Friday, February 11, 2022
I made Paul a healthy breakfast of chia, flax, goji and blueberries (with maple syrup) for breakfast, and once we had eaten, we made a run on the tender (dinghy) into Key West later that morning. We only had two ‘chores’ on the agenda – mailing a package and picking up groceries, so Paul was gracious enough to indulge my labyrinth obsession. We ended up traversing from one side of the island to the other for labyrinth walks.
Once we tied up at the dinghy dock, we ordered an Uber. Jean, the Uber driver who picked us up from the marina, was quiet to the point of being tight lipped as we began our drive. But by the time we arrived at the UPS store to ship out Paul’s package, he has loosened up enough to share that he had come from Haiti, his wife was from New York, and he had been living in Key West 11 years. He said he much preferred the heat of Florida to the cold of New York.
From the UPS store, he dropped us off at our first labyrinth, which was located at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden.
The garden touts itself as ‘the only frost-free, sub-tropical, natural conservation habitat, native plant botanical garden in the continental United States’.
The garden was lovely and green, but I was surprised by the lack of flowers. I was also astonished by the number of Poisonwood trees (METOPIUM TOXIFERUM) scattered throughout the garden. Poisonwood trees are exactly like their name- all parts of it – leaves, bark, sap, etc. are poisonous, resulting in a poison-ivy type rash. We came across at least a half dozen on our walk, which I can only imagine would be an elementary school field trip nightmare. Why would such a poisonous tree be encouraged (and not eradicated)?
Further investigation revealed the reason- the fruit from the Poisonwood tree is an important food source for the threatened, white-crowned pigeon.
Other than the poisonous trees found all over the gardens, it was a lovely place to visit and walk, and I appreciated all the signage that shared all the medicinal uses for the varies plant species.
We ended our visit there with a labyrinth walk. The labyrinth was one of the smaller labyrinths I had walked, but it ‘spoke’ to me, as they always do.
We left the botanical gardens, called an Uber, and stood in the blazing sun for about 10 minutes, wondering why the Uber driver (who showed as 1 minute away) never arrived. I cancelled that driver, and arranged another, who arrived within three minutes, driving a shiny red Lexus SUV with WHITE interior. Before we could get inside, he shouted out the window to us, “Wait, don’t get in! I have to brush off your shoes.” We stepped back, momentarily startled. He retrieved a grocery bag from the passenger floorboard of his Tahoe, and carefully unwrapped the bag and pulled out a small hand brush and stepped out. We were each instructed to sit in the car with our legs extended out, and he slowly and carefully brushed our shoes and feet before we were allowed to swing our legs into car. Our driver Jeffrey, was a retired commercial pilot. He was an eccentric (but very nice) older man with a passion for Pink Floyd, which he blasted the entire car ride. His SUV was immaculate, which I found impressive, especially considering the all-white interior. I guess his “keep it clean” strategy was working. If, however, they find my DNA at a crime scene, I will know I was framed. I am keeping his name and phone number handy, just in case. (It helps that he gave us his business card.)
Jeffrey dropped us off at the Key West Garden Club, on the opposite side of the island, and Paul and I went on a self-guided tour of the gardens, which are located in the ruins of a Civil War fort (West Martello Tower) and Key West Garden Club. This garden Club had so many lush & colorful species around it I was pleasantly surprised by all the flowers, especially the orchids that had been grafted onto the trees.
The labyrinth was located as part of a walking path, complete with a large bell that other visitors couldn’t’ help but ring as they went by. Several of the paths looked out into the beach and inlet that leads into Key West and it was a lovely way to spend an hour or so.
Both Jeffrey and the docent at the garden center had recommended a nearby restaurant, Salute, so we ambled that way to enjoy a nice lunch and cocktails (Paul has a Bloody Mary and I had a Pina Colada and a Painkiller). Afterwards, we walked to the Southernmost tip of the Continental US, (a mere 90 miles from Cuba) and stood in a long line to take our picture at the landmark (on Whitehead Street and South Street), then strolled around Duvall Street, which, I was told, is where all fun things begin in Key West. It was surprisingly quiet, especially for a Friday night, which suited us just fine. It had been a fun, sunny, and busy day, and we were starting to run out of steam.
We made a pit stop at the Publix grocery store to load up on groceries for the upcoming weeks, and Jorge (“Padre de familiar y execelente chafre, knows Spanish, from Miami”) drove us from Publix back to marina, where we boarded the dinghy to return to the Kya Anne. What are the odds that at the exact same time, a couple by the names of Loretta & Mike would also be loading THEIR groceries into their dinghy, which was right next to ours? We were chatting as we all loaded up our respective dinghies and, as is wont to happen when you’re at a marina, the subject of boats came up. Paul said that we were headed back to his boat to wait out the incoming storm. Mike asked what kind of boat Paul had, Paul replied that it was a catamaran, the S/V Kya Anne.
Mike and Loretta were heading out to THEIR catamaran, the S/V Luxor, which turned out to be anchored not too far from us, and they were also sticking around Key West until the storm blew through.
Paul mentioned our upcoming trip to the Dry Tortugas, and it turned out they were also planning to head that direction as well- and planning to leave the same time we were. Of course we swapped phone numbers, and as we parted ways, Loretta asked if we knew how to play Mexican Dominoes. (We don’t but we can learn!) I suspect there will be more adventures with our new friends in the upcoming days! Mike and Loretta also have a Youtube Channel where they post their sailing adventures.
On our way back to the Kya Anne, we motored by to look in on one of Paul’s friends’ boat. The people of the boating community I’ve met in my short time here has proven to be very friendly and helpful- folks are always willing to lend a hand to one another, which is reminiscent of the Alaskan spirit of camaraderie. His friends had left their boat anchored out (not an uncommon practice) in the Man of War Harbor while they headed into Ft. Lauderdale for about a week. It looked secure and undisturbed, so we headed back and tied up at the Kya Anne, unloaded groceries, secured everything for the night, and settled in for a quiet evening.
Today flew by- I am truly enjoying my time visiting with Paul, and we are just getting started on our adventures!
