Everyone is reminding me that it would be shame if I didn't write about our adventures of Key West, so here it goes. Nothing inspirational here, but it is a true stroy - all of it.
~10 Years Ago ????
Sarah was in elementary school in Clear Lake. That's all I remember about timing. It was a Thursday before Memorial Day weekend and I had a bad week. At least it was bad for me back then, hindsight is 20/02..ha. Not only had I had a bad week, but we had NO plans for memorial day. I just wanted to get away, just like the Southwest Commercial.
Then I realized I had plenty of Southwest points, I had plenty of Marriott points, and I had plenty of rental car points....so let's just get away. Nancy and I started frantically looking for a place to get away to and we settled on Key West with just a few caveats: We had to fly Southwest into Fort Lauderdale, we would have drive a rental car from FL to Key West, we would have to stay in a Courtyard in the middle of Key West (no beachfront for us), and we had to leave in a few hours and return on Monday. So we scrambled, pull Sarah out of school early, and left.
The Rental Car
We arrived fairly late because naturally we could not fly direct. I normally have my choice of rental cars so I just grabbed a nice van. Lots of room, fully loaded, comfortable, good windows. Perfect. Then the check out dude informed me that it would costs $300 (or maybe $400). A free car would be the small one. This led to a classic Nancy vs Josh screamfest over pay for something or get it for free. Everything else was free so I said let's pay for a comfortable car. Nancy wanted to save every penny (she is really good about that, I am not). I eventually won, but it was not a fun drive to Key West. It was also dark and we were tired.
We Made It
Once we got to Key West, we were having a great time. I booked an all day trip on Saturday where we would leave the Hyatt and spend the day sailing, kayaking, snorkling, and chilaxing around the waters and mangroves of Key West. Can't beat it with a stick.
On Saturday, we drove the nice van that was loaded with my scuba gear and other stuff to the privage garage at the Hyatt, where our boat was waiting. This was a group thing so we were not alone. I thought I was locking the doors to the van but I accidently opened all the doors. It was all remote on the key chain (bad idea). I didn't realize this until the boat was about to leave and somebody asked me about it. After running back and closing/locking all of the doors - we were set. This is all important to know for later on, I promise.
Sharks
The sail and snorkling was great. I decided to use their gear instread of looking like a scuba jerk and using my own high end gear just to snorkle with. This was when I first realized my feet were numb. Turn out that while snorkling, their gear rubbed blisters so bad that my feet started to bleed. Turns out that sharks love to find snorklers that are bleeding. The boat people were frantically trying to get everyone into the boat and away from the sharks until the only people in the water were Sarah and Nancy. They finally made it. I am taking my on stuff from that point on.
What?????
Upon returning, I decided to play a little joke on Nancy. She was all paranoid that I had opened the doors again and not locked them. So I used the remote control to open the doors before we got to the van. When I did this, I heard a lot of people starting to yell. Then we noticed it. Our van was a crime scene with yellow tape wrapped around it and it was covered in blood. Turns out that a crazy guy had beat a lady with a hammer on our van trying to steal her car. The Key West police chased him and eventually caught him but we had no longer had acces to our van or anything inside of it (a lot of our stuff).
I then had to jog to the rental car place, explain what happened, and ended up getting the crappy little free car I could have gotten for free in the first place. So I paid $400 to use a van for a day and the free car for 3 days. I'm an idiot, listen to Nancy.
We spent Sunday trying to get our stuff but never got the van and ended up just getting out stuff out of it on Monday.
Now What???
On Monday, we decided to leave early for Ft Lauderdale to take in some sights in Miami and South Beach. Especially now that we had a cool car to show off. About halfway off the Key's we noticed that the traffic was slowing to a stop. Then it did stop. Not just for a little bit, but for over an hour. I was one of these impatient guys that decided to just get to the next key however I could via back road (and there are not too many when you have one long bridge).
I eventualy made it to an exist that said "Alternative Exit: Hurricane Route" or something like that. Good enough to escape a hurricane, then good enough to escape whatever has stopped this traffic from people being able to get off the Key's. The confusing part is that nobody else was taking the route, except a few cars & trucks. We took it, much against the advice of Nancy & Sarah. We did not have Ross yet, so it must have been around 2004 or 2005.
We were flying and making great progres, although we had no idea where we were going. Then it happened. Traffic stopped, and we saw smoke. Lot's of smoke. Getting out of the car and walking a little bit I saw a big bridge and fire. Turns out a very large fire was blocking all roads off Key West. Except one.
Some nice looking guy, well maybe not nice looking, but he seemed nice, stopped and said he new of a way off the island. He was a white guy with dreadlocks and his little 4-wheel drive truck was really muddy, but I trusted him. Nancy and Sarah did not.
We followed this guy, and a few other cars joined us. We went pretty fast and ended up cutting through fields that were pretty muddy. I had to go fast to keep from getting stuck and caused a lot of sliding. It was fun. I was having a great time. Then the best thing happened...... we went through a bush and ended up in Coral Gables or some really nice neighborhood south of Miami. We were off the Keys, and still alive!!!!!!
Lessons Learned
I really have no lesson to learn from that adventure other than there is nothing wrong with spur of the moment trips. Nancy and I have always lived our lives without much strategic planning and most of our trips and actions have been more by impulse than thought out plans. We NEVER make a schedule. This is also why I have never been on a cruise. The thought of having to following a schedule on a vacation drives me nuts. So does wearing anything other than shorts and t-shirts. To say I prefer the laid back, unplanned, easy come easy go, vacations is an understatement. Take me to a place where the weather suits my clothes..... love that line.
Looking back on it, God had my back during all of those times as well. We are fortunate that we were not the ones getting out of the van when crazy guy showed up. We are fortunate that my bad judgement of following suspecious people didn't end up worse. So may be there are a few lessons learned in there.
We have been back to Key West since then, but our key of choice is definitely Islemerada (sp?) and hanging at the Cheeca Lodge. There are also those great motels built in the 50's that have been redone in little bungalows. Love those too. There are so many great little burger, refreshment snacks, and eating establishments, good access to water, and easy to get to. I hope Nancy and family continue the trips back to Islemerada, that would be nice. I know a few people who would join them!
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