Life in The Fast Lane - Chapter 3

So, we moseyed on back down the deserted road that slices through No Name Key, crossed back over the gravel-strewn bridge, and pulled into the only restaurant we've seen out here.

  And nearly threw our jaws out of joint when we walked up on the porch.  This is what you see through the doorway:

Are you believing this???  This is only the entryway.  Just the front door.  Not even the dining area, were dollar bills hang down as thick as shag carpet.  The waitress who zoomed over to take our order said they estimate there are between 60,000 and 70,000 dollar bills stuck on the walls and ceiling.  

It takes several minutes and half a bottle of ice cold Corona to be able to get your head around sitting in the middle of about $65,000.00 in raw cash.  But don't even think about clearing those walls...every bill is identified with someone's name, some artwork, or other "I Was At No Name Bar" mark.  You wouldn't even get to first base.

We finally focused on the menu, and here it is in a nutshell:

Home-Made Smoked Yellow Fin Tuna Dip - the best I've EVER had.  Period.

Enormous Hand-Patted Angus Beef Cheeseburgers

Amazing Pizzas, loaded with ingredients and drooling with cheese on a crunchy crust.

Crisp garden salads.  Gigantic Grouper Sandwiches.

Fabulous little "Half Dollar" Yukon Gold French Fries...and more.

As Husband would say, "Worth the Price of Admission!"

We waddled back to the cottage for a siesta.  It was only Tuesday.

So yesterday, emboldened by our exploration and uncovering the $65,000.00 Bar, we ventured farther from home base.  This time, we went out to Hwy. 1 
and turned south to see what we could find.  
Crossing over the bridge to Little Torch Key, we saw a  waterfront restaurant.

Looked like a promising spot, so we pulled in to the parking lot.  And were greeted by this:

This IS the Keys, but are you Kidding Me???

Not kidding.  There IS a Big Pecker Wine!  And, it is a good little Chardonnay.  That, coming from a Chardonnay snob!!

At the Bar-you gotta check out their MENU.

And that was just for starters.  This restaurant is a surprising find for such a quiet area - so good that we prevailed upon Husband to take us back there last night for dinner.  

After a lovely Conch Chowder (Red Based) with fresh aromatics and laced with sherry, we had an amazing 3 cheese Mac and Cheese for our entree, topped off with Lobster Chunks, passed under the broiler to brown the top just a tad.  Served in a pretty, deep glass bowl.  Fabulous.

With lots of Big Pecker Wine.

Home made Key Lime pie topped off the meal, and then once more, we waddled home.

Tomorrow, we rest.

Because right now, we feel like this:

Nothing a little rest and relaxation won't fix...

Life in The Fast Lane - Chapter Two

Today we saw a government sign saying that feeding a Key Deer out of your hand is a criminal offense. Criminal! Yikers!  Does that mean we are all going to jail??? 

We have learned that this little toothless Key Deer is known as "Grandma", and is beloved and pampered by all the residents. The neighbor down the street says that her favorite snack is whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, smashed up in his palm, which she licks cleans every morning. Along with puréed carrots, which his wife faithfully prepares every morning while the coffee percolates. 

 Of course, this means that when she arrives at our cottage around 10:30, she's going for brunch, and leading into lunch.

Other than tending to Grandma, we have been exploring our little island in bits and spurts...

This is the channel out to the Back Bay, which leads you to the Atlantic or the Gulf, depending on which way you turn when you get to the end.

These are the guys and gals who check your credentials at the end of the channel - you can see from their "aromatic" perch that they are permanent fixtures.

We headed out to explore the deserted island next to ours, and Husband did a little focusing exercise so that he could be "in the moment" during our discovery tour:

Now thoroughly in the moment, we started roaming down faint paths through the brush.


  Lots of pretty Red Mangroves:

Love this Palm Group - a perfect place to hang a hammock!

Evidence that we were not in a Primeval Jungle - almost reassuring, since there wasn't a sound except for our foot-falls, the wind and the birds muttering out on the rocks.

Rather artistic, don't you think??


Right down the path, we ran into Swamp City...

Surreal, but beautiful in its own way.  And the end of the road!


Time to go look for a cold beer!  I'll show you the amazing little bar we found in Chapter 3...