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Well, when I saw him in April, he seemed to be doing fine. In fact, he seemed better than fine, as he kept kissing me and saying he wanted to take me to Vegas to get married! When I told him that we share the same birthday, he said that the Vegas trip could not only be to get married, but to celebrate our bdays as well! He's definitely a very funny man...and it was so interesting to sit and talk to him about the "old days" when Jimmy was just getting started in Key West. He also gave me a picture of him & Jimmy that was taken in Chicago about a year ago..He signed it, so now all I need is JB autograph on it.....gotta work on that!!

carolinagirl wrote:

Son of a Sailor wrote: PS -- Anyone have any good suggestions on a place to stop for lunch/beverages in any of the other Keys on the way down? We're flying into Ft. Lauderdale and driving down to KW. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's our first time making the drive.

Here's another idea, and if you eat at the Tiki Bar, save some room for key lime pie... at Mangrove Mama's. It's between MM 21 and 20 on the right, closer to 20. (just 20 miles from the end of US 1 in Key West!). It's a very eclectic keys-like place to go that mostly just the locals know about. If you don't drive slow, you'll miss it! Let me know what you think.

Awesome suggestion... thanks! I really can't wait to get back down there and enjoy some real key lime pie. I think we're definitely going to have to make a stop there.

Thanks for the suggestions all! I have a feeling this trip down is going to be even better than the last time

Fins in Low Places wrote:Just got back as well (last Saturday). It was out first trip down to the Keys and we had a great time. Thanks to everyone for the tips. We sampled quite a few of the places, but didn't have time to hit them all this time. We caught a bit of one of the Hemingway look-a-like preliminary rounds at Sloppy Joe’s, but missed the "running of the bulls". Too many places, not enough time. We only got to the sunset celebration one night, but we did catch Dominique's 3rd show. The cats weren't too cooperative that night. We took a sunset cruise with Sebago one night, which was nice. My only disappointments were that we did not see a turtle while snorkeling and 5 Brothers was closed.

Well, Hi! There you are, Fins. You're the one that started the talk about K.W. before your (and my) trip there. How was the Casa Marina? We were at Sloppy Joe's when the first 12 finalists were named, and that's all we saw of look-alike contest, too. I heard AFTER the fact about a Hemingway play being shown and a reading at the Pelican Poop (where he and Hadley lived for their first 11 weeks in K.W.) Publicity and promotions of the festival was not what is has been in the past. We just stumbled upon the Carribbean Street Festival, with all of Duval closed to traffic!
We did go to Hot Havana Nights party at the Hemingway House... (I may be repeating myself here....)

Hey carolinagirl, glad to hear that you had a good trip! The Casa Marina was great. They have great service and a great staff. The food was excellent and we loved the grounds. We heard about the reading and the party, but didn't end up going to either. We did a walking tour one day where we hit the lighthouse, Hemingway House, and art museum. Flagler's at the Casa was pretty good. We loved the Conch Republic Seafood House and Turtle Kraals. I loved Alonzo's though my wife was less than enthusiastic. They make one strong Margarita. We ate at Antonia's for our anniversary and absolutely loved it. The food was wonderful and the service was as good as any I have ever had. Somehow, we did get some time in by the pool relaxing in the sun.

I was surprised by the heat inside the city. Along of the coastlines it was nice all day, but once you made it a block inside, it was like an oven. I grew up on the Gulf Coast, and spend quite a bit of time in Florida (albeit northern and central) so heat does not bother me, and it really didn't here either. But I was surprised at how hot I found myself at times. I really hated to see this vacation end, but I ate my fill of grouper and conch (though I am already craving some fritters) and got plenty sun and drinks. I think I was depressed for the first 4 or 5 days back, but I am much better now that football season is approaching. Time to start planning a long weekend getaway for the fall.

Surprisingly, we found a great place for lunch is Fogarty's on Duval Street, the place with the manufactured fog blowing down around the outdoor tables. I had thought it was more of a bar, but the Fried Oyster Po' Boy sandwich was one of the best meals I had in Key West! And it was huge! Definitely you get your money's worth.
As for B.O.'s Fish Wagon, I found the grouper sandwich over-priced and over-rated, regardless of what "Food Nation" sez. The place is eclectic and funky, but the food is nothing special.