Day 97, "on the loop", 1/13/2022

The days seem to be flying by since Jonathan left. We have been enjoying our time here in Key West. We continue to have a lot of fun, making great memories!

Saturday, Jan 7th, we had fun with our looper friends, ironically they were all Canadians; but, they didn't mind hanging out with us silly Americans! The evening started out with Mexican food at OLD TOWN MEXICAN CAFE, it was delicious, followed by the live entertainment at IRISH KEVIN'S.

Kevin (the owner) is Irish, appearing on certain nights and boy does he put on a show! He plays guitar and sings. He encourages the patrons to sing along as well as bring some lucky ones on the stage to show off their best talents, I will just leave it at that!

Here we had a drink called the Green Alligator, Kelly (our Canadian friend) insisted that we newbie's try the drink. We should have known something when Kelly didn't have one. Let's just say, we paid for those drinks the next day! You can google this drink and see how it is made, should you be interested.

We made the last shuttle (10:30pm, ET) back to the marina. Note: The Perry Hotel's shuttle runs back and forth from the Perry Hotel and downtown Key West starting at 9am. It's a "free" shuttle and nice perk here at the marina for us loopers. 10:30pm, is WAAAAY past the looper's midnight (which is 9pm, ET).

Pictures below are us singing along with Irish Kevin! Some of us got new shirts (John and Kelly :-) .

Sunday, Jan 8th, after such an eventful evening, we slept in and waited for 1pm, the arrival of our American friends. We couldn't wait! Ron & Jane arrived first and picked Kirk and Chris up at the airport a few hours after. It was so nice to see them and catch up. We haven't been able to visit with the Norris' since the pandemic begin (or at least that is what I recall). They shared pics of the new grand baby who is the cutest little guy, EVER! We found a great happy hour location "OLD TOWN TAVERN".

Old Town Tavern has the best happy hour by far! 4 - 7pm, 1/2 price on appetizers, flat breads and wine and 25% off beers. We loaded up on appetizers and drinks and made it out there for $45 per couple. We even worked in a Key Lime Creme Brûlée to share!

It was a long day of travel for everyone, so we ended the day early. Besides us ladies were scheduled for an early morning spa treatment the following day - awwwwh.

AND then, this guy scared us all (as he darted at the table). The iguana was yellow and large, you really can't see the vibrant colors in this picture. We were told the iguana lives upstairs and returns home nightly by taking those stairs to the roof.

Monday, Jan 9th, Jane, Chris and I had our spa day! My looper friend (Jane & Chris' new friend), Danielle joined us. I had a massage with an "add on" treatment (flexology). It was amazing! All 4 of us had a different type experience and all felt amazing and rested afterwards. We closed our morning off with lunch at KAYA ISLAND EATS, an Island Fusion restaurant (Mediterranean flare).

Kaya Island Eats is an outdoor outpost with counter seating. The food was amazing, we tried the Veggie Warrior. Jane had the tomato tower (looked like a caprese salad), Danielle and Chris had the "No Worries" Curry Rice Bowl while I had the Portobello sandwich with fries. The sauce for the Portobello sandwich had mango and some sort of jerk spice, it was tasty!

The restaurant was just off the path, if you blinked you would miss it. The wait staff was friendly. Mary was our waitress. She had nails that looked to be 2 inches long and decorated very fancy! For those of you that know Jane, she had to see them up close and touch them - lol.

We ended the night watching the Georgia / TCU football game at Jack Flats on Duval. It was a beating, so we headed back home at the half. Georgia won 65/7. Abby, Jonathan's friends sister, attends TCU. She and her dad attended the game. I am hopeful she had fun despite the loss, what a fun event and great memory to have.

Tuesday, we opted out of taking the boat out due to high winds. We didn't want to take the risk of anyone getting sea sick, so we ladies enjoyed the pool while the guys took a short dinghy ride to a sandbar. Danielle & Alain (from Breakaway) joined us for dinner at Hogfish. We all had delicious meals and even tried the Tuna wontons, which were amazing! Later that evening, we all played a card game, 99's. We FINALLY popped open the champaign that the Rasure's gifted us! They were right, it was a good bottle, we toasted to a GREAT time with friends.

- Pic 1 (Ron, Jane, Joel & Chris... Kirk had a call he needed to take, he is in the background behind Joel)

- Pic 2 -4 / Us toasting to friendship and a great week.

The following day, on Wednesday, we decided to forego the boat ride again. Good thing we didn't take the boat out - John and Graeme (Boat name: Aquaholics) took their boat out and their friend got sea / motion sickness.

Ron & Jane rented a car and picked me and Joel up to join them downtown Key West. We enjoyed a few bloody Mary's at Willie T's before hanging out at their pool. Their place was nice (Santa Maria Suites) resort.

The resort had a European flare, their pools were heated with nice, thick pool towels for guests. We hung by the pool the majority of the day and had dinner at LaTeDa Hotel and Restaurant. Joel and Ron had the Prime Rib special ($29, a steal), Jane, Kirk and I had pasta dishes while Chris had a yellowfin dish. All of our dishes were tasty. We finished dinner right as the live entertainment was starting.

Thursday came which was the day that the Morgan's and Norris' departed to go back to reality. It was hard to say goodbye; however, we did with hope that we see them again real soon. Plus, both Chris and Ron stated they would work to figure out how to make a "Chocolate Cream Brûlée", it's in writing now.... so holding you to it :-). We had the best time. Thank you all for coming!!

Here it is Friday, time to wrap up the week and get back to our routine of cleaning and picking up around the boat. We had a little rain shower come through and it cooled off just a bit.

Some fun pictures, you may be interested below:

The famous Key West "SHOE" that drops on New Year's Eve to ring in the New Year. Side note: This tradition started in 1996 as a crazy idea to ring in the new year, Gary "Sushi" Marion, the star of a weekly drag queen review in Key West, sits in the shoe. Just like the ball in New York's Times Square, the shoe is lowered with each minute of the year until the clock strikes midnight.

Gary Marion, also known as "Sushi", is a local to Key West and performs nightly on the 2nd floor of the popular LGBTQ hangout, 801 Bourbon Bar with the "Sushi and the 801 Girls". We did not attend the show or the shoe drop event, we thought it may be a bit crowded and Jonathan preferred to watch the football games instead.

Below is a picture of our boat neighbor, Billy & Justine. Justine is a traveling nurse. They were unable to find a rental house (dirt home). They found the next best thing, for their stay, this rental boat. I assume, they will live here until Jolene's assignment is up or until they find a house to rent. They are from St. Louis, Billy went to school at Chaminade and Justine is from Hermann. Note: There are rules when renting a boat, the renters cannot take the boat out "on their own". They must hire a licensed captain if they wish to take the boat out.

Willie T's here in Key West, we have been to the Willie T's in the BVI's (British Virgin Islands) so we had to stop in here (downtown Key West) for a Bloody Mary. Ron was there; however, the waitress didn't capture him in the picture - ugh! You can see Ron's arm in the picture.

Check out the Smallest Bar below. We visited the smallest police station in Carrabelle, FL it was only fitting that we grab a picture of this!

A collage of fun pictures of Ron, Jane, Kirk & Chris' during their visit with us (in no particular order). Come back real soon!

Our very dear friends, Eric & Kellye Heise lost their mom/ mother-in-law on Tuesday, January 10th after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Please keep them in your thoughts & prayers. We missed their visit but they were spending much needed time with their loved ones.

Apologies in advance for any typos or misreads, my proofreader, Joel, is feeling a bit under the weather (allergies). Have a great weekend.