And Now I Wanna Move to the Keys!

Boyfriend and i went on a vacation with some friends.  We left on July 29th and returned on August 3rd. 
We had a Blast!
We went with our neighbors, W & C, our good friend E, and a couple of his friends, Anne & Paul.  It all started at the Wine Room when Anne said she was gonna be "free" of her boys and wanted to go on vacation somewhere tropical, and we all said "We're in!"
She booked us rooms at the Lime Tree Bay Resort in Long Key, Florida.  We flew from Charlotte to Ft Lauderdale, took a 15 passenger van from Ft Lauderdale to the Keys.

First we stopped at a winery in Homestead, Fl

called Schnebleys.

The winery was a really beautiful place, seemingly in the middle of nowhere i might add.  They do weddings there and stuff.  It's *really* beautiful.
(Just as an aside, i didn't like any of their wines, but everybody else did.  They don't make *grape* wine; they use fruit such as guava, coconut, lychee, etc, and they also make an avocado wine that Boyfriend really liked.  It was interesting, but not my style...)

We got to our hotel, got checked in, and hung out at the pool for a bit, and then it was time for the sunset.

The sunset over the bay outside our room

The next day, we headed to Key West.
"The Keys" are made up of over 1000 islands at the southern tip of Florida.
I loved them all!  =-)

A tiny island we passed on our way to Key West  

We stopped at a place called "No Name Key" 'cause Anne had read about this small bar called "No Name Pub".

 No Name Key

No Name Key wasn't directly on US 1.  We had to go "off the beaten path", so to speak.  But we found it!  =-)

 No Name Pub on No Name Key

Once we got inside and sat down, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, i was *astounded*.  The entire pub, all the ceiling, and every square inch of walls, was COVERED in dollar bills! 
I couldn't talk for looking in wonder at alllllll the dollar bills!

Dollar bills hanging from the ceiling

(Boyfriend used an SLR without a flash for this one)

It was unbelievable!

Paul and Anne pondering how they can get some of that money. 

Eric, C & W are actually paying attention to Boyfriend

for the photo.

I, however, was off-camera with my mouth wide open in disbelief.

I finally managed to pay attention for a minute;

Here's Boyfriend & me

with more dollars than i've ever seen at one time

Just in case you missed it

it's called the

No Name Pub 

It's small, and it's old, but

it's Amazing!

We finally made it to Key West!
Hard to believe, i know.  =-)
But we *were* on vacation, so some in our group had a "checklist".
E wanted to go to "every bar Hemingway went to", so that was our first goal.
(I think, technically, that was his "minimum".  I think he *really* wanted to go to *every* bar in Key West...  We didn't quite make it.  But he wasn't really disappointed.  =-)  )

Captain Tony's Saloon

It *used* to be Sloppy Joe's, where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out

but then the rent went up, so Hemingway and the bar "owner" moved

to a place around the corner.

 (Sorry, don't know why this one loaded sideways, but i can't get it to turn.)

Taken inside Capt. Tony's

This place apparently collected bras from (in my opinion)

heavily inebriated women.

Not sure why, but Boyfriend really wanted me to "donate" mine.

HA!  As if!  I had on my Good Bra!

=-)

I  also liked all the old license plates from various states hanging everywhere.

 And here is the "new" Sloppy Joe's Bar

For some reason, there are "wild" chickens everywhere in Key West.

We saw this one in the backyard of "The oldest house in Key West".

He was a beauty! 

We had lunch at Willie T's .

(Anne & Paul wandered off on their own...)

They had dollar bills *and* license plates all over the place. 

(Again, i couldn't get this one to turn right-side-up. Sorry.)

Here's E and Anne at the Hog's Breath Saloon.

Here's the "porch" of Hog's Breath.

There was a lady in there with her dog

in a baby stroller!

Mallory Square... before the sunset.

Then we sat on the balcony at The Whistle bar.

Niiice views.

Nice buzz, too.  =-) 

That's me, E, Paul, Anne, C & W.

Boyfriend was the camera man.  =-)

And here's the whole gang

at Mallory Square

just before sunset. 

Boyfriend & me at  Fogarty's

where we had supper that night.

Good times, good times.  =-)

And that was the first 2 days!
We didn't get back to our rooms 'til around midnight, and then Bunny texted me.  She was the first to wish me a Happy Birthday.  =-)  (It's the same as Harry Potter's, and she thinks that is so cool.  =-)  )

Back in a couple days to show you some *more* pictures from our vacation.
=-)