Thursday, February 21, 2008

Home

Arrived home around 9:30 pm. The flight from Charlotte to Norfolk (ORF) was delayed and was looking for volunteers to take later flights. We noted that an earlier flight to ORF was cancelled and that dumped a lot of people on our flight. We cleared the airport quickly, car was fine, all bags made it. In short a successful trip.
We are glad to be home even though it is half the temperature it was in KW. 41 when we pulled in the drive with rain on the way.
Next step laundry and mop up.
Got some great news while we were in Charlotte. The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau board agreed to recommend a $109,000 grant for the Eure Outer Banks Arts Center. This is something I have been working on since Sept. It took a lot of people doing a lot of work but it is a major piece of that puzzle.

Over the weekend I will try to put the finishing touches on the blog. More photos, more details and more polish.
Thanks for joining us in KW.

In Charlotte

Sitting in Charlotte Airport. Our flight from KW was delayed but we got out and made our connection in Ft. Lauderdale. That flight was delayed into Charlotte and there appear to be a lot of delays so we are not sure what the status of our Norfolk flight will be.

Saw Betsy and Ed at the KW Airport. It was a great vacation.

Time to go check on the flight.

Time to go - Last Post




Pretty sunrise for our last day. Yesterday just went by without a post.

Tues. trip to Fort Jefferson was very rough and very impressive. The fort is amazing but the ride out was really rough and about half the people on the boat were seasick. I got very queasy but held it down. I did a little snorkeling and it was pretty murky. Saw a few fish and some small coral but not much. Dinner was at Camille's with all 6 of us and it was GREAT/. Service was slow because our waitress was slammed but the food was first class.

Dorothy and Jeff left yesterday. I think they had a great time. We spend the day packing up and wandering around. Did some souvenir shopping. Read some. Lunch was the Beach Cafe. My Mango Pork BBQ was great but it upset Carole's stomach. She read, rested and talked on the phone. ;

Later Betsy Ed and I wandered down Duval in search of music. There was lots of entertainment (in th form of people on Duval) but not much good music. The band at the Green Parrot (hereinafter known as the GP) canceled so no sound check. The guys at Sloppy Joes were more into toilet comedy than good tunes. We settled at Hogs Breath and had good bar food, burgers, chili dog, and fries. We helped several people make a statement on the web cam.

OK so this is the last post for KW. It has been a great trip. Lots of photos yet to come. Fort Jeff, Sunset at Mallory even some shots from today. Thanks for taking the trip with us. See you back in NC.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Monday Walk

A few shots from a quick walk. For individual photos or a better slide show you can go to the Picasa Web Album.

Monday morning and back to Sunday nigh

Quick post. Short walk Monday, sat by the Cuban Cafe and drank my con leche, took a few photos of coconuts, flowers and Louie's Backyard a great local restaurant. Betsy and Ed ate there yesterday and were really displeased with a rude hostess. Carole and I got rude treatment there 10 years ago. We ne never did eat there. Dinner Sunday night was duck for Dorothy, Jeff and Bob. Carole had meatloaf. We ate at Alice's Restaurant – serving Key West Fusion Confusion cuisine. It was excellent.

Jeff caught a great concert on Sunday afternoon. A classical pianist performing at a local church. He and I went to the Green Parrot in search of music but weren't overwhelmed with the band.

Monday has been pool, reading and working on Mallory Sq. fotos (to stay out of the sun)

No post tomorrow. We are off to the Dry Tortugas. A great snorkeling and photo spot. Its an all day trip. Betsy, Ed, Jeff and Bob are going and Bob is really looking forward to it.


Mallory Square performer photos


Some of my images from the sunset celebration. To see individual photos or a better slide show you can go to the Picasa Web Album.

Sunday afternoon and sunset at Mallory Square



No trip to Key West would be complete without a stop at Mallory Square for the traditional sunset celebration. For the uninitiated, everyone in Key West (well all the tourists or at least most of them) gathers about an hour before sunset in a large open area overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and of course the setting sun. Vendors of all varieties set up their wares, all types of food and drink are available from funnel cake to fruit punch and from popcorn to Planters Punch. Lots of beer, cameras and people. Spread out around the square are street performers, jugglers, card sharps, a tight rope walker and of course the guy with the trained cats, yeah trained cats that jump through hoops, fiery hoops even, and walk a rope, sit, roll over and generally ham it up. Topping this scene is lots of tropical music. Steel drums, guitars even a flutist gently blowing a jazz tune. Mix in a couple thousand sun drenched (and rum soaked) visitors and you have quite a scene. On the Gulf all sorts of pleasure craft, some chartered, some private cruise slowly by watching both the sun and the scene. It is what Margaritaville is all about fun and sun(set).

Anyway I wandered down tonight (Sunday). It was very crowded. Lots of kids and cameras. Watched a guy who had women from the audience, a complete stranger, stand on this stomach while he lay on a bed of nails, no kidding. Sat and watched a juggler toss flaming torches, knives and then hatchets. He closed by getting on a 7 ft. unicycle and juggling all three at the same time. Listened to some music then tried to capture the magic of a cat jumping through a flaming hoop.

The sunset was reminiscent of a Penguin Isle fall or summer sunset. Lots of color, with sail boats silhouetted in the background. It was quite picturesque what with the sail boats, the islands and of course the beautiful sunset.

As I post this I have worked on photos of the performers but not the sunset itself. So enjoy the freaks now, the pretty stuff is coming.