So have you every wanted to know what the little town of Key West was all about? What are a few of the things that come to mind? Hmmmmm……Ernest Hemingway and his famous six clawed cats (hey, I am an avid reader), the ocean, Deep Sea Fishing, gay, gay, gay…..so what were four girls, 3 of them single and man lovin’, the other one married gonna do for a long weekend in Key West? I can tell ya’! Have a great freakin’ time. One thing I have always liked about gay communities is the absolute freedom to be who you are. It is just that simple. If you are quirky and don’t quite fit in with the quote unquote norm folks, you can feel isolated, but when in a community that has felt the isolation come together and support one another it is a very good feeling. (I can’t believe I am talking about gay communities?! but I am). People ask where I live and depending on their personality I let them know I live either in (near) Uptown or simply tell them I live in the Gayborhood. There truly is a spirit you can’t catch in other neighborhoods. It is the same spirit you feel when in Key West. Gay, Straight or Not Interested you can help but ride this wave of giddiness!
So, being four girls we of course pre-rented a red convertible for our trip to the Keys’. It was hoot getting out and luckily our main driver was a good navigator. We made a slight error in judgement in this. Try to remember Four Girls, lots of Luggage. Not all of it was going to fit into the trunk so I as in the backseat with one of the other girls and a couple of pieces of luggage sandwiched between us. We also decided on a beautiful sunny day why not ride with the top down. Did I forget to tell you we are all notoriously white like those beacons that hits your eyes? Yep! Four 1/2 hours later and a great lunch seaside later we finally made it to Key West and our budget hotel was really pretty great. Two Queen size beds, a balcony with a pretty fantastic view of the ocean. The bathroom was the only thing that seemed to challenge our patience. I had managed to have a bottle of champagne delivered to the room before our arrival and we all toasted to the girls birthdays and then proceeded to open up a good bottle of wine, but wait we couldn’t because we had no corkscrew. Always keep a corkscrew handy, you just never know when one is needed. So the girls sent me out on a mission to find a corkscrew. And I did, thankfully I have no issues talking to strangers. I found an older couple of couples traveling together told them of my dilemma and they invited me up to their hotel room for a glass of their wine and then gladly gave me a corkscrew to help my girls in need of another glass. They were pretty cool folks, I still keep up in touch with them via e-mail.
The birthday GIRLS....great way to start the trip.
Well it was time to hit the town and check it out! Now they let me have the keys to the convertible and tried to navigate, not a good idea, but we all found our way to the main street of Key West and it was so lively. I honestly can’t remember if we grabbed a bite to eat, but we did want to check out the watering holes. I don’t remember the club we found, I will have research it, but I can tell you they had burlesque shows and we thought that would be a kick to check out. We get to the bar and begin pondering what our first cocktail should be. I will never forget our bartender’s name ‘Sassy’ I loved it, he was a doll and snarky on top of that. Made our first visit a blast and made up some mean cocktails for us. There were a lot of laughs and one of our girls decided to befriend an elderly gentlemen on his moped and catch a ride…..poor guy but we were in stitches for the remainder of the night. Made several new friends locally and visiting just like us. The atmosphere was one of freedom, lightness, a world away from your day to day worries and who the heck would not want that? The night air was luxurious.
Will post more later!
