Key West at a glance.....Day 2

Thursday, Oct. 30


We slept in on Thursday morning, finally went to lunch with the Emmon's around noon at Carolines on Duval. Enjoying daytime on Duval was interesting. We all tried the calamari and conch fritters!! Both were very enjoyable! At this point, the Emmons wanted to hit the beach (something Ive Never done in KW!) and Craig and I went to the Conch Farm to hear James Sunny Jim White. We spent some time listening to James, reliving our Jamaican vacation, then decided we would take Tall Paul's advice to come to the Southern Most Cafe for a singer/songwriter gig hosted by Matt Wahl. What a pleasant surprise!! Upon arrival, we were greeted with big hugs from Paul and Kristie then entered to find our good friends from Milwaukee, Rick and Sherry!! We sat at the bar on the edge of the beach, listening to wonderful musicians! We heard a little of Matt, then Mike Broward (formerly of Stars on the Water), The Cedar Island Band (featuring our very good friend, Doug Rassler!!), and also our newest favorite musician John Reno!! When John sang his song, Magic Chair, Craig looked and me said, "Wow, I really like his voice" This was the first of 8 cds I brought home from KW. We ended the show with Paul. What a Great show!!!

Our next stop was the Lighthouse Court. This is another artists gathering hosted by Kelly McGuire! Luckily, we were there when Kelly was singing. He launched into one of Craig's favorite songs, Daddies and Daughters. It was so moving, brought me to tears! Rob Mehl came by to talk to us...its always so nice to be recognized and spoken to. Rob is a key reason for Craig and I signing up for the Sunset Cruise on Sat. night. I love Rob's music. I bought the new Cd, Havana Good Time. Also, at the Lighthouse, we had the privilege to hear John Reno again. Yeah!! I was also introduced to a very VERY good looking pans player, John Patti! The photo describes all..... (Ohhh Jamie... you would have loved him. )




On our way back to the B & B, our friends, Rick and Janice had called to say they had arrived and were ready to see Key West!!! We re-grouped at the Bed and Breakfast, we set out to show them a great time. We met up with the Emmon's at the Lazy Gecko to hear Don Middlebrook!! What a great, fan involved, show! The lazy Gecko is a great place to see a show, you can watch the traffic on Duval while enjoying some wonderful music!!



After Donnie's show, we all loaded up into a very small cab and headed to Louie's Backyard!!!! Wow, the landscape there is beautiful!!!! We had drinks out by the beach while waiting for our table, our table overlooked the beach. One highlight for me was glancing at the table near us, I saw the author Tom Corcoran!!!! I was speechless! Ofcourse, I shared who he was with the table, nobody had heard of him with the exception of Craig. I was so impressed... It took all I had not to speak to him. I respected his quite night out with friends and didnt say anything, but wow... I would have loved to shake his hand!! Our dinner was simply amazing!

Fully stuffed, not knowing if we were able to even drink, we headed back to Hog's Breath to end our night with Hughie! Upon arrival, one highlight for me was standing near the bar and the friendly bartender looks at me and says, "Hey, I remember you..Indiana right?" Seriously... this same bartender remembers me every year! I must have really Really had a GREAT time my first year at the hog. *Those of you who were there, no comments please!!! hahahaha* We were met with all our friends again, Mike and Joe were holding down those bar stools ready for a great show. We all gathered together our nightly Key Lime Shooters and take in Hugo's show! It's always exciting with Greg "Fingers" Taylor on stage. Amy Lee also joined Hughie this year! He never ceases to amaze me! My all time favorite Hugo song is: Between you and Me. Don Middlebrook showed up at the show to party with us. What a night! On our way home, Craig and I made it to the nearest pizza stand. ughh....still No Mr. Z's!