Days to remember..

I am trying very hard to remember all of the things we have done in the past couple of weeks. This blog is going to be filled with days that are not in an order but are days that I want to share and be able to look back on and remember how amazing the experience was.

On a nice bright sunny day, I think it was a Sunday. We found ourselves sitting on Joe and Cher's porch enjoying Old Town Bakery and chatting about very taboo topics, POLITICS AND RELIGION oh my... After our discussion we decided it was time to head out on Cher's boat with Phil and Erin. Joe and Cher were on a mission to show all of us secret places for boating so that when they leave us for Italy these spots will still be used. It is still very hard to wrap my brain around the fact that we are wearing shorts, swim suits, and are boating in November/December. So we loaded up Cher's boat and headed out into the Gulf. First, we had to stop for gas at the Naval base.. which ended up being a little ordeal because the credit card machine was not working and none of us had cash. Joe and Cher went for a little stroll to grab some cash while Phil, Erin, Rick and I went to check on their fishing boat. As we approached their fishing boat we had to dodge all of the gigantic mating iguanas (sick). Besides those little buggers, we got to gush over Phil and Erin's boat. I had seen many center console fishing boats in the waterways surrounding Key West but had never really been overtly impressed. Then we got to sit in one and they are so nice. I am not going to say that Phil is proud of his fishing boat.. but I do know that his boat has 14 cup holders so how can you not be proud of it?? After we had gas put in Cher's boat, we started our journey toward a little island that contained  Cher's beach and also Frogger beach. This island reminded me of the island we visited for Cher's birthday bash because it had meandering waterways that we could journey down in her boat. Here are some images:

It kinda reminded me of being at a Lake.

Mangroves

So after meandering through a few channels we headed out to Frogger beach.  I am not sure of the origin of the name of this beach but it was quite beautiful. We were able to beach the boat and throw some chairs on the nice sand while we enjoyed the beautiful view in front of us..

I didn't get images of this, but the area we had our chairs in would be a nice area to camp in. Yes, I said camp. I know it is shocking since I am not a camper. Let me clarify something. I enjoy the idea of camping. I enjoy camp fires, smores, and grilling. I just don't like the sleeping part because that tends to be the time that something goes wrong. Although thinking back on all of my camping experience there is one common denominator - Megan Polich!! I am pretty sure every single time I camped with her either we got rained out.. the tent fell on us.. or there were raccoons and spiders. Needless to say I am hesitant to sleep out in nature and I do know for a fact that a raccoon does inhabit this particular island. So maybe camping, for me, would not be that great here.  After a day of relaxation we were hesitant to leave but Rick and I are both grateful to be invited to enjoy the amazing landscape that surrounds Key West.

The next event I want to share is Erin's birthday celebration. This all begins with one of the most amazing meals I have been served. Erin had extended an invitation to her home for a delicious meal. I had no idea what we were in for but my life may not ever be the same.. First, this was our very first trip to Erin and Phil's lovely home. It is a very cute conch style oasis located on Big Coppit Key. This is about a 10 min drive outside of K.W. Rick was ecstatic because it was the first time since we moved down here that his truck went over 35 mph!! When we entered the oasis of Phil and Erin's home I knew immediately that we loved it. The entire property is surrounded by a stucco-like (?) fence and the front yard has amazing palm trees and beautiful grass and landscape. The front porch has two seating areas one with outdoor furniture and the other area contains a dinning room table that Phil made. As you enter their home to the left is a beautiful kitchen that has a stove that would make any food lover or cooking lover cry. For the men, there was also a three tap kegerator!  To the right was a very stylish living room and down the center of the home was the hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom. I will stop gushing about his home.. but one day, Phil and Erin, when you come visit our home please do not be surprise if you two have deja vu. Erin and Carolina had prepared a French inspired meal that was in all, four courses as well as a cleansing of the pallet interlude. Each course was also served with a different drink. So so so yummy. Besides the home and the delicious food this is where the idea for Erin's birthday bash was born: Redneck Birthday!!

In Joe and Cher's backyard there is an island affectionately known as Ratkey Island. Ratkey Island (R.I.) is usually inhabited by bums or those few braves souls that want to have a camping experience. The island has two distinct camping sites on either side with pathways in between. It was the perfect location for a very redneck R.I birthday bash. We had originally choosen the site with the larger area but due to the three day veterans day weekend that site was gone before we could officially claim it. Rick and I were apart of the distraction team. We met up with Phil and Erin as well as Wendy and Eric for some crabbing. It was a great cover for getting Erin toward R.I. because in order to get back to the dock with the Rusty Poon we'd have to go right by R.I. So the 6 of us started on our crabbing journey which actually ended up taking us all the way out to Cher's beach and on the fast flying Poon this trip took about an hour. We had just enough time to get to Cher's beach... get out for some bladder relief... and right back in to make the journey back to K.W before the sunset.

We were all a little cold.. we have become weak toward what is actually cold be living here :)

This little sliver of beach is "Cher's Beach". It only makes an appearance during low tides. 

After surprising Erin with the R.I Redneck Birthday she figured out why Phil was wearing so much camo

Erin :) 

Don't fall Rick... 

We did stop on the way back to check the crab pods (empty) and then we headed to R.I. I do not know if Erin is semi-psychic but on our boat she had mentioned just stopping off at R.I to show the island to Rick and I because we had never been before.. As we approached the island all of our party-goers came out of the trees in their best redneck gear to surprise Erin.

On the island we had country music, a campfire, nati-light, Franzia wine and grilled food. If you had just read this and think to yourself  "that doesn't sound so much redneck as it does an Iowa weekend in the fall" we felt the same way. In my head we were not on an island outside of Key West, we were at Swede Point Park in Madrid, Iowa and my dad was going to come around the corner any minute with a plate of roasted pig :) We even had bags and ladder golf. As the night progressed it began to get blurry and we even played slap the bag.  No wonder I felt terrible the next day haha.

There were two distinct things I was happy we had at this party. One was a generator because it gave us the ability to have party lights, and music without wearing the battery down on a phone. The second thing I was happy about having was a baseball cap with little headlights so when we could use it to see in the dark if we so needed to leave the campfire. Mom gave that hat to Rick for Christmas one year and I was not sure what we'd ever use it for.. good thing it made the cut from Iowa :)

Thank you to all involved in these days and making us feel at home here in paradise.

Miss you all, visit soon!

xoxoxo 
Rick and McKenzie