Key West Travelogue (warning: long post)

Dear Lovely Readers,

As promised, here is my journal of our Key West vacation. Enjoy!

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Thurs, 6/30/05
Second full day here at Wyndham Casa Marina. We arrived on Tuesday 6/28/05 around lunchtime. Room not ready, so we’re headed to beachfront restaurant Sun-Sun. Had a great grouper sandwich – very fresh…and a couple of margaritas – hey! I’m on vacation!

After that, we checked to see if our room was ready. Still not. Getting grouchy. Finally room ready at 3:30pm. Bad humor disappears as we discover we’ve been upgraded to a suite with a fridge! Yeah! Couple of beers & fruit await us as well (Wyndham by Request program bonus). All is well.

To celebrate our first night on vay-cay, we order room service: very good fish dishes, arrugula salads, a bottle of pinot grigio, a sumptuous chocolate torte. Very yummy, albeit expensive - $155.

Yesterday, we went down to the workout room and did some machines. Not a bad set-up – various resistance machines, two treadmills, two stairmasters, two stationary bikes. Place looks better than the last time we stayed at Casa Marina – a little newer equipment and carpeting. They need to vacuum more frequently though – lots a little stuff on the floor.

Then, we headed to Camille’s, a place we’ve visited frequently on our stays here, for lunch. Camille’s is on Simonton Street and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Moderately priced, varied menu and festive atmosphere. I had a Caesar salad with jerk chicken and requested tomatoes. It was perfect – spicy and tender chicken, Caesar dressing flavor – but not excessive. I’d say Camille’s is a good idea when you come down here – you know, after you’ve hit the touristy places – it’s where you get a consistently good meal.

We then toddled off to Key West Island Books, a used bookstore. I didn’t think I would get anything, but ended up getting several, including another book by Ha Jin, called Crazed. I say another, because the last time we were down here, I bought Jin’s book, Waiting and really enjoyed it. It's about the love relationships of a couple of folks in Cultural Revolution-era China. Most effectively conveys a claustrophobic environment. Characters provoke a response in the reader. So, go check it out. Also, as with Waiting, they had a nice hardbound version. Jeff’s a bad influence. But, this is our honeymoon, for all intents and purposes. Then to the drug store on Truman. Used to be Erkart Rx, but now CVS. Down to Shore’s Spirits on Simonton to pick up gin ‘n’ tonic fixin’s.

OK, so we had gin & tonics. Then headed out trying to find this advertised sushi bar…didn’t find it (our regular place, Origami, was under construction), went to Duffy’s on Simonton instead. Friendly service and fresh ingredients, but the food was bland and way-overpriced. Not a repeater.

Mini-anxiety attack last night/early this morning. Going to take a while to relax.

Today, workout, sun by pool, reading. On page 335 of 1084 of Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) for an essay contest – that is, if I can manage to finish reading it on time. Interesting book so far, just really long with small type. John Barth, book of short stories called On With The Story. I recall reading something of his in a literature class ages ago, so thought I'd pick this up and give it a go. Expanding my literary horizons and such.

Noted lots of tattoos on females around here. Lots of cellulite. I don’t feel self-conscious at all in this company. Yeh, yeh, meow. But just telling it like I see it. Lots of guys with huge beer bellies. Fewer Europeans than when we were here two years ago.

Went to Abbondanza Italian restaurant for dinner. I ordered veal marsala. Pretty good – came with a stuffed tomato and pile of broccoli. Tasty olive oil with focaccia.

Fri. 7/1/05
Were woken up at 5:30am by fire alarm. Had to pull on clothes and head outside. Found out that some dumbass pulled the alarm as a prank. The alarm was very effective – screeching and loud.

Treat ourselves to breakfast - room service. Yummy French Toast and hash browns. Very good. Now feel like a nap despite several cups of coffee.

Page 360 of Atlas. Overcast sky. Did some swimming. Went to Camille’s for dinner. I had a very interesting plate: seared tuna steak (large) with pesto, pickled ginger, rice and sautéed veggies. Two martinis. Jeff had three. Jeff had a baby spinach salad with marinated slices of duck, tomatoes, hearts of palm. I think I’ll order that the next time we go there for dinner. We brought home some key lime pie dessert.

Sat. 7/2/05
Woke up at 10:30. Jeff says I should say something about the news. Sandra Day O’Connor announces retirement. Ok. Brace yourselves for another battle of the Dems against whomever Bush nominates. Girl kidnapped in Aruba. Formerly missing/kidnapped (Idaho) girl identified at a Denny’s, by alert waitress. Authorities called. Man with little girl arrested. I think this is the real story: there are still folks there 1) paying attention and 2) willing to stick their neck out to do the right thing. Waitress stalled the man until authorities arrived, asked girl questions to get more of story. Girl’s brother is still at large, but now at least, more to go on.

Went snorkeling. Coolish water with bath-water currents fields of waving seaweed. Little diarama “trees.” Sun, sun, and more sun, blue skies, breeze.

