weekend getaway

So if you're still scratching your head about where I disappeared to last weekend, Danny and I spent a very relaxing three days in Key West!  If you follow me on instagram you probably had it figured out, or maybe you remembered this post from my trip there last April.  

The image above was taken at a small locally inhabited beach we stumbled upon during our first morning. Facing the ocean at the North-West sides of the island is best because you can watch all the gorgeous boats cruise by.  

Before I got into the groove of sleeping past 9, I managed to squeeze in an absolutely gorgeous morning run. If you're up early enough you can hear the crosswinds envelop the island, and feel the breaking stillness as each home stirs and reawakens. 

We made a short trip to Smather's Beach, which is widely regarded as a 'spring break spot.'  Unfortunately, we were visiting during the few times a year when the seagrasses along the ocean floor are released.  The beach is raked daily, but the resulting effect is a really briney rotten smell. Lucky for us, our little find on the west side of the island was fresh, clean and seagrass free or we may have had an all together beach-free visit.

We spent some absolutely glorious days in the company of a group of friends who stayed in a rental just a few blocks from us.  Their house had a great little pool area, and at night the pool light changed the color of the water, how fancy!

My favorite part of our stay had to be the bicycles we rented.  Key West is such a small island that we could cruise just about anywhere and take in the local homes and scenery before meeting our friends who taxied to each destination.  We passed through one neighborhood that looked so weathered by the ocean you’d think the salt air had taken sandpaper to the siding.  For such a small place, Key West is packed tightly with history and tradition you cannot help but admire.

It was important to me to go back to that place where I so recently said goodbye to a dear relative, and see it for all the beauty and intrigue that made me fall in love with it in the first place.  I didn’t want the Keys to become a dark smudge in my memory; a place exclusively meant for grieving and loss.  It was a place where I said goodbye, yes, but after all it was also a place where my Uncle loved to be and I feel closer to him by sharing that sentiment.  

Check back tomorrow for two great restaurants we visited!