I’ve never watched the sun rise. I have only rarely found myself in places with an unobstructed view to the horizon, and when I have, I’ve been too young to appreciate it or too tired to bother beating the sun up from sleep. On this trip, we are staying fairly close to the water, and I’ve been waking up before dawn pretty much every day, so yesterday I thought I’d take my camera down to the pier. It didn’t work out. As usual, Dan and I were up first, and I wanted company more than shots of the sunrise, so instead, I waited for him to have his coffee, and then we both walked over and took some early morning shots.
It’s funny how the character of people—by people, I mean the overall zeitgeist, not individuals—changes through the day. As we walk along Duval Street every afternoon and evening, the general mood is one of hurry. One gets the sense that others are in the way, and if they’d just move a little faster or get over to the right. Little eye contact is made, and never is a kind greeting offered unless it’s by a vendor with art or t-shirts or novelties to sell. In the morning, though, before much of the island is in motion, people are kind. They say good morning to each other. They look in each other’s eyes and smile.
Matt, Mark, and I went for breakfast at Pepe’s yesterday. Mark and I have been to Pepe’s a couple times for dinner, but I didn’t know it was open for breakfast. Matt is a wealth of knowledge! Pepe’s is the oldest eatery on Key West and has been serving for more than 100 years. Being down near the docks, it’s a bit salty, but the staff is friendly and the food it good. I ordered “shit on a shingle,” which I haven’t head for years and which I’ve never seen on a restaurant menu before. (The menu listed “creamed chipped beef on toast,” but my receipt said “SOS.”)
On the way back, we stopped at two home furnishing stores. Fast Buck’s at Home is what might best be described as “high Miami condo style”—expensive, but very interesting and unique pieces such as a silver punch bowl held aloft by an octopus base. Key Accents is more “modern beach” with lots of little tchotchkes in blues and greens. We have been looking for a small lamp to sit at the foot of our stairs and found just the thing in the beachy shop. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take a photo, though. Sorry.
We wended our way back to the condo and hung out for a bit. Matt and Rob decided to go to the beach, Mark and Dan relaxed here, and Alex and I went back to the home shops so he could give them a good going over. He and I took our time walking back, shopping all along the way. After we got back, I realized that my early rising was taking its toll. I took a nap only to awake to Mark calling my name. He had been out on the deck when he heard a rustling above his head. The rustling was followed by the drop of a lot of leaves and debris and then by the drop of a thirty-inch long iguana that scurried back to the tree and back up into the canopy. I couldn’t get a good photo, but here’s what I did get.
We pretty much hung out here for the rest of the day. Several of the boys have taken to playing hearts, and I read the news while they got in a few games before dinner. We headed off to a Key West institution, Ricky’s Blue Heaven, for a late dinner. Matt and I both crashed as soon as we got home, but everyone else played cards until midnight.
I think I’ll try harder to catch sunrise tomorrow, and I definitely want to stop at one of my favorite bookstores, Key West Island Books. And there’s the ghost tour to do. I need two more days!