I Need A Vacation To Recover From My Vacation!

So... this is what sobriety feels like...

(*SHUDDER*)

Well, we did it again: Drunk'n Ted's, Original Drunk'n Mary's, Drunk'n Bill's and Semi-Drunk'n Bill's Mary's Third Annual Key West Sojourn was a smashed... er... smashing... success!

No boating this year, but DT and ODM did rent a scooter!

Ted purchased four tee-shirts for... er... $96.

(*CHUCKLE*)

I "won" this year's "Stimulate the Key West Restaurant Scene" trophy by dropping $361 on dinner for four at Cafe Sole. (Actually $90 per head ain't all that bad when you consider the quality of the meal...)

We stayed at a new place this year - The Conch House.

Discovered a new happy hour!

Also enjoyed a swim and a few wee cocktails at the Southernmost House and Key Ambassador which has the largest pool of any hotel in Key West.

Let's see... what else...

Well... our first night in town we hit our usual lunch spot - Parrotdise - for some beers, fried pickles, and lobster reubens.

Wednesday evening we watched the baseball playoffs at Finnegan's Wake.

During the course of our wanderings we revisited old favorites such as The Green Parrot, The Half Shell, Irish Kevin's, The Hog Fish Bar and Grill on Stock Island, The Schooner Wharf Bar...

(*SIGH OF CONTENTMENT*)

...and tried a few new places, including the Southernmost Beach Cafe at the aforementioned Southernmost Hotel and Alonzo's for their happy... happy... happy hour...

Oh, yeah... this year we "discovered" Dante's! (Don't know how we "missed" it in years past, but we did...)

Finally made it to Shanna Key! (A "local's" joint; the Guinness was perfection itself and the service was friendly and professional! And... we got the last black and blue burger of the night!)

We finally had dinner at Pepe's! Say it with me, folks... Steak Smothered in Pork Chops!

(Yep. You read that correctly. Not "smothered in pork chop gravy." Nope. We're talking Steak Smothered in actual Pork Chops...!)

We also had lunch at Pepe's on Friday - a.k.a. Mac & Cheese Day! (Funny... we got there kinda late in the afternoon and after taking my order - cheese-steak sandwich w/bacon and of course a side of jalapeno mac & cheese - and those of DT, ODM, and SDBM, our waitress went into the kitchen only to return almost immediately with the news that the folks at the table next to us had just ordered the last of the mac & cheese. My reaction was what you'd expect; tears, sobs, whinning, threats of violence, offers of extra cash if the chef would make more... but to - at first - no avail. Thing was... I must have looked so pathetic that the waitress took mercy on me - on us - and out of the blue she brought us over one small dish of Pepe's incredable mac & cheese... that dish having originally been put aside as the waitress' very own lunch! We feel upon it like savages and of course I managed to fork my way through the lion's share. We'll always be grateful to that beautiful, wonderful, saint of a waitress!!! And next time... we'll get there by 11:30 a.m.!)

Let's see... what else...

Ted and Mary revisited Seven Fish for dinner one night while (my!) Mary and I tried out a new place, Ilona's Garden Cafe. A most enjoyable experience, I must say! Ilona's is a fairly new joint - five months old I believe - run by Jack and his girlfriend Ilona. She's Hungarian and so is the menu; he's a wine and beer guy and it shows - the guy really knows what he's doing with his fine selection of tap and bottled beers and fine yet fairly priced wines!

Hmm... other stops...

We stopped by El Siboney for lunch one afternoon and all of us were glad we did. Nothing fancy; just the opposite, in fact! Simple, tasty, authentic Cuban food and kick-ass homemade sangria at a bargain price! Ted and I both had a cuban and my Mary had a boliche; if memory serves ODM had seafood, but for the life of me I can't recall whether it was shellfish or "regular" fish. A little Cuban espresso (my Mary had a cafe con leche) for Ted, ODM and myself and a shared slice of Guava Cheese Cake... (*YUM*) and call it another fine meal for the memory banks!

The Conch House serves a nice little continental breakfast of fresh fruits, freshly baked muffins and banana bread, a totally awesome coffee cake with icing, bagels, damned fine coffee and choice of orange or vegetable juice, but one morning Ted, my Mary and I actually made it out to an "off site" breakfast at Croissants de France on Duval. Nice! I had my first galette!

Oh... last... and yes, unfortunately least... we dropped by the Roof Top Cafe one evening for drinks. The place is beautiful; the setting wonderful, the drinks sublime (and at those prices they'd better be!)... but the service left quite a bit to be desired. We arrived around 10:30 p.m. on a Friday evening to find one apparent staffer (actually he might have been the owner; either that or the chef) seated at the bar and only two or three tables still occupied by dinners finishing up their dinners. The bartendress was "model" hot, but unfortunately also "model" aloof. (Hey... no offense to all you friendly models out there!) At $9 to $12 a pop for drinks (and Key West ain't Manhattan folks... it ain't even LA) I expect friendly service. We didn't get it. This little blond wasn't exactly rude... but she sure as hell wasn't Ms. Welcome Wagon. Well... her loss! It was my turn to pay and I left her exactly 15% - down to the penny.

(Funny thing... our hostess at the Conch House wasn't surprised at all when we told her of our experience; she said the place was known for giving off that "wanna-be hip" vibe and that even the locals were treated as if the Roof Top Cafe was doing them a favor by "accepting" their money.)

Anyway... all in all it was a liver taxing yet laid back Key West holiday. Mary and I even made sure to (finally!) visit St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church!

This year we flew in to Ft. Lauderdale instead of our usual flight into Miami. We had an earlier flight than Ted and ODM so we picked up the rental car. I got a decent deal using Hotwire - $20.80/day for a full-size car. (Budget insisted that a Hyundai Sonata is a full-size vehicle; I was a bit annoyed at first, having been expecting an Impala or a Charger, but I've gotta admit... the Sonata was roomy and peppy enough.) The two hours between our arrival and Ted and Mary's arrival allowed us time to hit a Piggly Wiggly for "supplies" - ice, a cooler, beer, and booze!

As to our flight home, there too we reversed our usual pattern and we dropped Drunk'n Ted and Original Drunk'n Mary at FLL at 4:00 p.m. for their 5:10 p.m. flight and my Mary - Semi-drunk'n Bill's Mary - and I then drove around Ft. Lauderdale for a bit in search of a restaurant; we finally ended up having a nice outside/dockside dinner at Houston's off Pompano Beach.

We made it back to FLL (a nice, convenient relatively manageable airport btw; a much more pleasant experience than MIA) and had the rental car returned by 7:05 p.m. leaving us with 45 minutes to spare prior to boarding. The flight left a few minutes early; unfortunately it arrived a few minutes late due to air traffic control delays. Still, the late night return flight worked out fine, as did off-airport parking at EZ Parking at the EWR Crowne Plaza for $10/day plus tax. We didn't have to wait more than ten minutes curbside for the shuttle van to arrive and our car was "staged" and all ready to go when we were. An hour drive home and we walked in the house slightly before 1:30 a.m. this morning.

I glanced at Drudge earlier, but they'll be no newsbites till tomorrow.

As alway... thanks for reading my ramblings!