This is our second week in Key West. We just love this place. I think it's our fifth time being here so we are familiar with most of the famous tourist spots. What we love about being here for the month, is that we feel more like residents than tourists. We are spending our time getting to know the island and talking to people who live here and finding out cool things you would otherwise not know from a short weekend visit.

We met a guy on the street yesterday - Raymond- who noticed Bob admiring an MG-TD or TF (Bob couldn't be sure). After about 20 minutes we walked away knowing more than we should know about some of the residents who live here, including the owner of the MG.

The hair stylist I visited at Isle Style last week - Courtney - gave some great recommendations for restaurants and happy hours. We visited the Boat House for happy hour and enjoyed great appetizers and drinks - all at half price. During happy hour we met a couple who were enjoying two weeks at their timeshare and learned they are from Deltaville, VA. We told them about our three day stay in Deltaville back in October and got an invite to visit them if we are in Deltaville. (of course, that could have just been the liquor talking?)

We are fortunate to be here with so many events going on in January and February. Let's see, so far we have:

...checked out Quantum Sailboat Race Week. This is a five day sailboat race extravaganza. Nearly 100 boats in three divisions sail over the course of five days and the best score takes home the trophy. Bob was focused on taking home a Mount Gay Rum baseball cap with the Quantum Race Week logo stitched on the front. By Friday, he made his final move and secured one from the wife of a committee member who said she had two more hats in her car! Have to admit it's a nice hat -- until we realized the woman's husband wrote his name underneath the brim. After some creative manipulation Bob turned the name into a phrase and now it says 'lower keys' which works I guess. Years from now (because he will be wearing this hat out - I am sure of that) if Bob forgets where Key West is located, all he has to do is turn over his hat.

....Key West Seafood Festival - hot day but worth the bike ride over to enjoy the freshest seafood made by local fishermen/women. We enjoyed the seasoned shrimp and best conch fritters ever. Would have loved to try the civiche but we were too full.

...Key West House Tour - we were looking forward to seeing five original Key West homes and interior designs. The tickets included a ride on the KW Conch Train - think of the "tram car" from the jersey boardwalk. We were disappointed by the time the tour ended. We saw mostly new construction and some of the homeowners did little to make the home presentable. But one of the homes was a standout and in the end made it worth the experience.

...Key West Craft Festival - hundreds of tents set up over several streets and you get to wander and check out a variety of different artists, crafters, and vendors. There were a couple of artists whose work was different and interesting to us and not the usual crafter stuff. One woman created glass jewelry with intricate designs and another was a guy who uses different textures to create really cool-looking wall art. Living on a boat makes you more thrifty as well as mindful that you have very limited space for storage. so I collected the artists business cards for future shopping!

And let's not forget our happy hour tours. We decided early on that we had to take daily walks to balance out the bar stool hopping we are doing in late afternoon and early evenings. Every watering hole offers some kind of happy hour enticement. So far, we give thumbs up to Pepe's with half-priced oysters; the Boat House with half priced drinks and appetizers - and the appetizers are delicious; and Kelly's Crash Bar - with half-priced drinks (the margherita's looked awesome) and appetizers (great wings). More to come next week on this topic!

Our daily walks have given us an opportunity to explore and appreciate this island. We stumbled upon a botanical garden near Haig's Beach which has open admission and beautiful flora growing in what was an original Fort back in the day. And further down the beach we came upon a beach restaurant called Salute` where, quite unexpectedly, Bob found a key lime pie that knocked the Key Largo FishHouse version right off it's pedestal. We just went to grab a quick lunch after our long walk but after Bob took site of a patron eating a slice of pie, I knew we weren't leaving till Bob taste tested the pie.

All the flora on this island makes it a great place to take pix and wander around. Just love the colors and the beautiful landscaping which can make even the most modest island home look like a palace.

Lucky for us the weather has been in the 70's and breezy. The locals think it is the coldest winter in recent history here but we remind them we are from New Jersey and this is balmy to us!