Part of My Heart Lives in Key West

[January 28-31, 2011]

Maybe the hardest part about traveling, for me, is when I fall in love with a place and then have to leave it.  So far, the places like this that come to mind are Paris, San Francisco, and Key West.  Key West is the freshest in my mind, because a) I've just gotten back from there, and b) this was my third trip - so I know it better now than ever, have three times now had my love for it confirmed, and have consequently now had to leave it three times.  My heart is a little bit broken.

Here's my intro...

…All my life, I've believed in magic when it comes to the sky.  The moon on certain nights is the definition of awesome.  And the phases it goes through, how they affect us - impressive.  I love the stars; I love the stories behind the constellations - I crave to learn more of them.   [My mother, too, is very much into the night sky - probably where I got it from.  She'll often call me while on a late night dog walk, demanding that I go look out my window at the moon, or at Venus, etc - whenever she sees something particularly beautiful.  I always oblige.]  Plus, as someone who believes in making wishes - whenever and wherever possible - the twinkle of the stars calls to me.  And I hate camping, but that beautiful, bright (non-city-light affected) night sky has made a number of coerced camping excursions worth my time.  

What's funny, though, is that as much as I love the sky, I never truly appreciated the sun until I met Key West. 

Maybe it's due to my fair complexion and the number of hardships the sun has caused me over the years.  Between sunburn, sun poisoning, and sunstroke - well, I mostly always associated it with pain or faintness.  [Irish lass that I am…]  BUT once you've seen a sunset in Key West, you know there is a God.  You know there is something bigger than you out there, and you also are reminded that, every now and then, nature can still trump technology.  I've seen a number of beautiful things in my day, but the gloriousness of a Key West sunset?  Heaven.  Pure heaven, and awe.  [I will at this point note that in the collective 15 days or so of my life I've spent in Key West through my various trips there, I've witnessed the sunset every night, and I’ve seen the sunRISE a grand total of once.  [see notes about me being a Night Owl]  The Key West sunrise is equally as beautiful as the sunset, though in different ways - and also very much worth your time.  Plus, you and the rest of the world have a MUCH better chance of waking up to see it in juxtaposition to me – so do it, if you get the opportunity.

Digressing aside, back to my love of the Key West sunset.  Probably, in all honesty, the beauty is in the surrounding setting.  Key West has the smartest way of life I've ever experienced - especially if you’re limiting comparison to anywhere else in the States.  (Yes, I'm that cultured that I refer to us as "The States" - feel free to be impressed.)  Everyone in Key West - the tourists, the locals, the drag queens, the homeless people, the young, the old, the spring breakers - everyone there is purely there to enjoy themselves, and aren't worried about ANYONE else.  Do your thing - whatever it is, just don't add any stress to anyone else's life.  Have you ever been anywhere that stress-free?  I hadn't, until I discovered this fine island - and it is MAGIC.  Maybe it's because I'm naturally a stressed kinda girl.  Maybe it's because I live in a big city, and there's a certain amount of hustle and bustle that will always be in my life.  But to find a land where EVERYONE, even the people who are technically "at work" - are chill and all "don't worry, be happy"?  To me, that is pure magic. 

And they are smart enough to realize they have a gorgeous sunset, and they celebrate it.  Every night at the end of the island there is a festival at sunset.  Vendors, street performers (fire jugglers!) – people with beverages – everyone… gathers to join in a culture of being in awe of the sunset.  Watching it till it goes down, taking five million photos that will NEVER do it justice - and then collectively cheering once it sets.  I do not even care that this is technically a tourist trap.  It is the smartest damn thing I've ever been a part of.  Why WOULDN'T you honor something so gorgeous, so full of natural, raw beauty?  Especially while finally in a mental place to receive it?  Sign me up.

I get so excited that I offer to take pictures for people around me.  Granted, I do that a lot anyway.  [As a self-proclaimed shutterbug/paparazzi, I take five million photos wherever I go in my life, and have had to do so many of those awkward self-taken photos, that I want to kiss any stranger that volunteers to take a photo for me, and to top if off doesn't steal my camera, that I try to put out good photo karma whenever possible and volunteer my services to strangers.  Just this morning, on the last day of our trip, I took a photo of an elderly couple at a French place we went to for our final Key West brunch - and went outside the restaurant to take the photo they wanted for them.  They didn't ask me, but it just didn't seem right for the little old man to have to go outside to take a photo of his sweet little wife inside, when I could out there and take it for them, with both of them in it.  Photo KARMA.  Plus, I'm a good-ass photographer.  Framing a photo is everything to me.  This was a long “aside” – I apologize.]  But especially at Mallory Square sunset in Key West?  Help people out my friends, help 'em out.  At a place like this, everyone is essentially family - because of the joy and peace and appreciation for nature that's around.  I sound very hippie right now, and I'm fine with it.  You go there - you'll understand. 

