While I was away a great deal of thanks must be expressed to Cindi Hogan, Sheri Pogue, and Paddy Lynch who all took turns walking Cajun and Tooloulou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!
The great thing here was the fact that it required a drive back through the Keys to get home! I always tell anyone coming to Key West to be sure to take your time driving through the Keys to appreciate them for what they are. In English we have a saying for this that goes “Take time to stop and smell the roses”. I elected to do this as well. Prior to moving to Key West, I lived in the southern area of Miami/Dade County and consequently I’d hop in the car and take a 30 mile drive (49 Km) to Key Largo. What a perfect excuse to head and stop there on my way home! I found myself at one of my favorite haunts which is one of the best bars in the entire world, The Caribbean Club. Some may remember the Caribbean Club from my blog a while back naming the ten best bars in the Florida Keys?
http://keywestmusic.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-absolute-ten-best-bars-in-keys.html
I arrived about an hour before sunset, which is always impeccable, as the back of the Caribbean Club is on Black Water Sound.
Caribbean Club Dock.
The Caribbean Club from the dock
Boat off of the Caribbean Club at sunset
Pelicans
Caribbean Club Panorama
Boat leaving to parts unknown
I made a rendezvous with my dear friend Nina while I was there and we headed over to another place in Key Largo, Sharkey’s (also see ten best bars in the Keys) where our friend Mike was playing. I’ve known Mike for nearly twenty years, from my days in Miami/Dade! What a great thing it was to go as well! I ended up getting to sit in with his band for a couple of songs. Special thanks to his band mate George for allowing me to play his outstanding Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul! So, here I was, only hours out of the hospital after a heart procedure and I’m sitting for a couple of songs! Thank God for medical science!
I stayed overnight in Key Largo and continued my trip in the morning after grabbing a breakfast at a restaurant in Key Largo that I often go to, Mrs. Mack’s.
My next stop was in Islamorada, a town south of Key Largo consisting of about five or six islands. For me, my stop there this time was Robbie’s. Robbie’s is really just a shack. It’s a lot like stepping into a time warp actually. What is so unique about Robbie’s is that off their dock, you can feed the tarpon with buckets of fish that you can buy at the shack. A tarpon is a good sized game fish. They are not edible. Here we’re not fishing for them, but rather feeding them! There are also a lot of pelicans hanging out there as well, who are more than happy to compete with the tarpon for the fish!
Posing pelican with Tarpon behind him
“The Keys Rabbler” gets me everywhere!
Leaving there, my next stop was just a pedestrian bridge, built on the old traffic bridge. These are all up and down the Keys, this one being at Lower Matacumbe Key. I was amazed at the strength of the current. Bear in mind that this is that the bridges are where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Flor8ida Bay/Gulf of Mexico. Driving south, you’ll have the Atlantic Ocean on your left and the Gulf of Mexico on your right. The tidal currents were amazingly strong here!
I’ll continue this trip on the next blog!
I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season!
CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.
Search: Key West Chris
Thank you everyone!
Happy New Year!!!!
