Key West

I wouldn't have thought my second post for the year would include a biking tag, but thanks to a fortuitous trip to Key West for good fiends' wedding, I got the chance to log a few miles last weekend. The bride and groom, Jeff Katersky and Debbie Love, wanted a destination wedding, but sensitive to the demands of international travel selected Key West, Florida, about as foreign a locale as you can get without leaving the country.

I arrived in Key West on Friday, meeting my roomie for the weekend, Barry Deatrick, during a layover in Atlanta. Friday afternoon, we picked-off one must-see Key West landmark, the Southernmost Monument Marker/Buoy before grabbing a late lunch at a laid back place on South Duval Street. Along the way to the restaurant, Barry spotted a motorcyclist with a live parrot on his shoulder, the most unusual of many unusual characters I saw that weekend. The first wedding event was a a sunset cruise on a chartered catamaran Friday evening.

Saturday morning, I woke up early—well early for being on a vacation—and inquired with the concierge about procuring a bike. Obtaining one from the onsite rental desk, I set out on the first of three rides that would criss-cross most of the key. The first ride blanketed the western extremes of the island, with a long stop to explore Fort Zachary Taylor. In the afternoon, I ventured west into the residential and commercial neighborhoods supporting the local, versus tourist, population. Finally the next morning, in less idyllic, but tolerable weather, I filled in the middle section of the island including the main tourist district and the very Southern graveyard. All told, I paid $20 to keep the bike twenty-four hours, in which I rode just as many miles (24), a very good deal in my book.

Full Screen Version



They held the wedding on Saturday evening on the beach behind the hotel. The weather, which had included some near-record lows in the preceding weeks, blessed the couple with a perfect conditions for the ceremony, which commenced just as the sun slipped behind the clouded horizon. The chuppah even held up to the strong wind blowing across the beach, with adornments flapping gracefully in the breeze.

The wedding activities concluded with a brunch at the hotel the next morning. Barry and I both departed on the same afternoon flight. Though it was later in the day, the good weather from Saturday didn't hold, limiting our options for the surplus hours. Barry pointed out that slightly inclement weather should be preferred to perfect weather on the last day of such a trip to ease any hesitancy in departure. We spent the last hour of the trip visiting with the newlyweds under a large-umbrellaed table on the hotel patio.


Key West Airport. They let me in the republic even without a passport.

Southernmost Point Marker. After settling in to our room, Barry and I walked the short distance from the hotel to this spot, which only approximately represents the southernmost point in the continental US.



Saturday afternoon, Barry and I did a little exploring on foot. Hemingway House, a top attraction on the Key, served as our final stop. The two cats belong to a line that stretches back to a six-toed cat given to Hemingway's son. Today 43 progenies populate the grounds.


The reason for the whole trip, Jeff & Debbie's beachfront wedding, my first attendance at Jewish nuptials.


The Conveyance, the bike I rented for a day.



Good Friends (from the left, Barry Deatrick, Jeff Katersky, Debbie Love-Katersky, and Jeremy Mollison) shortly before Barry and I had to leave for the airport.