I wanted to document a little about our trip to the Keys on here so that I can always look back when we're married and remember how amazing it was. :) On the way down I thought it would be fun to stop by Homestead and show Matt the house that I grew up in. I had some of my favorite childhood memories there and it is always very nostalgic when I visit. It's always amazing to me how a flood of memories can come over you by seeing something from your past...whether it be an old boyfriend, seeing your old school, or a house. I hadn't seen the house in like 6 years. It looks so small to me now. I remembered after Hurricane Andrew there was a school bus that had been dropped at the end of our street and we used to play in it every day. Now, it is replaced with a house. I remembered our tree house, our neighbors, taking baths in the lake when we had no water, lol. I was pretty excited about it.
The drive was beautiful. The water down there is always a gorgeous palette of purples, teals, and blues. It is unlike water I've ever seen anywhere else. We had a great time together as always....singing, talking, trying to count all of the Keys, me telling him all of my memories in the Keys as a kid, lol. I'm forever taken back by how much fun we have together doing absolultely nothing.
When we finally got to our bed and breakfast it wasn't quite ready for us so we just started walking down Duval with no plans. Our first stop, two buildings down from where we were staying, Paradise Tattoo. We both knew we wanted to get a tattoo while we were down there. So we talked a little about it and made an appointment for that night. Next stop, Hogs Breath....my favorite. We had the most amazing fish, listened to the live band, and sat in the beautiful sunshine. I envy the locals there that get to do that every day.
After going back to the bed and breakfast, which by the way was so cute and just perfect for us, I suprised Matt by finding a company to deliver champagne, chocolate, and rose petals to our room. He was so happy. :) The lady who took us to our room was even happier, lol. She asked us if she could take a picture of us on the bed, haha...only in Key West. So we had agreed to share a bathroom with two other rooms for a 1/2 price stay and it worked out perfectly because we didn't see anyone else there except for happy hour, lol.
And since we're on a wonderful vow of abstience until we're married we drank our champagne and talked. :-P ...(For those of you who had placed your bets, lol). Have I ever mentioned how much I love this man?
Next stop, sunset and Mallory Square. We had planned to have a big elaborate dinner while we were down there to celebrate but once we got down to there we both looked at eachother and realized we'd much rather have hot dogs. :)
And they were delicious! All the street performers were out and even though we thought it was going to rain the sunset turned out beautiful.
Before we left, Brian told me to make sure I took Matt to see the Pete and Wayne show. I didn't actually think we'd have time or that they'd even be in Key West on our trip, but turns out yet again that we were super lucky. We left Mallory Square to go walk around a bit before our tattoo appointment. We walk into Sloppy Joes and they were just setting up. Only two seats left? At the bar right in front of the stage. Perfect.
We were laughing to the point of crying, lol We even called the tattoo shop to ask if we could be late because we didn't want to leave.
So we chose to each get half of a quote on our wrists. A quote from The Notebook which is even 100 times more meaningful to me. :) Matt's says, "I am who I am," and mine says, "Because of you." We both really love it. We are always saying how we were always meant to be together and we never knew why we were the way we are until we met eachother because we are perfect compliments. Our weaknesses are eachother's strengths to a tee...and it couldn't have worked any other way.
It was Matt's first but I hope he wants more in the future because I love a man with tattoos, lol.
After getting them done I had another little suprise. I wasn't sure exactly where it was but eventually we found it...like 2 minutes before out reservation. Better Than Sex...a fantastic dessert bar where it's so dark you have to read the menu by flashlight. They offer only desserts and wines and it is amazing. You can have no more than 4 people in your party and even at 11:30pm it was packed. We had a chai cheesecake with white chocolate mousse and caramel on top and it was probably the best thing I've ever eaten, lol .
The next morning we walked around and did some touristy stuff and then spent some time laying on the beach. :) Paradise.
We had lunch at a restaurant I had been looking for the whole time we were there. It just so happened that we picked up a 2 4 1 drink coupon at a little store and the guy ran after us telling us how wonderful the food was there. Turns out when we got there it was the place I was talking about all along. :)
By that time my legs felt like I had ran a marathon and I was just about ready to sleep in the car for the next 6 hours. The water going back was just as beautiful so we stopped at Holiday Isle for one last glimpse of what the Keys is all about.
"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides, and follow the sun."
It was perfection.
