Shopping in Old Town, kayaking the mangroves, and leaving room for the day to unfold
The first thing I loved about our week in the Keys was the
space between the things we did.
We had ideas. We knew there were shops to explore, places to
eat, and water to get out on. But most mornings began with sitting around,
enjoying the slow pace, and eventually asking what everyone felt like doing.
Sometimes the answer depended on whether we were hungry. Sometimes it depended on what we were making for dinner. Did we need groceries? How long would dinner take to cook? Should we save room for something delicious later? These were perfectly satisfactory matters around which to arrange a day. We had exchanged our usual responsibilities for the question of whether lunch might interfere with dinner. An excellent trade.
Our one fixed appointment was Tuesday’s anniversary sail. Around it, the week had room to breathe.
A starfish clip on Petronia
Street
One shopping wander
took us to Petronia Street in Bahama Village, near the Hemingway House. We had
hoped to visit Besame Mucho, but it was closed when we arrived. Across the
street, the owner of Key West Sunshine Club was open and invited us in.
The guys found T-shirts. I found a starfish hair clip.
If you have seen my photograph of the margarita at the Green
Parrot, you have seen the clip. A little later in the week, I wore it with my
wedding dress on our anniversary sail. I had bought it while browsing a
neighborhood shop, with no idea it would become part of that evening.
I also brought home a gold necklace shaped like waves. I have been wearing it since the trip. I like having something from a place become part of an ordinary day at home. Back at the Green Parrot, I also bought a green parrot ornament. I appreciate a souvenir that does not require an explanation.
Another excursion had
one specific destination: Key West First Legal Rum Distillery. We sampled piña
coladas and picked up a bottle of rum for Melissa’s brother. From there, we
wandered.
We passed the Hemingway Social Club and stopped for a cocktail at Tattoos & Scars, where Melissa was delighted to discover a Georgia Bulldogs connection. Go Dawgs. Apparently, you can travel all the way to the Keys and still find your people.
Another stop brought a jalapeño cocktail at Havana Cabana. Apparently, even our slow-paced vacation had room for a little heat.
At SALT Gallery, I bought salt. I do occasionally follow instructions. At 7 Artists & Friends, Melissa found another painting by an artist whose work already hangs in her home. This one would complete a set.
I found earrings there for a friend’s fiftieth birthday. Later, browsing the shops in the historic former Coast Guard headquarters building near Mallory Square, I found another pair made with butterfly wings at GreyeWolfe.
These were for a friend who spends time creating butterfly habitats in her backyard to help monarchs. The story shared with the earrings was that no butterflies were killed to make them. The artist’s card read, “Simple doesn’t have to be boring.” These felt especially suited to someone I love. I was fascinated by the story, and delighted by the find.
That is the sort of shopping I enjoy on a trip: time to look, talk, and discover something that brings a particular person to mind.
Our kayaking outing began with lunch at Geiger Key Marina,
RV Park & Fish Camp. Our recommendations: the Mermaid Salad or the Grouper
Reuben. Then we went out with a kayak guide who was funny and taught us far
more than we would have noticed on our own.
Tom and I shared a tandem kayak, sometimes affectionately called a “divorce boat.” An interesting choice for an anniversary trip, but I am happy to report that we paddled beautifully together.
At the beginning, I called out “right” and “left” to let him know which side I was paddling on. Twenty-five years in, and we were still finding practical uses for clear communication.
There were a few steering issues. Our guide had already warned us to expect bumped paddles, encounters with mangroves, and boats bumping into one another. It happens, she assured us, and it is okay. I appreciated an activity where the expectations were explained in advance and included running into things.
The jellyfish surprised me most. I had pictured the floating, pulsing shapes you see in films. In the shallow water, these were upside down, looking to me like little starfish.
Beautiful, yes. Harmless, no. Upside-down jellyfish can release mucus containing tiny structures armed with stinging cells, so touching the animal itself is not the only way to be stung. The jellyfish, unlike our guide, had offered no reassurance about accidental contact.
The mangroves deserved a closer look, too. Red mangroves send prop roots down toward the water, giving the trees the appearance of walking along the shoreline. Our guide showed us the young growth that can become new trees, called propagules.
Mangroves have remarkable ways of living in salty conditions. Some block much of the salt at their roots; others excrete excess salt through their leaves. Their root systems help stabilize shorelines and provide sheltered nursery habitat for fish and shellfish. Birds find shelter and nesting places in their branches.
From a distance, you see a green shoreline. With someone helping you look, you begin to understand how much life it holds. The guided paddle was well worth making time for.
Tom also had the
pleasure of getting out on a jet ski. The water was calm enough for him to
enjoy exploring between mangroves and nearby islands, seeing the Keys from the
water.
There was room in the week for that, just as there was room
for a shopping afternoon or sitting and looking out at the ocean. We could
decide what sounded good that day.
Leaving room for dinner
We enjoyed going out, but cooking at the house was part of the pleasure of traveling together. It saved money, certainly. It also gave us time in the kitchen and around our own table.
There is a kind of conversation that happens while dinner is being made. People wander in, help with something, talk a little longer. You have nowhere else you need to be, and the evening carries on at its own pace.
Knowing we had something delicious planned for dinner helped shape the day without filling it. A grocery stop could be useful. A lighter lunch could be wise. Saving room became a small, happy consideration.
On Saturday, our last full day, we ate at The Docks Restaurant & Raw Bar, where the tuna carpaccio pizza was part of the day’s delicious research. Then we stopped at Ace Hardware for grill supplies for our own pizza dinner that night, with the Georgia Bulldogs game on the evening’s agenda.
After all that preparation, we went home and took a nap. Lunch out, pizza at home, football, and a nap in between. We had found our pace.
What I would tell a friend
If you can, find a place
with a veranda overlooking the ocean. Take your morning coffee there. Give
yourself time to enjoy where you are before deciding where to go.
Choose a few things you would love to do, and leave space around them. For us, the kayaking and shopping were worth the time. I would happily return to explore more shops in Old Town and Bahama Village, spend longer looking at the bungalows, and visit the butterfly conservatory and the Little White House. Those are still on my list.
Read a little history before you go. Walk the side streets. Find the gift shops a turn or two off the main drag. Let a bar earn a visit because you like the look of it. Have a drink, enjoy it, and leave yourself clear enough to notice the rest of the afternoon.
If you rent a house, make a few meals there. Leave time for the conversations that happen around the kitchen table. And accept that wandering works best when you do not need to get anywhere quickly.
Mostly, allow yourself to enjoy the fact that you do not need to do anything for a while. Wander, look, laugh, and love. Watch for the blue crabs, the jellyfish, the ripples on the water, and the sunset.
Leave a little space. You will find plenty to fill it.
Sources and maker credit
For more about the habitat we explored, see Florida’s Mangroves from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Smithsonian’s research on upside-down jellyfish. These explain the salt adaptations, shoreline habitat, and stinging-water phenomenon described above.
Butterfly-wing earrings: GreyeWolfe Designs. The artist’s card reads “Simple doesn’t have to be boring.” Visit greyewolfe.com.
Comments
Post a Comment