Key West grabbed us and has not let go since.
Blue sky, blue sea, flags of rainbow. “One Human Family”, the greatest possible motto, turned into the city’s official brand/strap line. Nobody feels out of place here, and all mellow up.
We head for LGBT chamber of commerce, just off Duval Street, and admire mementos of a Rainbow Flag down Duval Street which connected the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico in 2003.
We chill at the pier and watching pelicans. We get all sticky with the “chocolate fruit“, picked up from Robert Is Here, to sample how it might perform as an ingredient in a chocolate smoothie. As instructed, we waited till it looks like you need to chuck it, all black and soft and mushy, and then waited another day until juice starts to leak. We pick on the black mess, which does look the part but does not taste all that chocolaty, so no use for us.
We do not to manage Blue-Q or Venus Charters and sail with Danger Charters instead. While not kinky, neither the crew or the passengers bat an eyelid at their transgendered passenger, bikini and all. As the white sails bellow above us, and a sleek, oyster dredger-inspired craft cuts the waves around Key West’s coral reefs, we feel truly free, for the first time in years.
Always on a lookout for good cake, we scout around in search of local yummy stuff. New York is all about cupcakes, in Key West it’s Key Lime Pie. We strike off the Key Lime Factory, for sucambing to the expectations, and vile green colouring of their products. The real deal, we have learnt, and local limes, are in fact white. We find amazing Key Lime Pie just off South Street, modest-looking yet packing the punch.
At Pearl’s Rainbow, a women-only hotel/spa, Alana is asked whether s/he is “complete” before gaining entry. S/he is as complete as s/he will ever be and says so. We are slightly frazzled by this welcome and it takes an otherwise smiling receptionist a good hour to get us into a more agreeable mood. Pear’s patrons laugh and openly check us both out. We vow to come back as we dash out to catch the sunset at Malory Square.
The sun is touching the horizon and the sunset spectacle is in full swing. An Edinburgh-born red head, in tight-fitting attire smacking of leather clubs does escapism, we can’t help but wonder where he learnt his chains. “Drink, party and shag!”, he churns abuse at willing crowds. “It takes two of you to make one of us!”
We head for dinner at LGBT-owned Hurricane Hole and back to our KOA campsite at Sugarloaf. It gets full TG score, for their wonderful family showers to be perused by couples, families, and as it happens transgender people, wonderfully by-passing the male or female shower dillema.
On the eve of our departure from Key West, we entertain ourselves at drag cabaret. We decided to forgo La Te Da http://www.lateda.com in favour of less know ones, and The 801 Girls we chatted to the night before. We have a ball and leave adorned with strings of shiny plastic beads, signature gift to all patrons. Tonight, it is perfectly OK to wonder around in flip-flop’s and cheap drag queen glitz.
As we drive up the Keys tomorrow, we will become increasingly aware of looks shot our way, and be itching to get our adornments off by Florida City. We make a point of holding on to them for another few miles.
