Happy New Year y'all! Whether it was out partying til dawn or simply staying at home with loved ones, I hope it was a good one.
As you know, we are in Key West right now where the weather has been absolutely fabulous -- sunny and in the upper 70's. We spent the last day of 2009 laying on the beach and reading which was so relaxing. Despite putting on 50 SPF, my sensitive pregnancy skin still got sunburnt...argh.
We then got the obligatory photo next to the Southernmost Point buoy down the street from us, wandered around for a bit and then had our New Year's Eve set dinner at Martin's on Duval St. We were really looking forward to this dinner after reading some good reviews of the restaurant; however, the food was a slight disappointment considering the price. It really just felt like all the food was made in batches and then just re-heated under an oven or something. It wasn't terrible...but for $95/person, I expect some really good food! On the bright side, our server was excellent and we really liked the service we got. Dinner ended around 9pm so we had a good 3 hours to wander up and down Duval St before the stroke of midnight. It's really fascinating to see how much of a party town Key West is...very much reminded us of Bourbon St in New Orleans as the theme of the evening seemed to be people up on rooftops or balconies throwing colored beads down to the crowds below in various spots. The whole stretch of Duval was closed off to cars and just full of people all night. In the south end, there was a carnival setting with cutesy games, bull riding and dunking. Right next to that was the big drag queen gay bash outside the largest gay bar on the block, with a huge red heeled shoe underneath the 2010 sign.
We then got the obligatory photo next to the Southernmost Point buoy down the street from us, wandered around for a bit and then had our New Year's Eve set dinner at Martin's on Duval St. We were really looking forward to this dinner after reading some good reviews of the restaurant; however, the food was a slight disappointment considering the price. It really just felt like all the food was made in batches and then just re-heated under an oven or something. It wasn't terrible...but for $95/person, I expect some really good food! On the bright side, our server was excellent and we really liked the service we got. Dinner ended around 9pm so we had a good 3 hours to wander up and down Duval St before the stroke of midnight. It's really fascinating to see how much of a party town Key West is...very much reminded us of Bourbon St in New Orleans as the theme of the evening seemed to be people up on rooftops or balconies throwing colored beads down to the crowds below in various spots. The whole stretch of Duval was closed off to cars and just full of people all night. In the south end, there was a carnival setting with cutesy games, bull riding and dunking. Right next to that was the big drag queen gay bash outside the largest gay bar on the block, with a huge red heeled shoe underneath the 2010 sign.
Further down the street was another huge bash under the Sloppy Joe's bar with a huge conch shell underneath the 2010 sign. In between there were bars open galore, cigar stands, vendors selling beads and blinking lights, etc. Quite an eyesight. Since we are staying at the very south end of Duval St., we choose to spend the stroke of midnight just south of the big gay bash so that we could easily escape the crowd and return to our room right after "Auld Lang Syne" was sung.
I am soooo glad we are staying at the south end of Duval St where it is much much much more quiet, yet still very conveniently within walking distance of all the interesting sights of Duval St (which is just a little over a mile long end-to-end). We get the peace and quiet that we wanted out of this babymoon, yet have easy access to all the fun if we care to. I have to admit that it's not quite the same being down here in Key West while pregnant -- I can't really indulge in a glass of champagne or my favorite frozen cocktail. Oh well. But it really is beautiful down here. I'll leave you with a picture of the gorgeous Key West sunset.
Gorgeous pics!! We'll definitely have to make it to Key West again... maybe for 10 year anniversary? Haha we'll see.
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