Holiday's in Key West

After a wonderful holiday season at home, we headed to KW to ring in the new year and enjoy some warmer weather. Although it wasn't as warm as we all tend to think of Florida as being, it was warmer than Boston. You might remember that before we left to come home in November, we put up our tree. So, when we got back there after Christmas, it was waiting for us!

On our first morning in KW, we rode our bikes up to Fausto's to get some groceries. When we came back, Santa had stopped by and left us a Christmas present under our tree! Thanks Fran and Adam for the nice Christmas tree ornaments.

We decided since it was still the holiday season, the we'd have a 'Christmas Roast' in KW. Neal talked to Jimmy Weekly at Fausto's and he cut Neal a wonderful roast.

He brought it home in his bike basket and roasted it for dinner on Sunday evening. It came out great!

After dinner, we went for a walk down Duval and then along the waterfront. It had been really nice day and evening. We were pretty happy when we thought about the year that was coming to a close.

Since we will be spending a lot of time in KW going forward, we want to do the kitchen over. So part of our plans for the week included meeting with the cabinet-makers and having them start on designs for the kitchen. So on Monday morning, Neal got our bikes out.

And we headed off to meet with the designers. On our way, we rode past Louie's Backyard where one of Santa's reindeers was hiding in the bushes out front.

It was a little cool that morning but a great morning for bike ride. I really enjoyed it.

 This is a self-portrait by the multi-tasking photographer - he's taking this picture while riding his bike  along Flager.

We arrived safely at Hansen & Bringle. They will help us design the kitchen, build our cabinets, and install the counter tops. Because the kitchen in KW is so small, in order to maximize the space, we decided we'd need custom cabinets which Hansen & Bringle is known for. Every inch will count in the KW kitchen.

After finishing up with H&B, it was mid-afternoon so we headed back home. We decided to take Duval Street back so we could see what was going on in town. Red Sox Nation was prominently positioned in front of The Bull making straw hats from palm fronds.

This guy had wheeled his piano onto Duval and was playing some tunes for all the people.

By now, we were ready for a little break so we headed back home. Neal ground some fresh coffee beans and we sat out on the front porch and enjoyed a cup of expresso in the afternoon sun!

Over the next couple of days and evenings, we rode our bikes all around the island and walked the neighborhoods looking at all the Christmas decorations. The KW locals decorate for Christmas with the same spirit and passion as they do for Fantasy Fest (though the decorations and costumes are certainly very different....). This is the Red Door Barn on Caroline Street.

This the Cypress House

The Curry Mansion looked very nice.

Even the sea captain's wife who looks out from the widow's walk atop the Curry Mansion for her husband's ship to enter the harbor was dressed for Christmas!

For New's Eve, we made dinner reservations at Michael's Restaurant. This is one of our favorite places to celebrate a special occasion. We have been on Duval Street for the midnight celebration in the past and you only need to do that once! So we made our reservations for 9:30 pm so we could be at Michael's at midnight. It's about a 20 minute walk from our home but we wanted to take our time getting there. So, we got dressed and headed out around 9:00 pm.

On our way, we passed the Mangoe Tree Inn which was all dressed up for the holiday.

Mangia Mangia looked nice, too!

What do you think - Clark Griswald must have been in town for Christmas this year?

After a nice stroll, we arrived at Michael's and had a wonderful dinner.

After dinner, we walked home by the waterfront. There was a wonderful Christmas tree over by Schooner Wharf.

There are 3 places to ring in the New Year in KW - the conch shell drop at Sloppy Joes, Sushi in the Red Slipper at the Bourbon Street complex, and the lowering of the Pirate Wench from the tall ship Halie and Mathew which is docked in front of Schooner Whart. This is a picture of the Halie and Mathew. If you look close, you can see the countdown 10, 9, 8, etc to 1 and then "2010". Evalena Worthington, co-owner of the Schooner Wharf, is hoisted up the mast and decents the mast to the roar of a very lively crowd.

Even though it was around 1:00 am by this time, there we still lots of people celebrating at Schooner Wharf on New Year's Eve.

On way home, we decided to walk from the zero Duval down to Fleming Street and back home.

This is Sloppy Joe's after the conch shell dropped.

Although there wasn't any trouble, the KW mounted police were out just in case.

The day after New Years, there was a big snow storm back in Lynnfield and it got cold. In Key West they weren't shoving snow but rather were busy trimming the coconut palms around the pool!

Happy 2010 to everyone and we hope you enjoyed the holidays!