The weather was a little cool the first day, but warmed up some by Friday. We decided to get some beach time in. I decided that I was going to be brave and rock a bikini since Jon was the only person I knew there and he's already seen everything that there is too see anyway. I figured everyone else could just suck it. Plus, I was pretty sure that I would be no where close to winning the "What the Hell is she thinking putting that on in public" award. Good news is I was correct in my assessment that I would not be the palest, or flabbiest chica in a bikini. Bad news is that having gotten no UV action in almost 5 years, my belly decided to retaliate by turning the brightest shade of lobster red that you can imagine...even though it got the same amount of sun, and was given the exact same amount of sunscreen protection. Maybe that's a sign.
We did a couple of touristy things that we didn't get to do when we were there for the wedding. We went to the Butterfly Exhibit and the Hemingway House. I really enjoyed both of them. I have to say...I'm not sure what they feed those butterflies, but they were on crack. I could barely get pictures of them. We got to see some being released that were only a few hours old. Apparently they only live to be 10-14 days old. Sad little fact. The Hemingway House was just gorgeous...so much history. All of the little 6-toed cats were killing me. They were everywhere!
We pretty much just spent a lot of time walking around, ducking into a few little shops and bars. We hit Mallory Square one night for Sunset....which is a must. Lucky for us it was the only night with a great sunset! The rest of our time was spent eating more food that anyone has any business eating. I plan on fully describing each meal, so get ready!
Our first stop for lunch on Thursday was at the Banana Cafe on Duval. It's a little French cafe and was not too far from our Hotel. Reason #1 why we chose it!! We were starving and it was the first thing that looked good. They had an amazing selection of crepes, salads and sandwiches. Jon had a turkey sandwich and I had the mozzarella sandwich. It was delicious. Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil with olive oil on whole grain bread. Their twist was that instead of balsamic vinegar, they did a lime vinaigrette. Very refreshing and healthy. I managed to resist the banana and nutella crepes. Good thing, since over the course of the four days that we were there, I became a member of the clean plate club more times that I am willing to admit.
For dinner that night, we stumbled (literally....after a fantastic happy hour at Conch Republic Seafood Co..which is where we had our Rehearsal Dinner!) into Caroline's, also on Duval. I had a skirt steak with black beans and rice, and Jon had blackened mahi-mahi (which they made for him upon request!). They food was excellent, and not very pricey! I'm assuming that we were not overly enthused because of the number of drinks that we had consumed, and that it was, in fact, as tasty as I recall. That make a pretty good mojito too :)
Lunch Friday was at Camille's on Simonton. I loved this place. The food was great. They are famous for their breakfast, which they serve all day. Jon got their chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato fries and I had a breakfast burrito with jalapeno sausage and skillet potatoes. We ate half of each others because they were both delicious. I loved the decor in this place too. Think Granny Floridian Kitch with a kinky sense of humor. Everywhere you look you see something new; like vintage Barbies in bondage hanging from the windows, fuzzy leopard handcuffs at the bar, and wooden pigs getting it on in the front window. All of that is juxtaposed with tropical pastel outdoor furniture that you would find in a snow bird retirement community! Pretty funny stuff...great food!
Dinner that night was at Prime 951 on Caroline St. We had made reservations online, and were surprised with a little private room! Very nice :) I had read that this place had amazing steaks, and was not disappointed. For appetizers, Jon got a wedge salad and I had a tomato and mozzarella stack. Delicious. Their steaks come out on wooden cutting boards and they were cooked perfectly. So good, that I ate every.single.bite! I also ordered the mashed potatoes as a side....and if you know me at all...you know that I adore potatoes. I ate a bite, maybe two. They were fabulous, but that steak was unbelievable! Jon got the mac 'n cheese, and said it was good...but it had truffle oil and he had a severe issue with people putting truffle oil in everything just because it's "fancy and trendy". I have to say that I agree 100%. That was the only complaint...damn truffles. I will also say that the service here was impeccable. There was someone in that room checking on us constantly, but not in an annoying way. They were very on top of things.
For dessert, we headed to this little place called Better than Sex on Petronia. Luckily it was a bit of a walk because we had no room by the time we left the steakhouse. They only serve desserts, with crazy names, and have definitely put and effort into giving the place an "atmosphere". I ordered the Kinky Key Lime Pie, which was pretty good, but more of a mousse than a pie. Jon got the Hot and Bothered which I loved. It was a spicy chocolate ice cream topped with white chocolate...YUM! Our waiter was hilarious and there is definitely no such thing as censorship there! I wouldn't say the desserts are better than sex, but it's a fun place to go.
For lunch Saturday we took the boat out to Sunset Key, where our wedding was, and ate at Latitudes. I was so excited to get to go back out to the island, and it definitely brought back so many wonderful memories! The first thing we noticed though, was how much the shoreline had changed. The waiter told us that with the storms and cold weather they'd had over the past few weeks, the tide had come up about 10-15 feet. It was still so pretty, and I loved being out there, even it it was only for a couple of hours. We each ate a sandwich...I don't even remember what, but they were tasty. I had a total frou-frou drink too. A key lime colada...so unlike me as I do not do sweet, pastel, frothy drinks of any sort, but I was on vacation so what the hell! After lunch we walked around for a bit and looked at all of the cottages. I couldn't remember for the life of me which one we stayed in, just that it had green shutters. We decided that in five years we were coming back again and may just have to stay out there!
Dinner that night was at Nine One Five on Duval. It's a cute little restaurant, and one of Key West's more trendy spots. I don't know how long they've been open, but I don't remember seeing it last time we were there. Luckily they have a tapas style menu, and you can get some smaller portions of really great food. By the time we ate here, we were so stuffed from eating 2 huge meals a day that I didn't know how much more I could handle. I sucked it up though, and we got fried polenta to start with (oh, how I love polenta!!). I had chipotle orange pork tacos and Jon got their signature tuna dome. The food was really great, but the service was so, so we thought. We did end up getting dessert, fresh pear and blueberry cobbler...so glad I did because it was delicious. I think we were in a food coma after we left because we tried to hit a few bars, and ended up taking a petty cab back to the hotel after about an hour. Way to live it up on our last night, huh!?!
For our final meal on Sunday (that sounds morbid), we ate at Ricky's Blue Heaven. It had been raining all morning and hadn't really let up much by the time we got there for brunch. We ended up having to sit inside, which was a bummer because I was looking forward to sitting outside with all of the roosters running around! I had a luncheon there the morning of our wedding and loved it, so I was really looking forward to eating there. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner...but only serve breakfast/brunch until 2 on Sundays. I had been talking about how amazing their banana pancakes are, and Jon ordered those. I forgot how huge they are though. You get three pancakes the size of my rear, and it is impossible to eat all of them. I got the rooster special with eggs, bacon, potatoes and banana bread. I ate some of Jon's pancakes too! We miserably walked around for a while after that, and I actually felt like I was going to die. Although everything was so very good, I am glad to be home and away from all of the temptation of yummy new food that I need to try!!
Now we're back to the real world, but this will hopefully be a regular trip every half decade...it's definitely a special place for us and we get a little more attached with each visit!
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| Key West |
