Key Lime Pie on a Stick

First pic I took on our trip, from the dock at our hotel. :)

I am calling this vacation "Key Lime Pie on a Stick" because that is what I will remember most about it.  I had six of them over the course of our stay, one time two in one sitting.  The first bite was glorious, and all the bites thereafter were just as wonderful.

So Derek was presenting a paper at a conference in Key West so I tagged along. The Keys were beautiful! Flying from Miami to Key West you could look down and see the highway connecting all the islands.  The water was blue, the clouds were white.  The islands were green. purty purty.

We stayed at The Reach which was right on the beach and just down the street from THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT IN THE UNITED STATES. oh my gosh, I can't tell you how much I've always dreamed about actually standing in the SOUTHERNMOST POINT IN THE UNITED STATES!!! jk, but it was pretty cute they had a little monument and stuff.  There was a long line every time we passed just to take a selfie with the thing, and after walking past it about 10 times I finally got D to wait in line with me.  It helped that at that time there were only 5 people in the line.

Chickens everywhere in Key West!

I thought this guy was real for a solid 30 seconds. 

Brunch is sacred to me, and this brunch place called blue heaven was very aptly named.  I got lobster eggs benedict, with a side of pecan pancake as big as my face, and Derek got like five different kinds of pancakes. 

There were a ton of these cute mileage signs all over town. 

Jog from our hotel to the other side of the island and Lunch on sunset pier:

It says sunset pier in all pretty colored letters, picture doesn't do the cuteness justice. 

selfiemost point oh my goodness the cleverness of some people. 

I kept matching the dad-gum bougainvillas.  

Actual ocean sponges. why didn't I buy one, ugh. 

Duvall Street was all it was cracked up to be- if you love alcohol, strip joints, and 5 dollar gift shops. I don't enjoy any of these things but it was fun watching all the drunk people enjoy their alcohol.  Actually to be honest it made me feel kind of sad.  HOWEVER, what did NOT make me feel sad were the shops filled with giant cookies, of which I did partake. oh, and Kermit's Key Lime Shoppe, which is the home of (you guessed it) KEY LIME PIE ON A STICK. I would seriously try to describe key lime pie on a stick but i SERIOUSLY cannot do it justice.

Sidenote: we were some of the youngest people on the island.  Very few children, lots of retirees.

My favorite street to walk was the one lined with old houses, including Ernest Hemingway's old house.  I kind of have a crush on Ernest Hemingway.  I know he was kind of a jerk, but there's something about him...

Anyways, this street was lined with these old houses and banyan trees and foliage, oh and Truman's White House.  pretty nifty.

We got to go on a snorkel/dolphin cruise.  During the snorkel I was having a grand old time diving trying to find sand dollars as big as my face, (because our tour guide said they were down there. he was probably lying.) when all the sudden I look up and everyone is on the boat eating snacks and kind of staring at me like, um, are you going to EVER BE DONE?!?!?!?

so I did one more dive and then the captain called me in.

We also went on a dinner cruise and once again watched the sunset while everyone got drunk. However, before we got on the vessel we stood in the marina thing and watched HUGE fish swim up to the dock.  We called them tarpons because we watch Chasing Monsters with Jack and we know what we are talking about. (They were probably not Tarpons.)

On the boat they served Cuban food below deck. (we pretty much just ate Cuban food the whole time.  Well that and Key lime Pies on a stick.)

One cool thing was the Sunset festival at Mallory Square- there were some kooky people out for sure! I love kooky people. This dude was handing out free coconuts to everyone. The way he was hacking at them haphazardly with his machete would have given my mother-in-law a heart attack for sure. hahaha love you Renee.

The day of our flight back home we walked up to the north side of the island one more time and watched some boat races and that's when I had two key lime pies on a stick in one sitting.  I ordered two like it was NBD and Derek laughed like I was joking, and then gave him the look of death and he stopped laughing.

We were there for about 3 days and it was a great time! Nobody I'd rather swim in the ocean blue with than this cutie-boo face.

DID I MENTION THAT I REALLY ENJOYED THE KEY LIME PIES ON A STICK?????