The Kids, Traveling, and the Captain

Several weeks ago the wife was out of town. Our two dogs normally follow her around whenever she is here but after that weekend, her dog is now officially a daddy's girl. When we are watching tv she hops up into my lap. When we go to bed she snuggles up to me for the night. And whenever we have thunder, it is her daddy that is able to protect her. I like having a little girl.

Last week the wife and I took a little vacation. We flew to Miami and rented a car to drive to Key West. Other than booking a place to stay, we made no plans. It was great to unwind and relax with no real schedule. We ate a lot of seafood and some cuban food. I had some key lime pie (wifey doesnt care for key lime) that was incredible. We found a great little place that makes a lot of different crepes and it became our breakfast place for the trip. On the way home we stopped in Key Largo for lunch with an old friend of mine and her fiancee (whom I had never met). The restaurant we met them at had tables set up on a beautiful beach overlooking the ocean while a guy played some steel drums. It was easy to see why some people go to the keys every year, or as my friend did, go for a vacation and never leave.

One of the things we did while in Key West was to go meet Captain Tony. Who is he you might ask. He is the imbodiment of every Jimmy Buffett song you have ever heard. As a matter of fact, go look at the lyrics for Last Mango in Paris and you will see that this particular song is all about him. Captain Tony is pushing 90. He has 13 kids ranging in age from 11 to 54. He was Mayor of Key West at one time. He allegedly made a living as a smuggler for a while. He also owns a bar that was the original location for Sloppy Joes for most of the time that Ernest Hemingway was drinking there while in Key West. We were just walking by and saw him in his bar and stopped by to take photos with him. My picture is kinda plain. The one with wifey he has a big smile.

While we were gone, we left the dogs with their usual sitter. They must have played hard while they were there as they slept all day Sunday after we picked them up.