Keys Life – Weeks 4 & 5

Hi from the Keys! It’s been chilly here. Like in the high 50s chilly with lots of wind and rain. We’ve needed our heat for most of the last 3 weeks. I’m extremely thankful the warm temps are back & the 10-day forecast is looking good too. We haven’t been diving or to the pool in 2 weeks. That’s definitely the coldest I ever want to be. We’re going to FREEZE when we go home in March to sell our house so you can look forward to some cold weather whining around that time! It’s made me realize that we’ll still have a little season change living here, just enough to bust out some of my favorite winter recipes which I’m more than okay with.

On to the roundup! Weeks 4 & 5. I can’t believe how fast our time here is going by.

Dagny Johnson park – a nice loop through the woods, about 2 miles. Parts flood during high tide & the mosquitoes are legit. Bring bug spray and not the family friendly stuff – they thought it was a joke.

 

Num-Thai & Sushi Bar – Thai AND sushi? I know what you’re thinking – mixed cuisines = red flag! Generally I’d agree with that. There’s so little ethnic food down here we were willing to try anything and we weren’t disappointed. Great prices too! Edamame, 2 beers, green curry w/ veggies & tofu & pad thai – $32. Don’t get turned off by the outside, inside it’s a cozy, lively place with friendly service. We’ve been twice in 2 weeks & they have dinner specials on weeknights for $6.99.

 

Sundowners – we just grabbed a beer here but we’ll be back! They also have a veg menu and a great outside area with a gorgeous view presumably of the sunset 🙂 there haven’t been many clear days here lately. Take your beer outside on the dock to see shrimp swimming around, I just love their little gold eyes!

The Pilot House –  This is a really cool place less than a mile from our house. The food is meh but they have draft beer which excites me more than it should. Draft beer is hard to find here and good draft beer even harder. Their selection would be mediocre at best in another city but for here it’s pretty damn good. The bar is out over the water and the floor has glass panels with lights underneath so you can watch the fish swim by all night. I love this feature! Such a cool idea. It’s also a great place to catch a sports game – you can see a TV from every seat and if there isn’t a sports game on they have a band. Overall, a great place to hangout!

 

Pet Friendly Bars!  I love that so many bars are dog friendly! What’s better than a cold beer, a pretty view and some sweet dogs hanging around.

The Sunsets – they never get old. Just plain beautiful & no two are ever the same. The one featured in this post was just a random work day from our upstairs deck.

 

A downside:

Cigarette smoke! Ugh, I forgot how much I hate second hand smoke. I haven’t lived anywhere that allows smoking in bars/restaurants in 10 years but here in the Keys, people are smoking like it’s 1995! Pretty much everywhere allows it. One upside is that most places are open air, it wasn’t till the recent chilly & stormy weather that places rolled down the plastic and the smoke was more noticeable. I used to smoke myself… a lot… a pack a day sometimes more. I always said then if I quit I’d never turn into one of those annoying ex-smokers but here I am hating how my clothes and hair smell after a night out and complaining to all of you! I’m very much live and let live & I’d never say anything to a smoker – I used to be in their shoes – but I’m glad it’s warm again and the plastic is rolled back up!

For that, I’m knocking the Keys down to an 8 this week!

 

Keys Rating after weeks 2 & 3 – 8 out of 10

 

Until next time…

Warm thoughts to all!