Anyway, I think I've gushed long enough about the sun. 

Something else I love about Key West are the people there.  A number of people who live there are visitors who came once for a visit, and never left.  I respect the hell out of those people - and believe you me, the thought has crossed my mind more than once.  [This time around, my third trip, I actually staked out 2 or 3 places I could picture myself working one day - if I ever do make the move to Key West.  My dream would be to live there six months of the year, and live in Chicago the other six months.  Anyone familiar with Chicago could likely guess which six months of the year I'd want to be in Chicago…]

On this particular trip to Key West, I got to meet and talk to more strangers (tourist and local) than I have in any previous trip.  Maybe it's because I was there with a friend and not a lover.  Maybe it's because over the past year I've enhanced my skills in seeking out conversations with strangers… It's a mix of both, I'm sure.  But this trip, really only 3 1/2 days - I got to talk with so many interesting people.  Guests at the little place I stay at when I go there [look up Eden House, and feel free to book yourself a trip there immediately - you won't regret it.] Also we met a number of super cool locals.  [My traveling friend was Maria – who you may know from my Paris trip & my Barcelona trip.  One of the best ladies I know.]  We made friends with a bartender at an Irish pub, with a guy who worked at our hotel, and with a bartender at a Mexican bar that was located within in a country bar [- confusing, yes - I can explain it better in real life.]  We also met the hotel owner, some really great tourists - and a few awesome cats and roosters. 

Oh!  And we met a real life "conch."

Let me tell you a bit of Key West culture.  [I'm always up for a good story.]  Key West is at the very tail end of all the Florida Keys - and claims to have the "southernmost" point in the US on its grounds.  It feels tropical as hell (the wild cats & wild roosters certainly add to that - as do the obligatory palm trees) - you have to pinch yourself and remind yourself you didn't need a passport to get here.  So apparently, Key West and its residents have always been a little different.  Back in 1982, they actually seceded from the U.S.  It only lasted 24 hours, but they take a lot of pride in having done it.  (I’m told drug trade might have had something to do with it, which I find pretty amusing.) The people who are native to Key West, who were born there, call themselves "Conchs."  Like the sea mollusk that lives in a shell - that kind of conch.  (which, coincidentally, once fried and dipped in Key Lime Mustard is delicious!)  Conchs are a different breed.  They're all a little crazy - like, my mom could be one of them.  (I say that with much love & respect for my mother.  But if you've seen even the outside of our house in Evanston, you know what I mean.  If you've seen the inside, then you could have skipped this whole aside entirely.)  Conchs like to decorate their cars with randomness - and often look interesting, too.  They actually have a flag and logo for Key West called the "Conch Republic" from the one day they seceded from the union.  I think it's great, and of course have a Conch Republic t-shirt. 

If you weren't born in Key West, the only title you can hope to have (beside insulting ones) is the title of "Freshwater Conch."  To earn that, you have to have resided in Key West a minimum of 7 years.  Apparently at one point there was a mayor who would issue you a certificate and if you came to register as a Freshwater Conch.  I think that's awesome.  Although apparently even Freshwaters have to earn respect from Conchs - the title doesn't necessarily get you anywhere.  Through our Irish bartender friend, we met a real conch - and he was pretty interesting.  We were at a bar called the Green Parrot - great blues/live music, by the way.  Plus the locals go there, so that's a good sign.  He may or may not have been wearing deodorant, but he was a super nice guy - and I was so excited to talk to him.  In hindsight, I have no idea why my paparazzi self didn't insist on a photograph with the first Conch I’d ever met.  Ah well, I'll keep it burned in my memory… 

All in all, another amazing trip.  I drank a lot more than my fair share of alcohol.  I had a TON of yummy food (- ask me for recommendations if you ever go there.  Also, invite me, if you ever go there :)).  I snapped a ton of pictures, per usual.  I danced in bars on two separate nights… Rode on the handle bars of a local's bike… And had some very magical moments under the stars.  And also, my friend Maria and I are still close!  (Yay!  You never know when any intense trip moment could cause some tension, and I'm happy to say we still love each other dearly.  6th grade and still goin strong, amiga.)  I'm lucky to have found someone I travel really well with.  And finally, we didn't have a single travel-related accident.  Seeing as we drove a rental car from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and back (read: 4 hours each way, over skinny bridges!) - that is especially impressive.  (I'm not a very frequent, deliberate prayer, but something else I get from my mom is I always pray at the beginning and end of a road trip.  Whether or not you believe that helps, it’s kept me very well protected/safe, to date.)

Key West, it was so hard to leave you for the third time.  I almost want to find a way to come back in a couple of months, but I'm torn because a bunch of new horizons (such as Italy and London and phoenix and Mexico and Boston and Germany - just to name a few) are calling to me.  But sooner or later, you bet I will return.  And Chicago will be LUCKY if I come back after trip number four.  Besitos y amor, until I return...

[more key west photos]