JACT in the Florida Keys 2022
2022 adventures began with a return visit to Florida, but this time for a destination wedding in the Keys! James’s son Ryan True married his long-time sweetheart Alyssa Butler on May 22nd in Key Largo. We made the most of our trip by checking three things off our bucket list: drive the Overseas Hwy, visit Sloppy Joe’s in Key West, & tour the home of Ernest Hemingway.
Let’s go back in time for a brief moment, to Oct 20th, 2019. Ryan surprised Alyssa in Paris when down on one knee, he pulled out a ring & popped the question. What a romantic & beautiful backdrop for such a momentous occasion! Two & a half years & a full-blown pandemic later, the couple finally took their vows surrounded by their friends & family. Thus, our return visit to Florida!
Palm Beach Shores Resort
We finally landed in Fort Lauderdale on Fri, May 20th, after an excessive delay due to bad weather. We had stalled for so long that we detoured to Fort Meyers to refuel, then flew up to circle some more. After our second landing, we picked up our rental car & drove north to our timeshare exchange, the Palm Beach Shores Resort. Thank goodness for this investment because hotels in the keys were above our budget. Saturday, we tried to get a quick tan at the resort but showed up in Key Largo the next day with a prominent red glow.
Before the wedding, we had time to kill, so we explored Key Largo & discovered the African Queen was moored there! The 1951 movie starred the boat along with Katherine Hepburn & Humphrey Bogart, whose performance won the Oscar for best actor. We were thrilled to see it in person... but we were also hot.
“If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.”
We found the perfect oasis nearby at Skippers Dockside Bar, where we ordered a Rum n Coke for JJ & a Key Lime Pina Colada for me. That was the best-tasting drink of my entire vacation!!
We checked in to our overnight room at the Pelican Key Largo Cottages (economy rate $265) & cleaned up for the main event. The venue was only a 5-minute drive down the road at Bakers Cay Resort, but we left early to ensure we could find it. After parking, we wandered a little lost but finally asked for directions. Poor James was sweating bullets in his suit, & he eventually had to lose the jacket for the outdoor beach ceremony.
We cooled off with fans & then lost ourselves in the moment as the ceremony started. The whole affair had a casual elegance, comfortable & formal at the same time. The groomsmen were all handsome, & the bridesmaids were all beautiful, especially JJ’s daughter Amy.
Then one of the night’s best moments brought smiles to everyone when Ryan called for their golden retriever, Daisy! She ran down the aisle at full speed with her garland of flowers. We all laughed as we realized she was more intent on the water behind the wedding altar, forcing Ryan to catch her on the fly. Daisy’s appearance was then undeniably upstaged by the entrance of the bride. Alyssa was stunning.
They sealed their vows with a kiss, danced the night away, & then honeymooned at The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort. They genuinely embrace life with their “why not” theme! Our own adventure continued the next day when we rolled the top down on the rental. Oh, did I mention we rented a white convertible Camaro? We were both giddy as we cruised down the Overseas Hwy. With the radio cranked, we sang, & shouted! “WOOO HOOO!!!”
We planned to tour Key West until about 6pm & then drive 4 hours back to our resort. We parked in a garage & then walked toward a long-anticipated bucket list item! I am a fan of Ernest Hemingway, who lived here between 1931 and 1939. The official beginning of Sloppy Joe’s Bar was on Dec 5th, 1933, the day prohibition was repealed, but Ernest had been enjoying scotch there well before that when it operated as an illegal speakeasy.
We saw small clusters of tourists here & there as we walked, but it wasn’t too crowded. James pointed out the multiple 6-8 person golf carts parked in front of popular restaurants where people ate their early lunches. Overall it was a little quiet… until we stepped inside Sloppy Joes! It was standing-room-only, with a one-man band singing and playing guitar on stage.
“An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.”
A host spotted our shocked expressions & welcomed us in with a big smile, assuring us he’d find us a good spot. Two people abandoned their stools at a small secondary bar, so we joined the six others & sat down with our own bartender! Those first beers went down fast, LOL
After an hour, we carried to-go-beers out with us onto the sidewalks of Key West & walked down Duval St. It was 90F degrees, but suddenly a rainstorm burst out of nowhere & we ran under cover on a porch of a closed museum. We laughed & finished our drinks on a bench, watching people, & appreciating the cool air.
