Key West 2019 - Day 5 and 6

Celebrity Cruise's "Edge" in Key West.

I am a little late in posting about the balance of our 2019 trip to Key West, one of my most favorite places.  For readers who follow our travels, I do apologize.

Day five was calmer than the first four days and we were much less scheduled since a number of our friends had headed back either to Hampton or to the Fort Lauderdale area where they have the principal residences.  We had  lunch at BO's Fishwagon at 801 Caroline Street, Key West, where we had numerous Conch fritters and I had a a Presidente beer.

Afterward, we walked to the waterfront and saw the Celebrity Cruise's massive "Edge" (pictured above) which was hosting an all gay Atlantis cruise.  Duval Street and the gay bars were well populated by passengers from the ship.  Personally, I prefer cruise ships that are not so large - perhaps in part because I am a fan of the ocean liners of yesteryear - e.g., the United States or the incredible Normandie - that were much more streamlined, built for speed and taking rough seas in stride and less a high rise hotel slapped on a hull (I do wonder about the seaworthiness of the huge modern ships should they get caught in a hurricane or be hit by a rogue wave). 

Dinner on day five was at El Siboney on Catherine Street, a great family style Cuban restaurant.  We dined with a very nice couple from Sweden who were also staying at The Equator Resort. The place has wonderful Cuban food in a no frills atmosphere.  The sangria is terrific.

El Siboney on Catherine Street.

Day six, the day of our departure was the only day that we had rain which curtailed our activities.  Nonetheless, we walked around Old Town Key West before heading to the airport. Before leaving The Equator, we made our reservations for next year in more or less the same time slot - something many regular guest do.  This was our sixth year at The Equator which I cannot recommend highly enough for gay men traveling to Key West.  The place has beautiful amenities (which are continually upgraded) and encourages its guest from across America and the globe to socialize and create friendships.

The smaller pool at The Equator on the day of our departure.

Key West Bound - A Much Needed Break

The boyfriend (soon to be husband) and I are flying out this morning for a long weekend in Key West.  Preparing to leave has been a bitch what with coordinating the dog/house sitter, me trying to get client matters under control and working until 9:00PM on Monday and Tuesday and not quite as lat last night. Thankfully, we had a nice time at the Hampton Yacht Club with three of the boyfriend's country club women clients who we love to death last evening - although I arrived over an hour late due to putting  out out client brush fires late this afternoon.  Upon getting home we had a mini-crisis when we we notified that out flight out of Newport News was delayed and that our whole day tomorrow would be spent traveling as a result.  Thankfully, we manage to reschedule to leave out of Norfolk and now will get to Key West at 12:30PM as originally planned.

In past years we have stayed at The Oasis on Fleming Street a few blocks from Duval Street.  This trip, however, we are staying at The Equator since The Oasis was bought by a Swedish investor and it is now "all welcoming" instead of all gay.  A good friend headed down yesterday ahead of us and is already there.  Another friend joins us on Friday and there are some other Hampton Roads folks visiting, so it should be a wonderful time as always.   We also will be catching up with with former neighbors who moved to Key West within the last six months - they used to live a block down the street from us.  As is the norm, I will be blogging while in Key West albeit not as regularly, :)

Here's a view of the scenery flying in via our friend who arrived yesterday: