Well, here’s part two…..as promised….sort of…haha. As I began to assemble the remaining photos of our weeks in Key West, I realized we didn’t have as many shots of us “partying” as I thought. Perhaps it’s a sign of our age, our recent change in lifestyle or maybe we just forget to be camera happy once we hit the happy hours ? Either way….I need to remember to get a few more shots once happy hour starts !! This post, while shorter on “party” than expected, still has a lot of new, never before seen stuff !!! ENJOY !!!
This scene above seemed a tad bit like overkill. We had an issue with our outboard engine “deadman” switch/ kill switch. We had contacted the Garrison Bight Marina to check on the availability of the parts to repair it. Since our outboard was originally purchased overseas, they couldn’t guarantee the part number they had in stock would fit. They offered to have their mechanic test fit both versions to make sure it was right. Since it was only a few more dollars to have them replace it and get a full warranty for labor, we decided to let them do the work while we had lunch at the Thai restaurant next door. I thought the mechanic would just walk down to the dock, but they opted for a full blown haulout of our 9′ dinghy, for which we also weren’t charged, but was fun to watch.
A shot from Mallory Square at sunset….that might be the America 2.0 out there …..
Bar hopping !!!!
The Old Customs House, as it is known historically, opened in 1891. It currently houses the Key West Museum and History Center. It has been, and continues to be, one of the most striking structures in Key West. It somewhat reminds me of Music Hall in Cincinnati design-wise, despite their technically different styles and size difference. The photo above is the “Lunchbreak” a bronze statue by John Seward Johnson II. Johnson, an heir of the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder empire was, ironically, fired from J&J in 1962 by his uncle. That didn’t seem to affect him much financially. He is also a first cousin of the actor, Michael Douglas, on his mother’s side. Seward was initially a painter and turned to sculpture around 1968. His work has received a lot of criticism since many were simply sculptures based on impressionist paintings or iconic photographs and have been described as “kitschy”. I seem to recall reading an article somewhere that his larger sculptures were constructed by teams of fabricators under his direction, which may have generated some other criticism. Johnson was a diagnosed dyslexic and attended the Forman School which specializes in the education of people with Dyslexia.
One of our neighbors in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field was a seaplane that would usually arrive on Monday, tie up to a small floating platform that was tied off to a mooring ball. It was met by a small powerboat that was either picking up or dropping off the passengers for the plane. It was pretty cool to watch him land and take off especially since the prevailing winds were regularly at least 15 from ENE to ESE or so.
This was beautiful moon view in the mooring field …..it only photographed so-so unfortunately…..