For Now: Christmas in the Keys

Christmas in Key West this year was probably the best vacation home (until Spring Break of course!). Every time i go home i find that i love Key West and appreciate its beauty so much more. where else can you see beautiful sunsets and where tank tops in December?

on this trip my brother's girlfriend, Dori, came to celebrate the season with us. we had a magnificent time and it gave the rest of us local-yokel's a chance to play tourist. (one of our guilty pleasures!) we went downtown, deep downtown, to Besame Mucho, my mother's favorite store on the island. i couldn't help but play with Joy's new Nikon fancy shmancy, nimbus 2000 status camera. i needed to capture the beauty of this store. after browsing the wonderful little shop we enjoyed a self-declared happy hour at a local hot spot, Blue Heaven. we ran into a few famous faces (well, famous to the inhabitants of this 2x4 mile island) and headed back to the Yule Tide Palace on Seidenberg.

my mom has the most elegant, beautiful, famous tree in all of Key West and probably one of the best in the world if you ask me. the tree definitely gets the most attention standing at approximately 9 feet tall, limbs still mysteriously standing firm despite the weight of the infinite ornaments, lights, and garland. however, the rest of the house is not to be overlooked either. there is not a square inch (inside and out) that doesn't have a bit of the Christmas spirit showing. from the classic icicle lights and poinsettias on the front porch to the cards from 1980 to 2010 taped to the bedroom doors to the age old toys, figurines, dolls, votives... you name it the house is like i said, a Yule Tide Palace.

fast forward to new year's eve: Joy (my pal) lives right around the corner and she threw a little party to ring in the new year. between the streamers, noise makers, and jell-o shots it was a great preface to the huge reunion of every student from Key West High that commenced on Duval Street between the famous Sloppy Joe's and Flying Monkey.

while a season has passed since Christmas the memories are still fresh (despite the jell-o shots!). before i left home this year my mom was sharing with me how glad she was that my brother and i came home for the holidays still. she was worried that i'd meet some new beau and fly off to Vail for a skiing trip and skip Christmas in the Keys. i told her that there is nothing in the world that could keep me from waking up on Seidenberg on Christmas morning and three months later, nothing's changed.

now some photos:

Below is the famous Toe Joe with (from left to right: Dori, me and my mother)