The best vacation I ever took was when my husband and I went to Key West, FL during Easter week, 2019. We’d only been married four months and he used to have boat down there. We missed one night due to storms and had to stay in Chicago. We landed on the tiny island. We road bikes all over the island and enjoyed sitting on the shaded porch off our bed and breakfast room. I coerced him in to parasailing with me. He didn’t want to spend the money and I didn’t want to go up alone. I finally won. I am afraid of heights, so it was a way to challenge myself. All the time’s he’d been down there he’d never done that. It was peaceful and the view was amazing.
We went on a jet-ski tour around the island, and he let me drive at one point which was a mistake. I’d never driven a jet-ski before and the Atlantic was choppy, I zig-zagged a little too much and ended up dumping us both in the ocean. It was deliciously warm. I came up from the waves laughing. Our guide held the ski for us but getting back onto that jet ski was not easy to do. My husband tells the tale with me trying to drown him and failing. It’s a fun joke and a wonderful memory. When we got back to the dock, they told us were now members of the Key West swim club.
We drove up the keys a way and played miniature golf which has become something we do know on most trips we take.
We also got to visit Ernest Hemingway’s home and the bar/restaurant he used to frequent. Something my husband had never done either. It was interesting to learn more about his life, his military service, writing, and superstitions. The place still has a lot of polydactyl cats and is probably the only place on the island with a basement.
We’ve gone many places together, but Key West is one where I wouldn’t mind returning to. I only hesitate because I think my expectations of how good it would be wouldn’t match what I already experienced so I’ll arrange for new adventures for us both in the future and for now hold those memories close. Susan Baganz | Encourager, scribe and silly mother of Hobbits