So I'm in Key West. This morning I flew into Ft. Lauderdale from Raleigh. Why, you ask, would you fly into an airport on the mainland when your destination is the southernmost Key? Well my flight was only $169 on JetBlue, that's why. Plus, it's only supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour drive. And I wasn't supposed to be alone so the added expense of a rental car wasn't supposed to counteract the cheap ticket.
However, for reasons I'll leave unmentioned here, I found myself renting the car and making the trek singlehandedly. "Don't worry," my dad said. "Driving through the Keys is one of the best parts." Slightly bummed that I would have no one to talk to, but confident in my dad's traveling expertise, I faced the journey with excitement.
Renting the car was a daunting task. I've never done it, much less on my own. But I made it without looking too incompetent. Although, I got suckered into buying the insurance, which made my expenses the same as a ticket straight into the airplane hanger that Key West calls an international airport. All in all, though, I'm glad I have it. Who knows what could happen on this trip among these crazy Keys drivers? And speaking of...NEWS FLASH TO MY DAD: driving through the Keys was an excruciating experience for me. Not only did I take US1 the whole way instead of the Florida Turnpike (adding what my friend's boyfriend estimates to be an hour and a half to my ride), but everyone in the Keys prefers to drive 10mph under the speed limit. W-T-F?
If there's one thing I have no patience for, it's other--particularly slow--drivers. (If there's 3 things I have no patience for, I have to add computers and children.) The road rage exuding from me for the 5 1/2 hours of solitary confinement was so strong it left me exhausted. I could be found at varying intervals with both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel shaking back and forth in a motion resembling an attempt to remove it from my dash. Not my finest moments.
Although it did little to calm my nerves on the drive, once I arrived at my destination, the view raptured my attention. How is it possible for a place to be so beautiful? The water so clear and blue. I can actually see through it to the bottom! That's something you'll never find in North Carolina.
Anyway, I arrived around 8. Just in time to get a much needed drink at a bar on the water for sunset and play catch up with my long lost college roommate. Later we went to her job and had fish sandwiches. I cannot tell you how much I miss fresh seafood living in the piedmont. Of course it was delish, and my mouth is watering again just thinking about it.
I came back to Shannon's awesome house (tiled floors, granite countertops, outdoor kitchen, and pool with waterfalls) in lieu of closing down the bars (at 4am!), blaming my day of traveling as the culprit of my fatigue. In truth, I'm neither a night owl nor a party animal; a fact Shannon already knows, and her friends will come to learn in my stay here. So I'm off to bed for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow is tourist day!
"If you're lucky enough to be on the island, you're lucky enough." -unknown
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