Christmas Key West style

Christmas is a wrap. What a Christmas it was. This mama bear got a really good kid fix. They came for 2 weeks!! Just enough time to be together on a boat. Our big boat got pretty cramped and cluttered but I would take that any day! How I have missed them this last year!

There is so much to do here. No shortage of activists to choose from.

We sailed on a 1930’s Wooden sailboat that was owned by General Patton. He never got to sail it. That’s sad. He had it built and called it When and If for “When” he gets done fighting in the war and “If” he makes it back alive. He lived but never sailed her. We had such a good time we actually did this twice.

We had some bad weather come in. We had several days of rain and wind. We made the most of it by staying in all day one day and watched Christmas movies and I made cookies and dinner. The kids actually enjoyed the down day. So who’s complaining??

Tropical storms are no joke. This one dumped tons of rain and wind.

On a windy day we decided to take a drive. The waves were huge and no water activity was going to happen. Andy had heard that there was a History of Diving museum in Islamorada. The drive was pretty and gave us something to do that didn’t involve being outdoors or on the water. We thoroughly bored the kids and Andy enjoyed looking at all the old equipment he had actually used. He started diving at 14 years old, so a lot of vintage stuff was actually stuff he had owned and used. The museum had an impressive display of old diving helmets from all over the world.

Jake was bored but Andy enjoyed telling him about all the equipment he had used. His face is classic!

Christmas night in Key West.

Christmas dinner was a feasts of steak and lobster. No suffering but more importantly I did not cook and have 20 people over. It was WONDERFUL for me. Plus we just sat and chatted and enjoyed each other. I loved it!!

Before dinner we watched the sunset at the famous Mallory Square where everyone gathers nightly. This night we had an epic sunset. It was a gift!

Key West is not for the meek. It’s a town that allows drinking on the streets. The clubs go all night. The transgender community is represented here and everyone is open, friendly, happy and overall it’s just a fun place. We had our share of nights out but also nights in. I cannot keep up! I guess I’m getting old. It’s so hard to keep me awake after 9PM.

Slushy drinks with a rum floater! A nap followed!

Another windy day, Alyssa and I went to the butterfly Museum. We loved it. We also walked past the southern most house (mansion). Owned by a guy who sounded like a real bore!! Not what you think of in Key West.

I strung lights all over the boat. It looked awesome. The hit was my LED dolphins. Everyone stopped to ask where I had gotten them (amazon) and a bunch of people ordered them. I started a trend.

The days went fast with my kids. They are pretty cool young adults. It is nice to see them and have them for a full 2 weeks. I think we will start a new family tradition of sharing these experiences together verses a tree full of presents. They both agreed that this was one of the funnest Christmas escapes. We have done this in the past, Australia was also one of their favorite memories, but as they become adults it has become more important to spend time, not money that means the most.

Me and my girl!

This was in front of Hogfish. The BEST restaurant! We ate there several times! We loved it!

We are here for another 3 weeks. We have more company coming. I hope I can keep up! I have a week to recover, clean and shop before the next set.