“Be fully in the moment, open yourself to the powerful energies dancing around you.”
When the rain let up, we made our way to the next watering hole, Captain Tonys. It was actually the original Sloppy Joe’s location from 1933-1937 & we totally embraced the dive atmosphere with dollar bills, license plates & brassieres all covering the wall & ceiling space! We chatted with fellow Harley owners, signed our own dollar to add to the collection & then had to make a solemn decision.
We needed to end our day drinking adventure, eat something & drive back to Palm Beach… or… change our itinerary, find somewhere to sleep in Key West & then drink into the wee hours of the night! WWEHD? (What Would Ernest Hemingway Do?) James & I stretched out our thumbs, then raced on our phones to see who could find the cheapest room for the night! LOL
“Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try.”
Most options came up for $500/night or higher, but just before we lost hope, Hotels.com found a last-minute discount at Heron House Court for $175. Smash that button - CONFIRMED! We high-fived each other, paid our tab, then walked out to find our car & get checked in for the night.
Our room was beautiful, but we didn’t pause for pictures as we were hungry & excited to start our evening. My happy husband picked a flower for my hair & we walked back to town with a new plan. First, we dined at the Hogs Breath Saloon, where one of the Key West Roosters walked by nonchalantly. They descend from Cuba & have roamed freely here since the 70’s when cockfighting was outlawed.
Next, we made our way to Mallory Square to join our fellow tourists for the setting of the sun. While waiting, I ordered a rum punch at El Meson De Pepe, where the bartender winged it & poured from many bottles into my glass, topped it with a squirt of juice, then garnished it with an orange. I let the ice melt a little & realized it was amazing.
The sun set, but the temp hardly dropped. Our next stop was The Salty Frog, where we bought the singer on stage a shot & beer along with our own. He played some Soundgarden, Nirvana & Hendrix for us in Seattle’s honor before we moved onward to dance at Sloppy Joe’s. James sang along to Rebel Yell & I joined in on all the line dancing. After midnight, we made our way to the room but stopped for street Pizza, & then one more drink at the Smokin Tuna Saloon. We had as much fun as the names of all these places!
The following day, we guzzled Gatorade for breakfast, checked out of the Heron House & drove to Hemingway’s. We paid for the self-guided tour & wandered about the property taking pictures, reading plaques & looking for 6-toed cats among the 40-50 residing there! Many descend from the white 6-toed kitten he received as a gift that his boys had named Snowball.
Cruisin’ in our white convertible, we worked our way to Palm Shores & relaxed back at the timeshare. We walked the beach, ate dinner, & watched movies in bed... wrapping up a perfect recovery day. Waking up refreshed on Wednesday, we were ready for more fun. 18 holes of mini golf!
James kicked my ass, but I had so much fun that it didn’t bother me. We had a bucket of beer & I made a hole-in-one, so I was happy! Plus, it was fun watching geckos sunning themselves on the course. We ate dinner at the clubhouse & then drove back to the resort. The sun was going down, so we walked across the street for a nightcap. While there, we received notifications from Alaska Airlines that our Friday flight was canceled & to wait for communication regarding a new itinerary.
We decided to finish our drinks, return to our room & search for new flights. Immediately we saw there were no other options for Friday. We knew the weather could be an issue & a backlog of travelers on Saturday, so we booked an afternoon flight for the next day on Thursday. There were only three seats left, & we could not hesitate. In the morning, we packed up, then headed to breakfast as we still had $200 to use at the resort restaurant for sitting through the timeshare presentation!
What do you do with such an enormous credit? You order lobster for breakfast! That’s what we did! LOL, oh, & I also ordered key lime pie. It was a bittersweet morning, leaving a day early but eating the best meal of the vacation! Overall, we were thankful to have a flight home, & getting out of there before the hurricane season started the following week. Our vacation totally rocked; check out our JACT Youtube video to see all our fun!:
Thanks for keeping up with our adventures... & hopefully, you are inspired to try new things & get out on your own adventures. We encourage you to physically write down your bucket list, make your plans & start crossing those items off… GO DO IT! #JACTventures
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”