The Keys post, finally...

After a couple of weeks even I can get something right... Blogger has decided it is time for me to share the pictures from the Keys, all hail the blogger gods!

Here's the resort from beachside, we were on Grassy Key which is almost halfway through the Keys. For the uninitiated, the Keys are a chain of islands connected by bridges which run southwest off the tip of Florida. Key Largo is the top with Key West being at the end.

It was a 5 and a half hour drive from Tampa to Grassy Key that seemed twice as long cause Mommy and Daddy had a fight about Nickelback tickets, all ended well, but it was a long ass drive. The resort and room were great, we were on the Atlantic side and the view was beautiful. We had a two bedroom room with a full kitchen and a 50" tv, not that I spent any time watching tv although it kept the kids occupied for a while. We had a nice pool, a hot tub and some noisy as hell birds too. I was gonna show you the room and my Pina Colada fixins but Blogger won't allow those to load, damit.

The wedding was cool, beachside, or lagoon side anyway. Water, wildlife, tiki torches and booze who could ask for more. The bridal party had been drinking all day and it was amusing at best to watch the groom snicker and smile during the vows but not as cute as the bride responding "I what?" to the woman performing the ceremony. The brides son gave her away and there were butterflies set free at the end, yeah, whatever... And after that there was more booze, copius amounts even and food and ganja too, that is if you knew where to look (hint - walk out to the dock...) They had plenty of food too, ribs, kabobs, shrimp; they just didn't have anyone lined up to cook it. The best man and I fired the grills and got it all done eventually, and I must say it was pretty good. It was also a casual affair, very relaxing, the party was barefoot my favorite kind.

The groom has a band and they used the bands equipment to pump music all night, he loaded his Ipod with classic rock, reggae and some other appropriate stuff and the beautiful starry night was resplendent with great tunes. At one point I took the wife back down to the beach, we sat and enjoyed the water, the reggae in the background and the bright starry sky. I'm happy to report that things got kinda frisky and as appealing as getting a little on the beach was, there were just too many kids runing around to get busy. We decided to sneak back to the vehicle and break it in, as it were. We snuck past the kids, weaving in and out of foliage so as not to be spotted, made it past the gathering of people and got to the truck. I went to the passenger side, she went to the drivers side and we both waited for the other to let us in... She left the damned keys in her jacket pocket, fuck, we can't get in the car. We both started laughing when we realized what was up and the moment passed, we headed back to the party. More alcohol was the cure...

Sunday was a trip to Key West but first we stopped at IHOP. We needed food, we hadn't had an organized together meal in days. I wanted something besides a sandwich. You'd think that the we and the kids hadn't actually eaten in days with the way we filled that table with food. And it was good, real good. South of Marathon is the 7 mile bridge, aptly named cause it's 7 miles long. Pigeon Key is partway down but it doesn't count, I think it belongs to a college research lab or something. That's the old bridge behind it, the original bridges through the Keys were built for Flagler's railroad, eventually the railroad was replaced by a regular road. Rail at one time was the only way to travel through the Keys, unless of course you count boats. Since I don't have one we won't.

Key West is a cool place, the wife wanted to shop, Sweetpea wanted her palm read and the youngest, well, she wanted a tattoo. Dad, he wanted a drink. Eventually everybody got what they were after. There are chickens running loose everywhere, it's a Key West thing. Some of the newer, monied residents don't find them as quaint as the rest of us and tried to get them run out of town. Some sympaticos set up The Chicken Store to rescue them and raise money to take care of them, a lot of original artwork focusing on the chickens is for sale and while we were there the mrs. got her sneaker humped by a particularly romantic rooster.
She didn't think it was too funny although I have to disagree...

Sweetpea got her palm read, she wouldn't tell me anything that the guy said but she told her mom that she was suprised by what he knew.

I didn't get pics of the youngest getting her tatto, probably good I wasn't there to see it. No, it's not a real tattoo, what am I stupid? It's a henna deal, across her lower back, of course, and it's almost gone already.

We spent the day wandering shops and waited for the sunset. I wanted to see the cat juggler but didn't spy him. There is a sunset celebration every night at Mallory Square with vendors and entertainment acts lined up to seperate your money from you. There used to be a guy who juggled cats, way cool. The closest thing I could find was a guy who had some cats trained to walk a tightrope and jump through rings of fire. There were acrobats, an escape artist and some schmuck known as Stickman who juggled stuff with sticks, skip the stickman. An excellent time was had by all I believe. A fine dinner we ate on the way back, fresh fish and crab cakes, yummy!

All in all we had a pretty good time, never got to ride the bikes or use the fishing pole. We spent time at the beach, wading the tidal pools, drinking, swimmming in the pool and generally lazing about. The wife says we need to go back without the kids - who am I to argue? So there you go, better late than never, Billy's trip to the keys...