Key West is probably my favorite place on the planet. We have been there close to a dozen times now, and each time we go, I find it harder and harder to leave. The atmosphere is just so laid back, and it is easy to forget all of the normal hustle and bustle of life when you are there. Their motto of "One Human Family" really does fully explain the live and let live philosophy of those lucky enough to live there. It is quite a diverse family as well, all crammed on a tiny little island. We visited there when I was a child, road the Conch Train, got the t shirt, but it has been the later trips that I really understood how special it is.
We have met many of the "locals" in our visits, and despite the thousands and thousands of tourists that roll through there, these folks always remarkably remember our faces and our names when we run into them. There's Phil, who owns Graffiti (and almost always gets Jim to buy some $100 shirt that is dedicated for New Years Eve and rarely gets worn again) and Eddy, an eternal bartender at the Bourbon Street Pub who has a voice like gravel and loves talking horses and workouts with Jim. Ma Jon, our favorite and funniest of the entertainer's at the 801 Cabaret who gave us a standing invitation to join him for his annual Christmas dinner party, where his mother, the unsinkable Eileen, presides over the table and Jon never sits down to eat, until the final of the seven courses is served. These are just a few of the wonderful and colorful characters that make our trips there so memorable and the city almost a second home to us.
Those friendships have grown over time, but the FIRST time we ventured down to Key West, we were definitely strangers in a strange land. I had done my homework on places to go while we were in town. This was before internet phones so I did the research from home (on dial up AOL no less) and I was ready. We had found a hotel room on the causeway coming into the island, just a short drive into Duval Street where is seemed that everything was located. That was our first lesson. Stay close enough that once you arrive, you can park the car and not touch it again for the duration. We didn't know.
So we drove the 2 miles into Duval, at a crawl, kind of found our target area, and then got swept a good 5 blocks on down before we could find a place to park. Lesson number two...parking....Good Luck With That! Finally on foot, we headed to our destination and stepping onto Duval found ourselves in a sea of tourists. Lesson three...walking in KW, plan to take your time and don't walk to close to the folks in front of you. They are in no hurry and stop for absolutely no discernible reason just for the heck of it. It definitely requires a slower pace.
To make a long story short, as we walked up Duval, we stopped for some dinner (Willy T's), looked in a couple stores, and then lost track of where we were heading. I of course, wasn't carrying the pages and pages of info I had looked up (I didn't want to look like a tourist) and I could not for the life of me remember the name of the club we were heading to. Not wanting to admit to my error, we kept walking and finally came across a place that had music just pumping out into the night. We played it cool (because that's how we are) and passed it on the other side of the street to get a look. It really looked like where we wanted to go. So we crossed the street and passed it again, glancing in as we went by. Third time's a charm, we doubled back and stopped at the door. The song was familiar, Love is In the Air and as we mustered the gumption to go in..... WTF!?!?!?!?!
As the song got to the chorus, it looked like an EXPLOSION of white bar napkins flying everywhere in the air at once. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. We were hooked and had to go in and see what that was all about and thus discovered the Bourbon Street Pub. It didnt take long to realize we had found our place to hang out. And to this day, whenever that song is played, the napkins FLY. If you are ever in KW and see the Pub with the giant Red Shoe hanging over the door, go in and pull up a stool. When the song starts, brace yourself, grab a big handful of napkins, and when the chorus hits, you'll know what to do!!!!
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