Key West!

Matt and I in Key West! The weather is beautiful, the air is salty, the sun is shining... It's great to be here. Feels like a second home. Haven't been here in years. The last time I remember coming is when my great-grandmother died... But this is a much happier occasion!

We have been running around getting our sight-seeing in. We visited my cousin's new pottery shop. It looks beautiful! Not much merchandise, but that's to be expected--she's busy preparing for her wedding.

We walked down Duval St. and admired all the tropical plants, especially the orchids. Everywhere we turned, there was an orchid hanging in a tree just BURSTING with blooms. And the chickens! They really are everywhere. We saw several mothers with her brood of adorable chicks. We even had chickens come into a restaurant we were eating at! Crazy. The waiter had to keep shooing them out and eventually fed them rice down the sidewalk to divert them away. I was hoping to see an iguana, but no such luck. Apparently, they had a recent campaign to reduce the iguana population centered in the cemetery.

Tomorrow, the wedding ceremony is at the family church and then there will be a trolley car to transport us to the Hemingway House for the ceremony! I love the Hemingway house. We went on the tour a few trips ago. There are so many cats, and the stories about all his wives are really interesting. There is even a urinal-turned-cat-fountain from the original Sloppy Joe's bar! And the first below ground pool in the Keys.

Matt is with us, which is super cool. He knows a lot of my closer family members, but hasn't had the chance to meet the extended portion down here. Plus, he hasn't been to the Hemingway House. I think he is very excited about this weekend.