Table for One: Valentine's Day in Key West

I learned something important from Key West before I even got there: the United States does not know how to do hostels. I'd reserved myself a bed from the only hostel in Key West to save some money and meet other travelers, but soon learned that the sheets were moldy (major health problem for me), the staff was rude, and it was just an overall sketchy place. I should have known, plenty of people before had told me that for the most part, hostels are perfectly good accommodations in other countries but for whatever reasons, any hostel one would find in the United States would be poorly run and not even as good of a deal as overseas. 

I called the first place I could find on Google on my iPhone and wound up with a reservation at Eden House without seeing any pictures first or anything. I just liked that the guy sounded nice on the phone and that the rate was reasonable. As far as last minute hotel reservations goes, this instance had to win some sort of award. They gent running the front desk was just as friendly in person as he'd been on the phone and offered me a free beer upon my arrival. Then he showed me around the beautiful property that looked almost like the garden of eden itself and where Goldie Hawn had once filmed a movie, and then he showed me to my room and informed me there would a free happy hour by the pool at 4pm. Jackpot! Eden House had really great little details though, such as no alarm clocks in the room on purpose and a suntan lotion and aloe bar free for guests to use. I guess you'll eventually think of everything though when you're running the oldest hotel in Key West. The best thing of all though? It is walking distance to nearly everything! In case you couldn't tell, I am recommending this place. 

I settled into my room and then made my way to the pool to soak up the warmth and contemplate my plans for the night. It was Valentine's Day, afterall. Somewhere in the middle of making all of my evening reservations and turning a nice shade of brown and pink, I found myself making my first Key West friend! His name is Art and it turned out that he was also taking a hiatus from work to do some traveling over the next couple of months. I am in good company! Art is a talker just like I am and so we kept the conversation flowing effortlessly right into happy hour, which finally got us out of our chairs and mingling with other guests. This is when we met two fantastic couples, Ken & Dottie, and Linda & Gordon. Linda and Gordon eventually became my "Key West Parents," but that's for another post. We all had a blast at happy hour getting to know one another and telling stories and it wasn't long before I got the (partially alcohol-induced) notion that this was going to become a fun and comfortable home-away-from-home.

Because I was having fun, time flew. I had to rush through getting ready for my big Valentine's night out with myself, which wasn't so hard since I only had to worry about impressing myself. I arrived to dinner at the Casa Marina resort and once again, I'd booked something completely sight-unseen and wound up having my expectations completely exceeded. All I knew about it was that I should go because Patti's dad, who used to live in the Keys, said so. It may not be the kind of place I'd be looking for on a normal day on my trip but for Valentine's Day, it was perfect. I walked through the aisle of palm trees and up to the hostess stand on the beach and took in a sight of white-linen tables scattered all over the sand in front of the water and under lit-up palms. 

I couldn't help but laugh out loud a little when I turned to tell the hostess that I was there for my reservation because I felt like I was playing out the real-life version of that scene in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall when Jason Segel is at their beautiful resort in Hawaii and asks for a table for one. I was just waiting for the hostess to yell "Yeah clear everything off the table, it's just one person!" or ask me if I want a magazine to read. Not only did none of that happen though (well... except they did clear the other plates off of the table), but they completely hooked me up! They sat me at the best table right against the water's edge and gave me a couple of glasses of free champagne on the house. The four-course meal was delicious although I may have had a positive bias about everything going on around me since my toes were in the sand the entire time and I had an amazing view of the ocean. 

Thanks to another recommendation from Patti's Dad, I made my way to my after-dinner activity, which was the cabaret at Le Te Da. I knew it was a female impersonator (aka drag) show, but once again, I was basically walking into something I knew no prior information about. Even though I got there a half hour before the show had started, it was already pretty crowded. However since I was by myself, they were able to squeeze me into a table with a bunch of strangers close to the font. Once again, being solo can have it's perks. 

The show itself was impressive. It was one incredibly talented man who played woman after woman in this mix of a singing and comedy show that he didn't lip-sync whatsoever. When he sang a Marilyn Monroe song, he sounded like her. When he sang a Reba song, he sounded like her. And he did a pretty good job of looking like them, too. Plus, he was hilarious. It was an awesome show and I highly recommend it. His name is Chris Peterson and apparently he performs at La Te Da pretty frequently. I did go to one other show during my trip that I'll discuss in another post and that one was total trash compared to Chris' show. 

As I was leaving the show, the hostess came up and asked me if I was really by myself for Valentine's Day. Apparently, the bartender had seen me come in and was "smitten" and wanted to know if I'd be his Valentine and have a drink with him. I tried to make up a million reasons why I couldn't but I guess I did a bad job of communicating them because the hostess convinced me to wait at the downstairs bar where a fun piano player was just getting started. The bartender, I think his name was Ryan, came down about 20 minutes later and was true to his word, he only obligated me to one drink and then let me go home when I wanted to. I did have fun though, I got to meet the performer, Chris and the guy singing and playing piano was awesome. 

I took a cab back to Eden House because I didn't quite have my bearings and didn't want to walk alone even though there is a crime rate of... like... zero in Key West. I hope my parents are proud. Instead of making my way to my room, I bee-lined it for a hammock outside just because I could and relaxed there under the palms and stars and reflected on my successful first day in Key West. The rest of the trip was just as colorful and relaxing and hilarity most certainly did ensue, but I'll save all of that for a second "highlights" post since this one is already very long!