Notes from Key West

Don't be alarmed. This is M.

For my talk today, I've been asked to speak on my adventures in Key West. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Here goes:

I arrived in Tampa to spend a few days with the Florida Craguns (Ryan, Debi and Toren), each of them extraordinary hosts.

Here's a shot of downtown from the University of Tampa, Ryan's home away from home. (Little basketball aside: why do the commentators describe threes as "coming in from downtown"? Wouldn't "coming in from the suburbs" make more sense?)

This is a gator, approx. 8 inches from a road that people are allowed to walk on at the Shark Valley entrance of the Everglades, waiting to snap off my legs. Florida is crazy.

Look at those cute little limbs.

This felt a lot closer in person, trust me.

Pan of the Everglades and Kingdom of Alligators from a lookout tower. I took a two hour tram around the park.

A congregation of alligators just below the tower.

After the Everglade tour we got a nice hotel in Miami, soon to be home of the Miapolis, tallest building in the world.

I follwed Ryan and Debi down into Key West, listening to McCarthy's The Road on tape. Not a good idea when you're alone and missing your two-year-old son, and also when you're driving toward the sea. This is a shot from the Seven Mile Bridge.

Ah, Duvall Street in Key West. A frat boy's dream. So tacky it makes your teeth hurt. It would come to be home.

Duvall St. feels more like this.

This is the Westwinds, my lodging for the conference.

And a shot of one of it's pools. Sure glad we had the coldest weather in Key West for over a century!

Think this price sounds reasonable?

A shot of the conference podium and backdrop. Have I mentioned the conference yet?

Ocean shot:

Yes, I got a burger at Margaritaville. And yes, Jimmy Buffett's eyes will follow you everywhere in the restaurant.

Proof that I was there.

Sunset on the drive home.

A Tampa airport mural.

And finally, my last vision of the Sun before I descended into that dirty Midwestern blanket of winter.

So ends my tour.

M.