Oh, I forgot to mention that a waiter at Camille’s recognized us from last year. This, in addition to the other things I’ve mentioned about the restaurant secure our repeated patronage. That, and they gave us free starter salads while we were waiting for the entrees.

Weird dream last night. I was at the starting line of a foot race. Instead of a clear-cut path for the race, there was a weird fork in the road. I figured I would just follow the rest of the runners. Well, before the gun sounded, a runner dashed out and disappeared down the right path of the fork. The gun sounded and I headed with the others down the right of the fork…following a bunch down a path…which ended in a sort of warehouse barstaurant. I wondered what happened to the other runners – or for that matter, to the race. But then, I spotted a friend from (real) work, and joined her, ostensibly for a drink. End of dream.

Ok. Now I get to give my opinion of the hotel – or should I say, my continuing assessment:

Housekeeping. While they are basically competent in cleaning up, etc, and sometimes pleasantly surprising (turn-down service with artistically placed plethora of pillows, choco-mints on the turned-down sheets), sometimes they forget to replace the coffee, or leave two bottles of shower gel but no shampoo. This is what I call basic service problems/issues. I mean, we are paying a premium to stay here instead of the many more modestly-priced establishments. So – basic housekeeping service should not even be a question -certain things should be a given.

Waitstaff at beachside restaurant (Sun-Sun). While sometimes they are very attentive and attend you immediately after you sit down, sometimes it seems you don’t exist. Like today we sat down on the deck for a late (3pm) lunch. We waited while other tables received service for about ten minutes until our waitress finally approached the table. And then, she wasn’t especially friendly. We asked for water with the meal and had to re-ask for it later because she forgot. Then she comes back every few minutes to see if everything’s ok. Compare this with the waiter who instantly recognizes us after a year and welcomes us back – and was diligent every time.

Room Service. Much more attentive, fast and friendly. One waiter even asked if he could set up the table for us. Me likey room service. The only drawback is that the food is pricey and a 20% gratuity and $2.50 delivery fee is added. I generally object to pre-added gratuities because a tip should be 1) voluntary on my part and 2) a reward for good service rendered, not another "tax." In this case, no matter how good the server is, they get the pre-added amount, nothing more.

Page 400 of Atlas. We decided to order some appetizers, salads and cheesecake from room service. We both got a little burned today, even after slathering on the SPF. We’ll have to be careful about that – the sun is really intense here.

We ordered a couple of Caesar salads from room service, with tomatoes. Very good – even put anchovies on top. Now, I don’t like anchovies, but it was a nice touch anyway. DH gets the anchovies, no problem. We also ordered some appetizers – crab cakes and marinated prawns. The crab cakes were amazing. The menu says they had a “caper chervil remoulade.” Very, very yummy. Prawns were disappointing. Supposed to be “crisp fried with a sweet orange miso dip.” Not crisp, prawns kinda chewy. The miso dip was mediocre, rather bland. Could have used a little Cajin spices or something to give it a punch. Definitely not worth $12.00. Then we shared a piece of cheesecake with berries and a warm berry purée. I wanted to wait a bit before having dessert, but the aroma of the berry sauce was absolutely intoxicating. The cheesecake itself was heavenly: fluffy, creamy and light, not too sweet, just right.

Mon. 7/4/05
Last night we went to Shula’s on the Beach (at the Wyndham Reach Resort) for a special dinner. We started with Oysters Rockefeller which were very good. Then both of us order the Steak MaryAnne which consisted of two medallions of super-tender steak in a pepper-cognac sauce accompanied by sautéed mushrooms and a bell pepper-onion medley. One can order other sides, but each order is large enough for a few people. We declined extra sides because we knew we wanted the chocolate soufflé for dessert and one order of that is definitely to be shared (by 2-4 people).

The steak was like butter – so tender and even a little rarer than the ordered medium-rare. Fine by me. Over-cooking steak is a sin in my book. The sauce was tasty and rich, but not heavy. At one server’s (we had two) suggestion, we ordered a bottle of red wine called Joseph Phellp’s Pastiche, a California wine. I had never heard of “pastiche,” but this was a really good bottle of wine and it complemented the steak perfectly. It was dry but very smooth – no rough edges and not heavy. Maybe with a little peppery taste. Anyway, we’ll try to find it upon our return to DC.

The chocolate soufflé didn’t disappoint. We had had it last year when Jeff’s parents joined us down here. Just amazing – fluffy with some sort of vanilla sauce, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. We had good coffee, which I understand is roasted locally.

The service is attentive, friendly and obviously helpful, but not overbearing. I like that we had two waiters – we were never left waiting around for service.

Incidentally, there’s a Shula’s in DC at the Wyndham Hotel, downtown. I’d love to visit and see if the food and service was as excellent as the one at the Reach.

On another topic, I believe Casa Marina will have its own fireworks display so we’ll hang around for that.

