Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Parents Escape: Key West {Days 2-3}


Yesterday I shared the first day of our trip to Key West, and today I am going to recap a few more days. It was such a fun trip, and looking back through these photos makes me want to hop on a plane and do it all over again! 

Day 2

Okay, so through all the times Mr. Cute has traveled to Key West, and all the times Carrie Beth has been, I never remember them once mentioning this...


Roosters! Like everywhere! I mean...I was clueless. They're everywhere you turn, even the beach! It was the funniest thing to me, and apparently Key West is known for this and they are highly protected. I was oblivious to the fact that roosters apparently like to vacation too. 


We woke up early our second day (parent life training), and decided to forego the gym and take advantage of the "cooler" weather. Our goal was to walk from one side of the island to the other. It was approximately seven miles round trip. About halfway through we wondered why we thought this was a good idea. Yes it was cooler than we were used to in Atlanta, but let's be real...it's still the South. In Summer. 

It was hot and humid. 


Revisit this idea in October and I bet it's perfection. The views along the way were gorgeous and that's probably what kept me motivated. 


And I could do some major house dreaming...


The homes in Key West had me all sorts of smitten with their bright colors, tropical foliage and large porches. 



After we made it back to the hotel we were so hot the only thing we could do was sit poolside and hydrate all day.  I don't even think we ate lunch that day because all we could think about was cold water. 

| white lace romper | oyster shell necklace | sandals | sunglasses | watch | earrings |
Once we recovered we were starving so we decided to go somewhere close for dinner. Louie's Backyard is just a block or two from the Casa Marina, and we had heard great things about it. 


We called ahead and they said there was plenty of room, but by the time we arrived the downstairs was booked so we ate at the Cafe at Louie's upstairs. They have two completely different menus. 


The views upstairs were gorgeous! 


The menu is mostly small plates, which was more than fine. All of the ones we tried were delicious! 



We split a few of them and Mr. Cute had a Caesar salad that he said was the best he had ever had. He raved so much about it that the chef came out with a printed copy of the dressing recipe for him. 


We were so full at this point, but we were talked into trying their Key Lime Pie. It was out of this world delicious! 


After this you needed to wheel us back to the hotel. We wobbled back and lounged in bed the rest of the night watching the World Cup. It was a great day! 


Day 3

So day three started nice and early...


The fire alarm woke us around 4:30a.m. It went off for a few minutes and then stopped. After a mad scramble for our valuables and everyone heading outside for an unwanted pajama party we made it back to our rooms and went back to bed. 

And then it happened again. For a longer amount of time. We have our suspicions of why it happened (more on that in a sec), but needless to say we weren't too happy about waking up that early on vacation. We get that at home with our kids. We don't need that on tropical parent escapes. 


We tried to go back to bed, but after an hour or so of lounging we realized it wasn't going to happen. 


We also noticed the amount of expensive cars in the parking lot for the Corsa Rally had more than quadrupled overnight. We asked the hotel about the show and they said over $30 million dollars worth of cars was sitting in the parking lot to rally and parade down Duval Street over the weekend. 

It was crazy to see all the different cars. We learned a few things about the show, but we noticed the attendee's liked to par-tay. It was highly entertaining to witness sometimes, and totally makes sense about our early wake up call if you think about it. 


After we caffeinated ourselves from our early wake up call, we decided to do some exploring to check out some of the museums in Key West. First up was the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum


He was quite the character and it was fascinating to see his family home and see some of his memorabilia. I think my favorite was seeing his writing studio. This is the space he chose to write most of his books. 


The house itself is neat, and I loved hearing some of the behind the scenes stories about he and his wives.


Everywhere you turn there are his infamous six toed cats. We saw them on displays, lounging in doorways, and even snuggled next to the stuffed cat animals in the gift shop. 


It was a fun little museum. You can go on your own or take a guided tour. We opted for the guided tour and I was glad because we were able to learn more behind the scenes little stories or explanations to the displays we were seeing. The entire tour and museum doesn't take very long, and I think we were in an out in just over an hour. I would definitely put it on your radar if you are looking for something easy to do in Key West. 


It wasn't quite lunchtime yet, so we decided to take in another museum. Our Uber driver from the airport told us about the Mel Fisher Museum, and said it was his favorite thing on the island. So we decided to head there next. 


The museum is way larger than we were expecting, but I think it was my favorite of the two we visited. 


I had never heard of the Atocha or Mel Fisher's story, but it was inspiring and I loved learning more about it. He is a great example of how positive energy and having a goal that you work hard at sometimes has great rewards. 


There are tons of amazing treasures on display from the Atocha, and a few other shipwrecks that the Fisher family have found as well as a lot of interesting facts on treasure hunting, pirates, and modern day conservation. 


You can also leave with a one of a kind souvenir if you like. 


After we wrapped up at the Mel Fisher museum we had a quick lunch at The Commodore's Boat House Bar & Grill. It is located right on the water in the marina, and had yummy beach style food. 

| tank | shorts | sandals

But most importantly, just around the corner was the Lilly store! After lunch I decided to try on a few new things, and maybe take home one or two as well. I think this might have been Mr. Cute's favorite part of the day. ;)


This hot pink halter top and light pink halter dress were my favorite of all the things I tried on.  



The both made their way back to Atlanta with me. 


After shopping we went back to the hotel and just relaxed poolside for a bit. We finally resurfaced for some dinner just after sunset. We were given a recommendation of a restaurant just down the beach from the Casa Marina, and from the outside it looked like a typical beach restaurant with beach volley ball courts out front. However it was a hidden little gem with some upscale food, and a great wine list. 


We came away super impressed...and full. 

| romper | sandals

At this point in the day we were tired, and decided to call it a night (and hope that our friendly car loving neighbors decided to have a slightly less exciting evening). 


Tomorrow I'll share the last part of our trip! 


Come spend the day with us on:
Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter |






No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...