New Years Eve in Key West

As you have probably realized KW doesn't need much of a reason for a party so of course when there is one it is a good one. New Years Eve is no exception! 

It was a tough decision for us as to what to do or where to go since there were so many options. KW does its own version of the 'ball drop' that is done in Time Square but in KW style and not just 1 but 3 different ones to choose from. 

1) There is the conch shell drop from the top of Sloppy Joe's. 

2) Then there is Sushi that drops from the Bourbon St Pub in a giant red shoe. I found a view of it on YouTube that I thought you would find interesting. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQA82LDGpM 

3) And then there is Evelina (owner of Schooner Wharf) that is a pirate wench who drops from the top of a the mast of the KW Schooner.   

We had friends that were going to be at Schooners for the evening so we used them as a base and spent the evening walking to check out all of the options. 

We started with dinner at Turtle Krawls since they now have grilled oysters which are my latest favorite. We didn't want to get started to early so it was 8pm when we got started (otherwise we would never make it to midnight). 

Then off to Schooners for a drink with Cliff, Susan, Ellie & Randy. Ellie & Randy spend the winters in KW and the summers on an island in the San Juan Islands (off of Seattle). The island was Randy's family home. What a life for them. Randy took early retirement from UPS last year so they are now 'officially' retired. They were our base for the evening so we left them and headed out to see Mike at Iguana's. Since Iguana's is so close to Sloppy Joe's it was PACKED! I got a Happy New Year's kiss and a drink to go from Mike and we were on our way. 

Duval was already closed to cars so there was plenty of walking traffic but we could make our way. We went passed Sloppy's to see the conch shell, then down to Bourbon St to see the red shoe. It was to early for Sushi to be out but we new we wouldn't be back to see it so we at least wanted to see the set up for each. It was crazy and fun to be out with all of the people. Then we headed to Sunset Pier to see Al (another favorite bartender who is the brother of our friend Michelle) and get a New Years kiss and drink from him. The Sunset Pier has a GREAT view since it sets on the water (of course it was dark but still a nice ocean breeze made it a beautiful night. Finally we made our way back to Schooners in time for the wench to drop. Of course that wasn't the end of the evening since it seems that each time we are out late the night ends up with a cheese steak from Mr Z's and it just so happens Mr Z's is on the way home so it was a late night snack and off to bed. I think we made it home by 1:30 am and so ended our first New Years Eve adventure in KW!!!