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Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Parents Escape: Key West {Day 4-7}


This week I've been chatting about our trip to Key West. To see the first few days, take a peek here:


All this reminiscing...my trip booking finger is getting a little twitchy. Especially as I am staring down rain, a pile of school tasks, and just general school year chaos. Tropical paradise sounds nice right about now! But, for now, I will just soak in all these fun memories. 

Day 4

On this day we woke up and went for a quick work out at the Casa Marina gym (super well equipped by the way!), before heading out to Duval Street. 


The World Cup Final was on and we wanted to watch it somewhere fun. We heard Irish Kevin's Pub was going to be hosting a World Cup gathering, so we thought this would be the perfect spot to watch. 


It was close to lunchtime so we went ahead and ordered a light lunch. I asked the waitress to surprise me with one of her favorite popular cocktails.  So she brought me this... 


I'm not opposed to day drinking, but The World Famous Green Alligator was a little strong. She informed me it would taste like Kool Aid. Kool Aid isn't exactly what I would describe it as. I also might suggest Ubering over walking after half of one. 

| tank | shorts | sandals |

After France beat Croatia, we decided to walk off our lunch and head back to the hotel on foot. It had rained so it wasn't quite as hot. 


When we got to the hotel we heard it was National Ice Cream Day. So we celebrated by grabbing some coconut gelato. It was worth every calorie! 


The rest of the afternoon we decided to just lounge beachside. 


We knew the next day we would have to get up bright and early so relaxing and staying close for the rest of the day was perfect. 

| dress | sunglasses | earrings |

We decided to stay on property for dinner, and couldn't believe we hadn't done that yet. It has such a pretty view in the evenings! 


Dinner was so yummy, and once we were full we went straight to bed!



Day 5

Now we had to go to bed early the previous night because on this morning we were waking up at the crack of dawn to go off shore fishing. Mr. Cute loves to off shore fish, and on almost every tropical trip we've taken together he's chartered a boat for us. Now over the course of 17 years that's added up to a lot of trips. Out of those trips I can count on one hand how many total fish we have caught together. He was beginning to think I was bad luck. After last year's trip I made sure to pack an extra iPhone charger and downloaded two extra books. 

Do I at least look the part?

| top | shorts
 We met with the Linda D's Sport Fishing crew nice and early. Right off the bat I had to admit it was probably the cleanest boat we'd ever booked. Like I wasn't even scared to use the potty this time around. That's saying a lot. Trust me. 


We said goodbye to land for the next eight hours in search of Mahi Mahi. 



And even though I typically inform everyone on the crew that I am more of a watch, not catch, kind of girl, this crew wasn't having it. They made me fish and I actually had fun. 

And then they made me touch the fish and our relationship was officially dead to me. 




Overall it was a super fun trip. The crew was amazing, and Mr. Cute and I had a blast. I rarely had to get out my book. It was a fishing miracle. 


After working up an appetite, we showered off all the day's accumulated fish guts and headed out to dinner. I was so excited to wear this seersucker dress I purchased when we were in Hilton Head earlier this summer

| dress | sandals | earrings |

The charter crew had given us a recommendation for a restaurant that would cook some of the fish we had caught. They also said Dante's had amazing macaroni and cheese. 

Okay, if you are wanting to get back in my good graces - mac and cheese is the way to go. 


I asked the waitress to surprise me with a house cocktail of her choice and whatever she brought me was amazing! 



The food wasn't bad either! And the mac and cheese did live up to it's hype. 

We are now back on speaking terms. 


Dante's was an interesting atmosphere. I can only describe is as a dockside/poolside/bar lounge restaurant. It was open air with picnic tables, and there was a pretty decent band playing. It was super casual, and great people watching. 


Okay, we had driven and walked past this wine and dessert bar dozens of times the previous days. We finally decided to see what Better Than Sex was all about. We heard the desserts were out of this world good. 


The menu was extensive and all the desserts are homemade. Reading the descriptions of everything is almost better than eating everything. Key word - almost. 


Because a chocolate rimmed wine glass might now be my favorite thing. Throw in a decadent chocolate cake...I'm never leaving. 

Are they hiring? Someone ship my kids to me. I'm a writer...I can help with the menu...you know a more PG version, but still... 


All that to say, it's worth a visit. A kid-free visit. 

Day 6

We knew this was our last full day so we decided to do nothing but relax. We did a quick down the street to take a peek at the the Southernmost Point in the U.S


The line was quick (apparently it can get pretty bad), and then we made our way back to Casa Marina for the rest of the day. 


We parked ourselves at the adult only pool with a good book and a few cocktails, and didn't move until absolutely necessary. 


And this called for absolutely necessary. We ordered lunch and all of the sudden these guys leaped out of the bushes behind us. 


And brought nine of their friends. I was pool bound after that. This mama doesn't do large lizards. This nice couple from New York was in the adjoining cabana and let us lounge with them for awhile once they saw we were under siege. It was a fun way to spend the day, and we had a good laugh about it once we commandeered our stuff back. 


That night we made our way to Duval Street to enjoy a dinner at Antonia's. It is an Italian restaurant and it was so so good! I didn't take many photos because the food didn't last long. 

| dress

Day 7 

Time to go home... but not quite. Our flight wasn't scheduled until almost dinner time. So we were able to lounge at the hotel most of the day and requested a late checkout. 


I made sure we soaked in every last ounce of beach time that we could. 


It was super hot this day, so around mid-day we decided to change and get some lunch. I don't care where you are in the world, cheese dip and margaritas are always a good lunch option. And Old Town Mexican Cafe held that statement true. 



Our food was excellent and we ate way too much of it! Oh so worth it though. 

| top | shorts | cross body bag | sandals |

We still needed to kill a few hours, and we saw the Key West Aquarium was close by. It is small, but has a lot of hands on experiences and a lot of rehabilitated animals. 




After this we made our way back to our bags at the hotel. 


We couldn't leave without at least one more key lime pie under our belts. We hadn't really had any the entire trip and felt like it was necessary before we left. 


Shortly after we were back at the airport and headed home to our crew. 


It was such a fun week, and I definitely get the draw to this part of Florida. I can't wait to plan another trip there soon, and am already living through Carrie Beth who heads down in a few weeks. 


Have you traveled to Key West? What are some of your favorites on the island? I feel like we saw a ton, but still missed so much! 


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