The other night Karan asked if I would be keen to join in on a road trip to Key West. At that point I had no idea what or where Key West was but agreed to tag along anyhow. The preperations began. We would rent two cars and have roughly 11 people coming in total. By the time everything was organised we had lost two people but Saara had agreed to join in.

 

The group consisted of a car load of Swedish girls, Selveste from Norway, Saara from Finland, Karan the New Zealander, 3 Italians and myself.

 

I woke at 7 as Karan wanted us to be ready for 730. When I went down to the lobby at 730 everyone else was already there, all looking as tired as I felt. There was a bit of miscomunication and the girls had been waiting since 7 and weren't too happy when they found out we were being picked up at 8. And even less happy when the rental company was an hour late to get to us, and even further annoyed when only one of them needed to come to the rental shop to sign for their car. Poor buggers could of slept in till 930..

 

We were expecting a PT Cruiser and a Dodge Nitro as our cars for the day but were given a Ford Mustang instead of the Nitro, awesome! Burnin back to the hostel in the beast of a car we picked up the rest of the crew. We soon realised that 11 people could not possibly fit in two cars. It was tight enough with the 3 Italians in the back of the Mustang that they were practicaly sitting on each other. The situation was no better with the PT Cruiser so Saara opted to stay in at the hostel, poor girl.

 

We departed at 10 and arrived at Key West at roughly 230, making only one pitstop for petrol and lunch about halfway into the journey. Once we reached the Florida keys the scenery changed dramatically from urban sprawls to nothing but beaches, ocean views and bridges, the longest was the '7 Mile Bridge'. The bridges literally go island hopping, this is a route better suited for a boat or a plane as there is hardly any land! But cruising along in the Mustang I couldnt find any reason to complain and the view was amazing!

 

Having signed the insurance forms I was the sole driver of the Mustang and it was such a nice ride. Only a V6 but with enough get up and go that I easily zoomed past the slower traffic, overtaking with ease and pushing the cramped passengers back in their seats.

 

Every hour or so the 3 Italians seated in the back would shuffle around, taking turns sitting in the middle which was the most uncomfortable position, not that I ever sat in the back... Being a convertable the Italians took advantage of having the top down and stepped over eachother at a set of lights rather than sliding over, it was hilarious.

 

We cruised around Key West for a few minutes trying to figure out where to go. We found a parking spot and headed to one of the main tourist attractions. People were queueing up to get their photo taken next to the bell shaped monument that marked the southern most point of the United States. I used Karan's camera to snap a quick shot while two families were switching places, none of us bothered to wait to take a proper photo, we were all too keen to hit the beach.

 

We drove back up the coast a little bit to the first beach we came too. A few families were frolicking around in the cool calm water and others playing volley ball or enjoying a meal at the restaurant. After a quick jump into the water we relocated a few minutes drive away to find another beach with less kids.

 

We found a quiet spot by some palm trees, layed out our towels and collapsed. Standing a few meters back from the group I took in the sight and grabbed Karans camera. There were two palm trees about 10 meters apart, in the center about 10 meters from the trees was a line of rocks about 5 meters wide that stretched out into the water. The two palm trees seemed to frame the rocky outcropping making for an excellent photo, if only there wern't two people playing at the edge of the rocks! I waited a while and a sail boat drifted into the scene, once it reached the center of the view I took the picture, perfect. This location was also considered perfect by others too.

 

An hour or so after arriving a couple started setting up chairs, using a roll of linen to divide the chairs into two groups, a wedding between the two palm trees! Key West is the 2nd most popular destination for weddings in the US.

 

After a brief nap we headed off to catch the sun set. We had no idea where to go to view it but found a parking spot which we figured was close enough, Little did we know...

The girls parked and were keen to move on with the sun due to set in the next ten minutes or so. I chose a poor parking spot and as we started walking down the path an old man said we parked in a tow-away zone. So I relocated the car to the side of the road. By this time the girls had vanished and we had even less time to catch the sun set. 

 

We weren't as close as I thought and it took a minute or two until we reached the entrance to what looked like a naval yard, the sign saying 'Sunset Viewing - $1.50' the man at the booth said we'd have to run to catch the sunset and that the place closed immediately after it,. We asked if a few Swedish girls had gone through. He couldnt remember but suggested we walk a little further along to where an old small warship was moored and try view the sunset from there. We ran accross and caught the final moments of the setting sun, just in time. But where were the girls?

 

We headed back to the car but they weren't there, hmmm. We waited ten minutes then figured they might still be over where we watched the sun set and so headed back there. I had the feeling they might of taken a different path to get there because we never actually saw witch way they went. But agreeing that they must of gone to that spot to see the sunset we figured we would bump into them.

 

It turned out that girls never went to see the sunset but instead took a different path and went to see some other monument. They got lost or couldnt find what they were looking for and so headed back to the car to find us, which would of been just after we left to look for them again.

 

Karan and I walked a bit too fast and ended up losing the 3 Italians too. So I gave Karan the keys to head back to the car and grab his phone to see if the girls had called while I went looking for the Italians. I never found them so trekked back to the car. Karan and I went for a stroll stopping at various shops and an amazing photo gallery of Peter Lik. You can see the pictures of the gallery at his web site http://www.peterlik.com/home.html 

 

We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the car where we found the Italians waiting for us. They had gotten completely lost but managed to make it back. They set off to grab some food while Karan and I ate ours by the car. Moments later a two of the girls showed up and so we all managed to reunite.

 

After ice cream and a bit of a stroll through the streets we got into our cars and hooned home. We got lost as usual so the return trip was a bit frustrating. But overall it was an excellent day and I had a lot of fun.

 

I can feel a cold coming on, everyone in the hostel has been sick lately so it must be my turn...