More Record-breaking events!

Well, it seems our record-breaking abilities are not finished yet. The Key Largo Stone Crab and Seafood Festival was a huge success for us as well at the show's promoter. Overall, the show crew was understaffed, overwhelmed and just about crazy by the end of the two day event. But.. the crowds provided a record-breaking sales event for our Florida trip to date. The festival was fun, even if a bit too crowded. Being that this was the first annual, next year the bugs should be worked out and the show will go much more smoothly. The crowds on this side of the state seemed readier for our products and were willing to spend some money and we were all too happy to help them do just that. We also met some really nice people and enjoyed our visit to Key Largo immensely! Following this weekend event, we decided to head on down the Keys to the bottom to check out all the buzz about Key West.

We left Key Largo on an overcast Monday and headed down Highway 1 toward the Conch Republic. It should have been 2 to 2 1/2 hours but about an hour into the trip the rain began. For the rest of our 3 hour drive, it rained so hard that visibility was extremely limited and our views of the beautiful islands along the way were mostly obscured by "the windshield wipers tapping out the rhythm on the radio" as we averaged about 30 mph. Needless to say, we were under-whelmed so far.

Upon arrival, we treated ourselves to a reduced-rate room at the Sheraton (thanks to family connections!). The rain was intermittent but we decided to persevere and headed downtown to explore the famous bars and nightspots of Duval Street. We did a bit of pub-crawling, including Earnest Hemingway's favorite pub: Sloppy Joes, Capt'n Tonys Bar from Jimmy Buffett's song "The Captain and the Kid", and the Hog's Breath Saloon ("Hog's Breath is better than no breath at all!"). We heard some fine live music and enjoyed some tasty eats along the way.

Rising bright and shiny then next morning we learned on the local radio station that we had just missed breaking a one day rain total by millimeters. The record had been set in 1919! I think the weatherman is playing with our minds pretty well so far. The weather cleared for our second and final day in Key West so we played tourist and took the local tourist-trolley around the island getting the "inside skinny" on the southernmost part of the continental US. We learned some fascinating stuff about the island, some of its former and present-day inhabitants, and thoroughly enjoyed our final day.

Some family health issues popped up that night and we decided to cut our Florida visit short and head west to assist in Arizona as best we can. We are currently on the road again, heading up the entire state of Florida where we'll connect with US 10 and continue west for about 2000 miles. Dear ol' Dad and Mom are at the other end and although it'll take us the better part of a week to get there, we know the trip will be well worth our travel time.

So, it may be a bit before I revisit y'all. Hang on though, We'll be back with more tales of the road ahead. "Til then, we'll see you somewhere out there.



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