6/27: Departed from the house around 6:45 and ate breakfast at a Cracker Barrel in Naples. That was our only stop, as from there we went through Alligator Ally (which has to be the most boring road on the planet), to Florida’s Turnpike to US 1. When we first got on 1 it was quite the traffic jam. Cars were stopping short and bumping into each other. I could tell the one lane thing was getting to people, including us! Once we cleared that, we were into the keys, and man, what nice scenery! We listened to AWSCAPC, LaDi3/4 Time, A1A, Havana and Changes while driving through the keys. I thought that A-1-A (the road) would never end, but once it did, it was quite rewarding. I soon discovered why Jimmy loves this place so much and how it inspired him to go from folk to island music. Once we crossed the final bridge and made a right, we passed what looked like the place they took the back cover photo for A-1-A, (the sign is no longer there, so I can’t be sure) and then passed through some of the town on our way to the Hilton. The marina around the Hilton was so awesome, I loved the look of all the shops next to the water. It reminded me of the Mario Sunshine video game. There was a huge cruise ship docked when we arrived that obstructed our balcony view, but man was it a nice ship! Once we got all settled in, we left the hotel and walked around the Hilton marina a little while, then strayed into Greene Street. We passed many shops and marinas, but the highlight here had to be… Shrimpboat Sound! Thanks to BN, I knew what it was and didn’t disregard it as some white old shack like everyone else there. Later on, we ate dinner at Margaritaville. We sat downstairs at the table between the AWSCAPC and A1A LPs. The table had 2 pics of Jimmy as a cowboy, 1 pic of the Savanna Jane boat and a few others under the glass. I ordered the Cheeseburger in Paradise, and man was it great! It has to be one of the best burgers I have ever had. I remember reading in the BBB&B book that he blended the recipes of his favorite burgers from all over to create the CIP. It definitely shows. After we ate, we went next door to the store where I bought High Cumberland Jubilee and You Had to Be There to finish my CD collection. When we got back to the hotel, I listened to HJC before going to sleep and starting the next day.
6/28: Took the ferry to Sunset Key to spend 5 hours on the beach. Nice atmosphere around the whole place, but darn do those rocks hurt your feet! More people arrived as the day went on. Once we arrived back at the hotel, I listened to You Had to Be There for the first time. Afterwards we strolled down Front Street and ate at Sloppy Joe’s where I had the Barbecue Pork Sloppy Joe and watched the band play. Good live band, the piano player looked like Randy Newman, the drummer looked like the mustached guy from ZZ Top and the guitarist looked like one of the guys from Wayne’s World. Yeah, I know, that’s quite silly. Anyway, they were an awesome band. Back at the hotel, we discovered we had HBO and watched Bruce Almighty.
6/29: It seemed that once a cruise ship left, another would pull up right after and block our balcony view! After we left the hotel area we went to look at the Hemingway and Little White House and got a few pics by the End 1 and Mile 0 signs. After that, we did a photo shoot at Capt. Tony’s and then Shrimpboat. At Shrimpboat, my mom took the stills and my dad got footage from every angle with the video camera. It’s funny, the only thing that hints that it is JB’s studio is a little wooden sign that lies to the right of the front stairs that reads Margaritaville. People were watching my dad as he zoomed in on the power box and the rum bottles in the window wondering why he was recording it. Later on we ate lunch at the hotels open-air café, and I listened to the entire box set in the hotel room and then we ate dinner at Conch Republic’s next to Shrimpboat Sound. Had some really good shrimp with jerk sauce. My dad had the grouper and said it was the best grouper he ever had. Back at the hotel, we watched this guy who sounded like Ringo Starr do a show from the balcony. The show included torch juggling and riding a unicycle. Quite a talented fellow who put on an awesome show, although I didn’t catch his name.
6/30: On the final day of our vacation we went back to Sunset Key only to get rained on. The rain soon stopped and we spent about 2 hours on the beach. Returned to the hotel and listened to Fruitcakes, Barometer Soup and Banana Wind back to back before eating dinner at Margaritaville again. Once again, we all had the Cheeseburger in Paradise, as we loved it the first time. We got a table upstairs so I could see what was on the wall up there. Lots of good pics, a Down To Earth LP, as well as certifications for You Had To Be There, CILCIA and SOSOAS saying they sold over 500,000 copies. Went to the store next door again and picked up a T-shirt with parrots in a conga line and a mousepad that my mouse is floating over as I post this. After that, we went to Shrimpboat as well as the bar behind it one last time.
7/1: Took one last look at everything, and prepared for a long, boring 8 hour car ride. I continue to hear the opening words to Tin Cup Chalice in my head. “I want to got back, to the islands…”
That’s my summery, but just as the title of Jimmy’s first live album says, “You Had to Be There”.
I loved my time in Key West and would love to live there when I get older. 
The pics will be added to either this post or somewhere in this thread once my mom gets them developed.
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