Week 5: Key West!

@365firsts

Sunset at Fort Zachary Beach

This week I'm in Key West! I'm just gonna call it week 5 even though technically it's a few days off. What an awesome place. I came here a few years back but this time around was such a more enriching and exciting time (except the Dry Tortugas were pretty freaking amazing last time).




I'm so lucky to be here on vacation and to get to experience these things. There's definitely nowhere on Earth with as perfect of a combination of chicken's, six-toed cats and beautiful women all running around looking for food. Except the beautiful women, they mostly don't eat. It's been a pretty busy and exciting week that has definitely taken 365 Firsts up a level from last month.

     Day 32: WORLD'S BUSIEST AIRPORT: ATL, GEORGIA 

 

The Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta is the world's busiest passenger airport. So, we boarded the plane like usual and think that everything is good to go. After everyone is seated and has put away their luggage, an announcement is made that our plane is, "under repair"??? Under repair?! It was going to take 3 hours to fix the problem or we could all get on a new plane. After sitting there for another half hour they decided to have us all de-plane and get onto another plane. It was funny seeing how angry people got. I don't know about you but I was just fine getting on a plane that WASN'T under repair. Just a little more reassuring. I just kind of expected something like this because, well, it's me and even though I have a great life, I have the dumbest luck ever. It's like a running joke with most people that I know. Stuff like this always happens when I'm involved. I just went with the flow and people watched while they yelled and threw their temper-tantrums. It was entertaining. 

 Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

Landed in Key West! 

                                                                                                                      

Day 33: Swim with Dolphins

 I've been wanting to do this for a long time and I'm really happy I finally did here in Key West! My parents and I were in the water with 4 Bottlenose dolphins, each between 8 and 9 feet long and close to 400 lbs. Our awesome trainer, @klhowe1311, who was more like 5 feet 4 inches tall and about 100 lbs. taught us hand signals to tell the dolphins to do a myriad of impressive tricks including everything from waving to jumping high out of the water along with some pretty big dolphins hugs. They were so gentle and playful and it was an amazing experience that I'll probably never forget. 

I'm not sick, I'm just Irish Pale

Our Awesome Guide, Katie

Fact: a dolphin hug is better than a human hug 99% of the time

                                                                                                                      

Day 34: Go Parasailing

Floating 250 feet above the Keys is a pretty good way to do it! It's nearly silent when you're up there and obviously pretty beautiful thanks to the location. Glad I did it! I was going to have to go solo because nobody would do it with me, but when we got there they told us that wasn't a possibility. Mom saved the day by facing her fear of well, everything, and went with me so I could go! She gets the Mom of the Day Award today  in my books.

She didn't know she was going, hence the jean capris/ trying to not look terrified

So quiet and peaceful when you're up there

                                                                                                                      

Day 34 (part 2): 

Visit Ernest Hemingway's House

I'll admit I didn't know as much as I would've hoped about Ernest Hemingway before visiting his Key West home, but I had a great guided tour that helped with that. The house was impressive and had 48 six-toed "Hemingway" cats running all over the premises. Ernest seemed like he had a pretty amazing and tragic life at the same time along with his family. I've wanted to read a Hemingway novel or short story for awhile now so I bought, "The Old Man and the Sea" from the in house 

bookstore and plan on reading that for another day of my 365 Firsts.

Still largest residential in-ground pool in Key West

We were informed here on our guided tour about Hemingway taking his own life which I already knew, but then we were told that depression and bi polar disorder ran through his entire family. His father, sister, brother and granddaughter ALL committed suicide as well. One of his son's was in and out of mental hospitals his entire life and ended up homeless due to these mental illnesses. Very tragic and sad and I had no idea.

                                                                                                                      

Day 34 (part 3): 

Stand at the Southernmost Point 

in the Continental United States

I wanted to steal a boat and go to Cuba but that idea was shot down in a group vote

                                                                                                                      

Day 35: Key West Butterfly Conservatory

Yeah yeah, butterflies, so what? Actually, they're pretty cool. I did what the sign suggested when you walk in that says "expand your mind". Not too many other places can you walk freely amongst so many species from all over the world. I even saw one emerging from the cocoon which I doubt I would ever see outside of that environment.co

Like a moth to the... red... sugar ball sponge thing

                                                                                                                     

Day 35 (part 2): Fort East Martello Museum

This is an old Civil War fort that was built to protect the rear of the larger and more 

important Fort Zachary on the other side of the island. 

                                                                                                                      

I'm leaving Key West tomorrow morning and I wish it was tomorrow morning 2 weeks from now instead. I obviously only posted a choice few things that I did when in reality I did a ton of new "firsts" every day. I had eating at a Brazilian steakhouse and drinking Cachaca on my list and I knocked both of those out yesterday in the same meal. Key West has been fantastic. I could easily see myself living here and fitting in nicely with the laid back yet adventurous lifestyle of the locals. 75 degree winter's too? Yeah, I can see it. It might take 40 years for my transparent skin to get tanned like theirs, but hey, gotta start sometime.

Side note: Don't eat at a dessert bar named "Better Than Sex" with your parents. It's extremely awkward when you order a drink called "Slip Inside" and a dessert called "Jungle Fever" with your mom sitting next to you and you're surrounded by photographs of naked women. Bring your girl or guy there instead. You're welcome. www.betterthansexkeywest.com

The biggest things I learned this week is pretty much just more of the same. My mom parasailing is proof that getting out of your comfort zone and doing something that you probably never would've done before can end up being awesome for you. She loved it even though she had to throw some complaints in there for good measure. For someone like her, that's one of the more exciting things she's done in her life. No need to get into much more detail than that. It sounds cliche and like I'm ripping off Nike's slogan, but just do it. Just get out there and do it and stop making excuses. It's that simple. You make excuses your whole life for 80 years and then POOF, you're dead? Is that all there is? That's if you live to an old age. Don't let that be you. 

Happy Father's Day! I would like to thank my dad for always being a role model in terms of his kindness, calmness and work ethic. He's instilled these traits into me (I hope) and I am forever grateful for that. He may not like that I'm exposing him here on Facebook, but my dad did not have an easy childhood at all. His father died when he was only 7 years old and he had great difficulty with his mother who died shortly before I was born. Everything he ever had or got, he earned. He worked his way up from nothing and struggled for years to make his way in the world and through college and he turned it into something great. I'll never know the struggle he went through because he has made sure that I never had to face that. Not a second goes by that I don't realize how extremely lucky I am. I didn't have to work double shifts at 15 years old to make ends meet and I will never forget that. I will also never once not have the most respect in the world for people that had to do that. I am humble, grateful and lucky for everything that I have and my dad helped give me these things and also made me realize early on that they are a gift and not to brag or boast about any of it and that has stuck with me my entire life and will always continue to do so. I wouldn't be enjoying this amazing vacation we're on right now if it wasn't for him and I completely know that and am thankful for every second of it. I know I'll never be able to say that I've accomplished building myself up from once having nothing, but hopefully one day I can do something that's even half as amazing as that, whatever it is. I know damn well that if I have kids of my own in the future, even if I'm not able to give them things like great vacations or stuff like that, they're still getting 100% of me and whatever I do have. Hopefully that'll hold a candle to what my father has been able to do for me. I love you dad, Happy Father's Day!

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