Hols over - back home in Ireland

After a great trip to Key West, I am now back in Ireland.

It's always strange how in the last days of your holidays, time seems to speed up and the days fly in. Happily, I got to do a few things on my list of definites that I wanted to get done. These were, get out fishing, have a Dairy Queen Ice Cream and visit the Green Parrot for a drink.

So on Sunday I went fishing on the Salty Goat Boat.  This was probably one of the highlights of my holiday. I had a great day fishing (it's a long fishing trip from 9am until 2pm) and caught 4 keeper yellowtail snappers and 1 keeper grunt with a fair few throw backs including two small strawberry groupers. As usual there were some people on their boat not taking their fish so I was able to walk away with extra fish which made for a great fish dinner in Amy's house. 

And then on the last day I crammed in my other must do's with a stop off in the Green Parrot after a visit to the Gap Store (pictured above) and Banana Republic on Duval Street. The Green Parrot is a chilled out bar with cool air flowing through the open doors and windows and it was great to sit at the bar and listen to music and the general chat of others at the bar. Of course there was also the quintessential experience of a chicken walking through the bar!!

After the Green Parrot, I cycled home for a shower and then met my mother in the Southernmost Cafe on the beach for Happy Hour eats and more drinks. The food was good and the view was incredible. I was glad that we made such a good choice for our last day's happy hour!

And after HH I made a diversion to Dairy Queen on United Street. It's a seriously cute building which has been there since the 1950's and I got in line along with other families and couples who were waiting to order their ice cream. For my selection on this visit, I chose a Small Royal Ultimate Blizzard with Brownie and Fudge sauce.  Boy was it good but I paid for all the sugar with a bad night's sleep!!!

Unfortunately there was one thing I wanted to do that I didn't get to do and that was to swim in the sea. With stormy rainy days the opportunity ran away from me.  

Guess I will need to plan a return visit in order to ensure that I get my swim in the sea done soon!!!

Ice cream!

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!

This is the Dairy Queen in Key West. It's an old building, probably from the 1950's - you are not allowed lean on the glass because of the age of the building!
We do not have Dairy Queen in Ireland so we always go here at least once when we are in town.

Edit after seeing below comment by I wonder who?!! Key Lime Pie is the most famous dessert in the keys - and a slice of frozen pie dipped in chocolate is highly recommended by my friends, however I have yet to taste it. For me the ice cream from Flamingo Crossing at Virginia & Duval is the best. Last night we got ice cream from Mathisons - the mint choc chip tasted like toothpaste. Yuck! PS. We saw the McDonalds in KW for the first time the other day. We didn't eat there......we went to 5 Guys! ;-)

An unexpected flying, fleeting, visit to Key West

Unexpectedly I arranged a trip to Key West (at very short notice) to visit with my sister.

It was a week long holiday that I packed loads in to and had a great time with Amy. Having found brilliant flights with United (Dublin-Newark-Key West) for a reasonable cost, it was a no brainer to go, once I had secured the annual leave approval from work.

As usual, the very first thing that I do on Key West trips is head to Cuban Coffee Queen for my first coffee on the island. Excellent as usual and I love the vibe of the coffee hangout - so I visited between 7am and 8am every day for the rest of the week.

Roosters and coffee always put a smile on my face!

Some of things I got up to on the visit included catching crab with Amy on her boat. Her and her husband had baited them and laid them out the week before so we just had to pull them in and take the claw off any crabs that were big enough. When we got home we then were able to enjoy the fruits of our labour and ate crab claws with prosecco along with a delicious lime mustard sauce made by Amy.

Is that one of the biggest crab claws you have ever seen?! And tasted so good!

The weather was changeable but I did get to spend a day at the beach - but more importantly I got out fishing on The Salty Goat with Captain Dan and First Mate Greg. It was a great day - we went to the Gulf of Mexico and we were on the fish!! 

Later that evening Amy cooked up the fish with 2 different seasonings. Seriously there is nothing better than eating the fish that you just caught that day. It's one of my favourite things in life.

It was lucky that I went fishing on the day that I did as there was no fishing the next day due to the weather.

Other things we got up to included, enjoying happy hour eats and other great food, including of course Key Lime Pie. We did happy hour in Aonzo's Half Shell Raw Bar and Martins, along with having sushi at Thai Island. I also stopped in for a drink (and the atmosphere) in Green Parrot Bar (my fave!) and First Flight (the former Kelly's).

My last full day was cooler so what did I do, only visit firstly the Tennesee Williams Museum and then the awesome Tropic Movie Theatre on Eaton Street

Tennessee Williams lived in Key West from the 1950's to about the 1980's and it was fun to see his Key West Library card!

On my last evening, we stopped at Dairy Queen which was fun. The DQ is in a historic 1950's building - too cute.

With my flight going at lunchtime it was great to squeeze in one last thing on my final day (Saturday) with Amy and I stopping off at a yard sale on the way home from Cuban Coffee Queen, what fun!

All in all a really super time in Key West with quality time spent with my twin sister (and her model cat, Buddy!). 

I have to admit that I was teary at the airport as I turned to go through security. I was sad to be leaving but hopefully I will get back soon. This was a bonus trip that I never expected so I have to be glad about that. It has set me up for January 2023 and I only have to work a week before I am off for the new St Brigid's bank holiday next weekend.

Thanks Amy for a great time and brilliant memories. Til next time.....