My one trip to Key West happened when I was in eighth grade on a youth group spring break retreat. My memory of that excursion is dicey at best so if any of my PCUMC homies are reading please weigh in with additional details as you remember them. Here is what I recall:
- We slept in a tour bus that converted to bunks.
- We went snorkeling off Key Largo and one of my friends got freaked out by a very large barracuda. Not naming names, but you know who you are.
- Everyone went to the Kino factory for $5 sandals.
- There were three inch cockroaches wandering the streets.
- I have one photo of Kim, Holly, Stephanie, and me with a cat.
We drove the fifty-five miles from our site on Grassy Key (Marathon) to Key West with no real agenda beyond a few basic tourist items. I wanted to see island Christmas decor because my friend Tracey told me long ago of how she once saw the Keys in December and the hot pink, turquoise and coral accoutrements (been trying to use that word all year) were so fun. People must have turned Scroogey since then because there was next to nothing to see, save for a smattering (another awesome word) of candy canes and snowmen, both of which look completely ridiculous in that environment.
Those Goliath roaches were nowhere to be found. I suspect they were all eaten by the random stray chickens that are everywhere. I don't think the poultry was here in 1984. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered chickens. And yeah, they kept crossing the road.
-Jenni