Thursday, November 10, 2005

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!

Now you all know I am a Jersey Girl from head to toe, right? So don't think I am dissing my state when I say this: it sucks to be back. I left sunny, gaw-jus Key West yesterday around lunchtime, after spending a lovely morning with Patsy by the pool, recovering from the night before. We had some airline issues (they changed all our flights due to rainy skies here in Jersey, including which city we flew into and what times both of our flights left, and we circled over Newark Airport for God knows how long), and as soon as we got off the plane the difference from Florida to NJ was painfully obvious. People were yelling and running around like crazy, horns were beeping and drivers were cursing at each other, it was cold and rainy, etc etc etc. Not a pleasant welcome home. Until of course I went to pick up Princess at my parents' house. She saw me and was freaking out, yelling unintelligible sounds and then "mmmmmmommmmmmmmyyyyyy!!!!" At that moment, I was glad to be back.
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How much fun did we have in Key West, you may ask? Well, I can tell you this much. We hit nearly every bar on Duval Street and a bunch on other streets and piers too. We closed down the bar two of our 4 nights there. We heard so much Jimmy Buffett that we wanted to find the man and kill him for writing so many songs that sound exactly alike. We were so grateful to hear a few Bon Jovi songs here and there that we screamed every word even though the bands sucked. We went snorkeling, which was so not fun (not much to see, VERY choppy water that you had to fight the entire time) but then we drank so much "free" beer that we got our moneys worth anyway. Our friend J and I did not argue at all until our last night there (shocking). Hub made all our feet hurt with his insane walking tours of cemeteries and everything else from one side of the island to the other, but we also relaxed by the pool and hung around and drank and had mellow fun too.

A toast to our first night in Key West:


Yes this guy was grabbing my ass:


Me and Diddy doing a shot at the famous Sloppy Joe's on Duval:


Me and Hub at the Southernmost Point (only 90 miles from Cuba):


All of us on our final drunken night in Key West, having drinks at the Southernmost Tiki Bar:

(Top row: Hub and J; Bottom row: Me, Patsy and Diddy)
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Yes, there was damage to the island. There were palms down all over the place, along with tons of peoples' belongings that they had to throw out due to the flooding. It looked like it had been years since anyone picked up garbage there - but it was all debris from Wilma. This church was seriously messed up:


But overall, the island was in decent condition. Everything was open, at least in the tourist areas (on our way back to the airport, our taxi driver told us that the Sears and the KMart were totally demolished - in fact, he said there were barracuda swimming in the KMart). People were in good moods, there was food and clean water, our hotel was in pristine shape (I loooved the hotel - somehow me and Hub got a suite for the price of a regular room), and there were lots of tourists there who weren't deterred from their trips. We contemplated going elsewhere after hearing of the hurricane, but I am so glad we went there. Anyplace that has no open beverage container laws is a winner in my book, no matter what.

19 comments:

xtessa said...

glad you had fun on your vacation! sounded like you partied hard... heehee.

i totally get that feeling about coming home and you're dismayed with the contrast... from paradise to reality! LOL!

trine said...

you *ALWAYS* seem to have SO MUCH FUN!!!

GLAD you had a ncie break, nothing like time away from your baby and NOTHING like coming back home. I love the fact you still call her princess. I've changed my name for Helene to MONSTER these days! ;-)

trine from you know where

Ally said...

Sounds blissful! Glad you had a good time. It's cold and rainy here and I am jealous :).

soapbox.SUPERSTAR said...

I am a tiny bit jealous! So glad you had a drunken good time!

Arethusa said...

You look so contented and tanned--that's great. Love the new blog look too.

Kathleen said...

They've repainted the Southernmost Point doohickey since I was there in 1989 (I think that was the year). My picture included writing that stated it was 90 Miles from Cuba.

I understand completely about being back as I have just returned from Mexico. Although after ten days with Mom I was more than ready to return to my nice little only me and the cats apartment.

Mitey Mite said...

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed Key West. I would have liked to see the barracuda swimming in K-Mart, too.

Dawn said...

I am glad to see that you are back! Looks like you had a wonderful time.

Holly said...

Sounds DIVINE!! Welcome back.

Mike said...

Nope, I frequent Jersey a lot (Lodi area), and I can tell you that although it is a cool place, it doesn't come close! Glad that you had fun and that you are back!

Unknown said...

It is so hard coming home from a vacation. At least that is what I remember. It has been soooo long since we have been on one. Hard to get someone to watch three kids for a few days...

Glad you had a great time!

guppyman said...

Sounds like a great time...! Too bad you had to go back home....

thephoenixnyc said...

Welcome home TJG. It looks like you had a fantastic holiday. Thanks for sharing the pics with us.

Scarlet Hip said...

I'm so glad you had fun! I was worried after all we went through down here during Wilma. Ironically, I escaped to Jersey to get away from Florida and you escaped to Florida to get away from Jersey.

We should coordinate better next time so we can have a beer together.

Tracy S said...

Wow!!! Sounds like a blast ...Good to see you back .You new look is awesome..I LOVE the colors :)

Vixen said...

Glad you had fun in the sun! Great Pics! Welcome back!

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Great shots, Jersey. You know how to enjoy yourself!

Danielle said...

Welcome back! Sounds like an amazing time! I know it is selfish, but on behalf of NJ, and my True Jersey blog-reading self, I'm glad you are back!

Megan said...

Jeez, I go away for a while and come to find out you were in Key West and didn't tell me! I would have so driven down to visit.

Glad you had a good time. Come back mcsoon. ;)