2007 Cruise - Thur

Today is the final port call for the trip. We are stopping at the o’ so exciting port of Key West.

The ship wasn’t scheduled to dock until the afternoon, so we spent the morning sleeping in. Again, this is the way that every morning should start.

After we got up and moving, Olga and I decided that today would be a good sauna day. So upstairs we headed for a nice little steaming.

Today’s dance class started with swing lessons. This is a dance that I can get into. I’ve seen people doing it for real (unlike the other dances we covered). I enjoyed swing dancing, and I think Olga did too. I didn’t step on her toes (too much), so I think that helped. The only grip I have with swing dancing is this: the dance has a three beat feel, but we did it to music that has a four beat feel. So we ended up doing different moves on the strong beats of the music. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it messed me up a little at first.

That afternoon we knew we were back in US waters. How did we know? The friendly boarder patrol, that’s how. Yeah, America pretty much sucks there. We had to show our passports and all that other jazz. I liked the other countries, where you showed up and they let you in. I didn’t enjoy standing in line with a lot of armed cops watching our every move. I’m not even sure what the point of all that was, because it didn’t provide any security.

Moving on.

We went to Key West.

I’m not a giant fan of Key West. Mainly because I’ve been there, done that. I don’t hate it or anything. It just doesn’t really make my heart beat quicken knowing that I’m going there.

Olga, Greg, Meredith and I started our Key West adventures together at Mallory Square. The sun wasn’t setting, so we decided to split up and do our own things. Olga and I walked around the sponge market and the tourist traps in the area. We ran into Greg and Meredith while we were looking for sharks teeth, pirate gold, and coconut bikinis. Note: I should shave my chest if I wear the bikini in public.

We said hi and bye to Greg and Meredith and went out on our own to explore more of Key West. Someone told Olga that the place to be in Key West is Duval Street. So we went to Duval Street. It was pretty cool. Lots of bars and souvenir shops just waiting for our money. There were also a few nice restaurants, which we took note of because we wanted to have a nice dinner together.

As the sun was going down we made our way back to Mallory Square for the Sunset Festival. This is a festival that they do every day the sun sets. So far that’s been every day. A bunch of local entertainers come out and put on shows. Painters and artists sell their goods. Musicians play their music. And the Sun sets.

Olga and I watched a few of the shows. We ran into Greg and Meredith. Again. Man, those two were everywhere. The shows that we watched were good, but the performers spent too much time hyping up the tricks. They would spent twenty minutes on the hype, then two minutes on the trick. They need to learn more tricks to throw into the mix.

When we were finished in Mallory Square we ditched Greg and Meredith again. We began our search for food. We looked at a few places, but decided to pass. We wanted something outside, but affordable. Neither of us were really interested in bar food either.

We ended up finding an alley way going off Duval Street. So what do you do when your hungry and looking for a nice romantic setting? Go down the alley, of course. This time it actually worked. At the end of the alley was a nice little secluded inn/restaurant. It wasn’t really romantic, but since Olga was there I was happy. During dinner Olga was able to get in touch with her children and we were visited by one of Key West’s cats. It only had four toes on each paw. I counted.

Some people might be asking why I counted the cat’s toes. Here’s the break down. Hemingway used to live on Key West. He used to own a lot of mutant cats that had more than four toes. They were freaks. When Hemingway died, I think he left his estate to the cats. Or something strange like that. The important thing is there are lots of cats in Key West, the cats are friends to all and the cats are supposed to have more than four toes. Freaks.

When we got back to the ship Olga declared that she needed more dessert. Olga is a genius. So we got back up with Greg and Meredith and the four of us headed to the dinning hall and dessert. I ordered my usual two, just so I could say that every night on the cruise I had two desserts. I may not be smart, but I am dedicated.

After Olga was satisfied the four of us headed upstairs to check out a talent show the ship’s crew was putting on. It was ok, but not that great. It was also standing room only, and Olga and I were in the back. That didn’t last very long. We decided sitting in the hot tub together was the place to be. We were right.