Key West: Finally!

I’m sorry this has taken so long. My trouble with blogging is that I set myself unnecessary restrictions and deadlines, and then I seem to rebel against the pressure of them. It’s like I’m having a conversation with myself:

“You must do a super-eloquent blog entry about Key West. Hemingway lived there so you have big shoes to fill! Do it quickly before a) you forget what it was like, or b) your readers tire of waiting and go somewhere else.”

“OK”

[two days later]

“Huh! Can’t be bothered to do that entry now. Why should I do what HE says?”

…and so it goes on. As every day passed and it wasn’t done I was remonstrating with myself and at the same time defying myself. All a bit tiresome but there you go.

Now that I’ve finally gotten around to it I still can’t really be bothered writing sparkling descriptive prose. Instead my instinct is to just let the photos speak for themselves. I know that’s a cop-out but if I did try to write about it now, at this late stage, it would be all crap anyway. What I need to learn to do is write down my thoughts on something as they occur, then copy them to the blog later. Hence my recent purchase of… well, let’s leave that story for another time.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

They like to brag about their “Southernmost” status.

The weather was humid and moody. We left just before the latest clutch of hurricanes.

Harleys everywhere!

One of Duval St’s many famous bars.

Sunset Pier at… um.. sunset.

The most laid-back Hard Rock Cafe I’ve ever visited.

This lovely building is actually a Walgreen’s pharmacy.

“Look at us! We’re at the Southernmost Point of the U.S.!”

There is the most amazing butterfly conservatory on Duval St.

Our hotel.

My prize catch: Dolphin Fish aka Mahi Mahi.

My prize catch, about to meet its destiny.

The freshest fish I ever ate.

Stopped off here for a drink on the way back to Miami.

Time To Go Home

I’m writing this on my iPhone sat in the passenger seat of our rental car. It’s Karen’s turn at the wheel as we approach Key Largo on our way back to Miami Airport.
Key West is a great place to visit. We’ve had a great time catching fish, eating fish and looking at fish (snorkelling). More details and — of course — photos when I get home.

Gone Fishin’

Another quick update from Key West. I will post some pictures when I get back but haven’t had time while here. However I’m still feeling guilty that I’m not posting regularly enough so hence this brief bulletin.

Elliot and I went deep sea fishing this morning, aboard Captain Conch. We split the charter with three other people: a couple from Sweden and a guy called Dave, who is from Ohio. Here’s here with his wife too, but she doesn’t like to fish and he doesn’t like to shop, so…

We caught two or three fish each during our four hour round trip (two hours spent actually fishing). Most of the fish were Bonita: not edible and only to be kept if they’re big enough for stuffing/mounting, or to use as bait for shark. The only two other fish caught were a Barracuda (by Ohio Dave) and a Dolphin (the fish, not the mammal) by me. Dolphin is its name here in the U.S., but it’s also called Dorado (in Mexico) and Mahi Mahi (in Hawaii). The Ship’s Mate fileted it for me and I took it to a local restaurant this evening where they fried it for our dinner. It was delicious — white and flaky with a mild flavour, a little like Haddock.

Tomorrow we’re going snorkelling at the reef and then on Wednesday we travel back to London.

Hot ‘n’ Hectic

We’re still on our hols and having a great time. Having left the buzz and hubbub of Las Vegas on Thursday we are now on the second leg of the holiday, in Key West, Florida. Key West is the southernmost part of the United States and it’s just 96 miles across the Gulf of Mexico to Havana, Cuba.

The weather here hits highs of 95 Farenheit and lows of 80, and with 80% humidity it feels hot and sweaty most of the time. There are three ways to cool down though: duck into an air conditioned shop, jump into a cold swimming pool, or chug a chilled Corona. We’re evaluating all three pretty thoroughly to decide on our favourite.

I’m too tired/hot/sweaty/relaxed to blog properly at the moment, but there are plenty of photos accumulating on my laptop ready to share with you at such time as I can be bothered.

Gotta go now: Cocktail Hour!

Holidays

I forgot to tell you that we’re off on our holidays this week. Last night we arrived in Las Vegas and fell into our beds at the pyramid-shaped Luxor Hotel, and now it’s five a.m. And I’m lying in bed blogging on my new (hand-me-down) iPhone.

We’ll be here for four days then spending a week on the Florida Keys.

So some non-biking content in prospect — Finally!