goodbyes to Rich this morning as he returns back towards Wellington, FL to his daughter and his dogs.

We checked into the Holiday Inn hotel across the US 1 Highway which was near where we'd been lodging courtesy of Rich's brother-in-law.  We of course made sure to leave the property clean and orderly.

We checked out the African Queen boat that was featured in the Humphrey Bogart/Katherine Hepburn movie: Key Largo.

 The boat is apparently available for tours in spite of being

declared a Historical Landmark.

To kill more time before being able to check into our rooms, Otto then drove us south along US1 towards Marathon Key, where we stopped at the History of Diving Museum to check it out.

 Primitive Diving Gear

 Just a portion of a large wall display of diving helmets from 

all over the world

 The iconic Mark V Diving Helmet made for

the US Navy during WWII

 Insignia of US Navy Divers

Example of the modern diving outfits,

this one is obsolete of course, which

have allowed longer endurance and deeper dives

After the museum, which we both recommend, we drove down south towards the Stuffed Pig restaurant mentioned in Trip Advisor as a good spot to eat.

We got there too late, as they closed at 2Pm so instead went to the nearby American Legion Post and had a couple of beers to debate our next move.

My first visit to an American Legion Post since joining them

about three weeks ago.

The bartender recommended to us to check out the Island Fish Company for lunch and off we went after settling the bill.  Nice bar at this post, cool, dark and in pretty good condition.

A short stop was made at the 1935 Hurricane Memorial commemorating the devastating hurricane of that year which killed many people, some of whom were buried beneath the memorial itself:

We had a good lunch consisting mainly of Blackened Grouper Sandwiches and some oysters and conch chowder for Otto.

We could see that weather clouds have moved in on Key West to the south, making our plans to go deep sea fishing tomorrow afternoon, iffy.  We shall see.

After a delicious late lunch, we drove back towards Key Largo and our hotel.  The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the hotel's pool and a couple more drinks at the Tiki Bar poolside.

Tomorrow: Key West and meeting up with the third member of this adventure.  Lee S.

A Key West Gathering, Day 3

September 17

Still in Key Largo.  A pretty relaxed day, the morning was spent soaking up the sun, some cooling off in the sea water and a leisurely lunch.

 Otto did some kayaking....

 Rich would snorkel and swim

 A rather sunny and warm day by the water

After such an exhausting morning of relaxing, and a really nice lunch at the nearby Key Largo Conch House restaurant, we all participated in siestas.

As sunset neared, Rich prepared to do some fishing, Otto would prepare dinner along with Rich's help, and I shot pictures of the pretty good sunset.  We were joined by Rich's boyhood friend James for dinner, good conversation and good food.

 A Key Largo Sunset with friends

 Rich enjoying his fishing

 The sunset's reflection on the beach house's sliding glass doors

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.