Watch Masquerade Marchers Prowl the Streets of Key West During Fantasy Fest

Just in time for Halloween, thousands of costumed revelers will parade through Key West's historic Old Town on Friday, October 28, during an off beat Masquerade March that begins at the local cemetery.

The march is the highlight of the annual Fantasy Fest celebration, a lavish pre-Halloween costume festival scheduled for October 21-30.  This year, the theme is "Political VooDoo and Ballot-Box Barbarians" in salute of the upcoming U.S presidential elections.

I haven't had the pleasure of attending Fantasy Fest yet or watching the Masquerade March but it is certainly on my Florida Bucket List!

And...I'd probably do this as week or weekend date with the husband, leaving the kids at home!

Enjoy and please post tips or comments if you have had the pleasure of attending this extravagant festival!

Our KEY WEST vacation without the kids - PART TWO

KEY WEST - without KIDS!

The Reach was beautiful!  The service was great and overall we had a super time.  The weather wasn't perfect while we were there.  If it had been, we could have enjoyed the hotel and all it had to offer a little more.

There are so many awesome restaurants in Key West!  Enjoying dinner is a great way to spend an evening but if you need some excitement, we highly recommend, La Te Da - Key West!  Randy Roberts was amazing! I especially loved that they showed a video of him transforming into beautiful her!  WOW! Made me miss my flight attendant days and my "boy" friends!  

The Southernmost point in the US! This is probably the most touristy thing we did all weekend and it was fun!  Our MINI was the southernmost mini that day!

Key West is full of art!  Beautiful photos, paintings, decor...but one of the prettiest things I found was along the side of the road, in the water. Someone sculpted her and I found her.  At first, I thought she was a rock, I almost stepped on her face.  After realizing what it was, I didn't want to leave her!  Knowing that someone else might step on her or the tide would eventually come...unfortunately, this is something I don't think we'll ever see again!

So many sights!  Keep your eyes open!  Backn in the days before husbands and kids, I proudly worked at Boca Hooters.  I was so suprised to find this "Boca Scooters" bumper sticker!  It's the exact logo...how does that happen?

And then I found this...

PSA...please cover your butt crack in restaurants...otherwise, you might end up on my blog!

We had a blast!  Until next time....

~ Tiffanie (aka Fun Florida Mom)

Our KEY WEST Vacation without the kids! - PART ONE

The Happy Couple...celebrating 15 years of marriage!

Robert Is Here Fruit Stand, Florida City, FL.

Robert Is Here Fruit Stand in Florida City was our first stop on our weekend adventure without kids!  Be sure to visit their website!  How the fruit stand started is my favorite part of the place!  It reminds me of the days when I was little and my grandpaw would leave me up at the corner of 27th Ave and US1 selling mangoes!  If I had only thought to start a stand!  Jeff had the Key Lime Shake!  It was DE-LIC-IOUS!!!!!!!!!  Fresh key lime juice MUST be the trick!

Look close!  That's Robert in the red shirt!  He WAS there!

NEXT STOP...

Robbie's of Islamorada and The Hungry Tarpon Restaurant

Tarpon feeding at Robbie's, Islamorada

I had heard of Robbie's for years but never stopped!  This time it was on my list...just as cool as I had imagined!  We purchased a $5 bucket of fish and headed down to the dock.  Dozens of huge tarpon sat waiting for us.  It's a simple as this...lean over the dock, fish in hand, and out pops a tarpon!  If you've got kids, this is a MUST SEE!  Even without kids, it was exciting!

After feeding the fish, we had lunch at the Hungry Tarpon restaurant.  Our first Keys restaurant experience of the weekend.  It's tiny but great! 

AFTER LEAVING ROBBIE'S...

Unfortunately, because the road to Key West is mostly 2-lane, if an accident happens, you might be stuck for a while.  We experienced this after a 5 car accident on a 2 lane bridge.  (It recommend making sure you have a book and bottle of water handy!) Fortunately for us, we were stopped right at the entrance of Long Key State Park.  We decided to visit while we had the time.

Beautiful boardwalks, tidal lagoons, tents camping on platforms, and rv camping on the beach!

AND FINALLY, WE REACH KEY WEST!  

Here's our trip...in pictures!

A beautiful old fort down by the water

We stumbled up the Annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest!  Pretty amazing how some people had such a hard time and other's were loud and clear!  This contestant did it while hullahooping!

Cafe Sole...one of our favorite restaurants in 

Key West!  I had the Hogfish Sole, my husband had the Skirt Steak...both were outstanding!

If you LOVE desserts...you MUST stop at BETTER THAN SEX!  A dessert restaurant than will make your mouth water!  I could go crazy wife on you right now but I'll keep it clean!  The name of the restaurant IS...Better Than Sex!  They sell desserts.  The best desserts you'll ever taste!  It's dark inside, the pictures in the collage are exact.  The menus glow.  While eating, I told my husband, "I'd love to see the kitchen here!" To my surprise, as soon as we turned the corner after leaving, they have a huge window for the public to peek in!  MUST, MUST, MUST GO without kids!