With the long drive and a good night's sleep behind us, we are ready for the final leg of our journey to Key West. On the way we stop at the Holiday Isle Resort and have Rum Runners at the original Tiki Bar. Word has it that years ago, when a new owner or manager took over the bar, he had way too many bottles of certain ingredients. So he invented a drink using all those ingredients and called it the Rum Runner.
After Rum Runners and lunch on Islamorada Key, we drove the last couple of hours down to Key West, checked into the hotel and promptly did exactly what you are supposed to do on vacation - nothing. After doing nothing for a couple of hours - mostly with our eyes closed - it was time to check out the fabulous Key West Sunset.
As Key West sunsets go, this one was not all that spectacular, with the sun setting first behind some clouds and then behind an island just to the west of Key West (and you thought Key West was the western most - HAH!). But I guess it is true that Key West sunsets are a lot like pizza and sex: when they are good, they are very good. And when they're bad, they're still pretty good.
After the sunset we stopped at the Hog's Breath saloon for some raw oysters and a dinner. Yum. After dinner we are walking along Duval Street and we here this guy singing "I'll Keep Your Poop In A Jar," a Hayseed Dixie tune about love lost, but remembered in an oh-so-special way.
What a great way to start the Key West experience! Here's this guy, wearing a Kiss T-shirt with a pair of panties around his neck, singing about poop in a jar. Apparently, this song is one of his trademarks as he sells T-shirts that say "poop!" on them. He was astonished when we started singing along with him. He couldn't believe we knew the song, so I had to show it to him on my iPhone.
As the evening progressed, he would ask the crowd to shout out the name of an artist and he would do a song with just his acoustic guitar and a vocoder. Let's see, he did Pink Floyd, Dave Matthews, The Kinks, The Cars, Styx, Toto, Journey, and a bunch of others. He has been voted Key West's #1 entertainer, and he deserves it. His name is Matt Avery, by the way.
We spent a few minutes on the hotel's rooftop terrace, and left Janis and Andrea at the hotel. Cary, Adam, Jarret, and I found the Meteor Smokehouse - a nice little place Janis and I found last year - and sat on the outdoor patio drinking beers and smoking some Key West cigars. Around 11:30 we called Coop's Place and did a remote shot with Barry and the rest of the gang there.
After the Meteor, it was on to the Bottle Cap - the place Janis and I called our "Coop's Place" away from home in Key West. At midnight on a Sunday in the off season, Key West is pretty much shut down, so I was wondering what I would find at the Bottle Cap. This is where all the locals hang out after everything closes, apparently. After a beer, the night (and the last couple of days of driving), combined with the alcohol was taking its toll on us. Cary, Jarret and I decided to head back to the hotel, while Adam stayed at the Cap to play some pool.
On the way back, we decide to get some breakfast at Denny's. I know what you are thinking: "you went all the way to Key West and you eat at Denny's?" I know, I know. But at 1 AM or so in the morning and with a Robert De Niro-sized Raging Buzz there is nothing better in the world than a Super Bird or a Moons Over My Hammy. So with our belly's full and a fun first day in the Keys behind us, we ventured off to dreamland back at the hotel.
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