Thurs. 7/7/05
Page 538 of Atlas. Good fireworks display on the 4th. Beachfront vantage point.

We’re waiting to see if Hurricane Dennis will hit the Keys on Friday. Hope not.

This morning we heard about the explosions (bombs) in London. Al-Qaeda takes responsibility. We need to crack down on these assholes and stop fooling around. They deserve to be eradicated…and their families too. We need to show will.

Later. Page 568 of Atlas. There’s a hurricane headed our way and tourists/visitors are being told to leave. We’ve changed our flights to tomorrow morning. It’s a bummer, but better safe than sorry. We’ll go ahead and take off Monday and Tuesday anyway and go out and enjoy ourselves. But – for the rest of the afternoon/evening, we’ll enjoy the beautiful weather and warm seawater and sand.

Fri. 7/8/05
Page 624 of Atlas. As it turns out, our change of flight plans was nonexistent: we needed to have changed them thru Travelocity instead of American Airlines directly…so we get to the airport – thankfully early – only to find out that the changes weren’t made and all flights – any carrier – are sold out. Jeff starts swearing and saying we’re screwed; I was trembling myself. Fortunately, there was a Greyhound bus available. We’re now half-way to Miami: Islamorada. Just relieved to be headed away from the Keys and to a large airport. Hopefully, it won’t be a problem getting back to DC from Miami. Hopefully the worst is over – fingers crossed.

Page 645 in Atlas. Miami Airport. Spent 35 minutes on cell phone with Travelocity to change reservations. Most of it on hold while the agent contacted American Airlines. Very irritated except that we got a flight back to DC this evening without extra charge, 6:06pm.

Pushed back to 6:45pm. Can’t wait to be home.

Coincidentally, this hurricane bears the same name as another a few years ago that rained on our vacation in the Outer Banks, NC: Dennis. Bad news.

Later – 10:45pm – finally arrived at our apartment – safe and sound. The flight took off and around 7:30 and was two hours long. I ordered some wine and the flight attendants ended up not changing me for it – saying, “since the flight took off so late…just don’t worry about it.” Now wasn’t that nice? The flight was uneventful, thank goodness.

Wrap-up. There are some notable folks along our way who facilitated things, kept their cool, etc, and deserve to be, well, noted.

Kudos and Thanks to:
The Greyhound Clerk: She was the sole clerk issuing tickets to herds of people, most like us, having problems with flights, desperate to get off the island. She was pleasant, efficient, unflappable – and got us on the bus – the 8:45am bus that was about to leave. Thank you! We (Jeff & I) were very impressed and grateful!

The Greyhound Busdriver. Told us how long it would actually take us to get to Miami considering the circumstances, and set down the bus rules. He drove across one-lane bridges with sometimes zero visibility, the ocean on either side, safely and got us to Miami when he said he would. Thank you!

Flight 428 Flight Attendants. No nonsense gals, who dealt effectively with what could have been a major medical emergency with an elderly gentleman, managed our demanding Colombian row mate who felt entitled to special treatment and consideration in respect to flight rules, shepherded unruly passengers to sit down during the final 30 minutes approach to DC (a rule since 9/11). And – they didn’t charge me for wine. Thanks!

Some others deserve to be hit over the head with a Cluebat:

Thump-on-the-Head to:
American Airlines. First the AA agent on the phone declares that we have reservations on Friday’s 11:45 flight. Then at the airport, the clerk says no, the reservations weren’t changed and you had to change them thru Travelocity anyway. So…what did the original girl do and why didn’t she know to tell us that we couldn’t reschedule directly? Travelocity and similar online travel sites have been around for awhile - she should have known. The airport clerk was completely unhelpful: just sorry, too bad, all other flights are booked solid. At least the Delta/Continental clerk suggested we try Greyhound. AA didn’t even care that much.

Aftermath/Hotwash. It really doesn’t surprise me that the airlines are in such trouble. The flight attendants were competent and helpful, but the various clerks/agents we dealt with 1) didn’t know what they were doing and/or 2) didn’t care. There weren’t any more planes/flights established to evacuate Key West visitors and the clerks didn’t seem to give a damn. And why should they? After all, they were getting an evac flight for employees, so who cares about some dumb tourists?

Greyhound now has my full respect. That ticket clerk in particular should get a bonus for her outstanding performance in getting us and fellow stragglers off the island. She was under incredible stress/pressure – all alone and handling stressed out folks – yet kept her cool throughout and got the job done.

The driver as well – no-nonsense, I’ll get you there, attitude. He got us there safely when he said he would. Period.

The other one or two clerks at Greyhound also did triage with the various travelers: those going to Florida points in between Key West and Miami and those heading to Miami and the airport, bringing in an additional bus for at least the 8:45am departure. Jeeze, at least they had a passing acquaintance with customer service, something the airlines don't find too important!

Even though buses are the long way to get somewhere, they are effective and reasonably priced. I would be inclined to make use of Greyhound services again.