Jan. 20 - Key West

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” —Unknown

Our oldest son and his family gave us a gift certificate for a biplane tour of Key West for Christmas. We've been watching the weather, trying to plan a good day for the tour and day in Key West...a day that didn’t have too much wind and no rain. That's been a little difficult this month, but it finally happened today. Getting to the bus stop this morning was a little chilly but the sun was out and we were excited to be heading to Key West for the day.

Marathon is about 50 miles from Key West...an hour by car or about two hours on a bus that stops every few miles. The Lower Key Shuttle is a bargain at $1.50, watching and visiting with people on the bus is just a bonus. Our timing for our tour was perfect, we arrived at the airport and found the Conch Republic Air Force about 20 minutes before our flight. Giving us just enough time to settle in and look at some of the other planes the company owns.

Our tour of the island was in a 1942 WACO UPF-7 bi-Plane. The open cockpit gave us a great view of the beautiful blue water and the island. The pilot narrated the tour pointing out landmarks, shipwrecks and even a few dolphins and sharks. It was a unique and amazing experience. Now we've seen one of our favorite town from the land, sea and air. It was a great way to spend the morning. The people at Conch Republic Air Force were wonderful; they were professional, friendly and accommodating. The owner even gave us a ride to the Historic Seaport after our tour.

Ted and Sally from Amici came down on a later bus and we met them for lunch at DJ's Clam Shack on Duval Street. We spent the afternoon wandering around town shopping a little and watching people, although people watching was a little slow today...cooler than normal and no cruise ships in town. The most interesting people watching starts after dark. We had a chance to check out of a few happy hours before we caught our bus home, but missed out on the Sunset Celebration. It's hard to fit everything into one day when the bus is your only transportation home.

Our plane

A few of the other planes belonging to Conch Republic Air Force

Ready for take off

Pictures taken from the video we bought of the flight

Pictures I took during the flight

Looking down on Malloy Square and towards Duval Street

Views from the cockpit 

Our plane and pilot 

Cuban Coffee Queen - One of the best places to get coffee in Key West

The Porch - a great place to relax, have a drink and watch the world go by

The view from The Porch

Enjoying our friends at The Porch

Waiting for the bus to take us home

Having fun on the bus