Biplane ride over Key West. Winter 1990.
Aerial Joy Ride
I don't know if I can count my first trip to Key West as a true travel memory as I was so young. Our family took a huge winter road trip from PA to see my mother's sister outside of Miami. I only remember snippets of the adventure (due to it being long ago), but I DO remember crossing those LOOOONG bridges to Key West and feeling very worried about being out in the middle of the ocean in a car. Of course, my brother's constant chiming in about "what if our car plummeted off the bridge?" was not helping my anxiety. I actually don't remember Key West from that trip at all - just the drive there.
My next trip was about 20 years later.
Of course, I remember details of that trip more clearly. Brian and I thought the capstone to our winter Florida adventure would be a few days in Key West. Truth be told we had two incredible experiences there; however, overall we were both underwhelmed by Key West. As I say repeatedly about the problem of expectations, ours were simply too high. I am not sure what we thought would greet us there? Greenwich Village on the sea perhaps? The place instead was filled with tourists and retirees. This was the place people had raved about over the years for having such a great "scene"? The vibe was "chill" when we thought it was going to be a lot more "party". We weren't even huge into partying at that time since our lives were so serious in New York, but I guess we thought we were going to "cut loose" in Key West. It didn't really happen.
However, we did do two unique things which I still remember.
One, we went naked snorkeling off the coast. That felt amazing for some reason. Was it our need to do something crazy after all that pent up sober intensity from New York City? A man with a small yacht, Captain Carl or Mike or something similar, gave naked snorkel adventures far from land. Maybe we did it just because it seemed something "no one else would do"? I certainly had not heard of any friends doing it. Anyway, the trip was well organized with a bit of alcohol and lunch, but not too much of either as the last thing Captain Carl needed was a death at sea. As soon as we were in international waters, Captain Carl tore off his clothes and said, you are free! His deck hand did the same and it became immediately apparent on which quality he had been hired. ha! Before jumping into the water we were warned about avoiding sunburn on parts of our body that rarely saw that skin-tanning (and burning) orb. What came of that trip, though, was something even better. While in the water we saw a biplane and Captain Carl told us, we could take a flight in that plane over Key West. That instantly seemed a lot more interesting than floating naked over the corals of the Gulf of Mexico.
As soon as we got back to land, we tried to find that bi-plane! Key West being small, it was easy. As such short joy-rides are, it was just show up, pay, and get on the plane. Great Key West Experience #2 had begun. Riding a bi-plane is an incredible life experience that everyone should try. They are SLOW, so the wind whipping by does not actually suck out your breath. They are incredibly acrobatic. The pilot flew low over the sea and asked, "wanna see the coral?" He turned the plane on its side so we could look right down into the crystal blue water. It was scary but also exhilarating. I never felt truly afraid though, maybe because the plane was light and we never were travelling that fast? Short of total disintegration, I had the feeling the plane could crash in any open field (or the open water) and the chances of survivability were reasonably high. Strange what thoughts passed through my head on the 20 minute ride over Key West.
How ironic that disappointing trip to Key West yielded two great life memories for me!
Over the years I have recommended Key West to many foreign visitors because of the bridges and just the uniqueness of the place. I thought foreigners would probably appreciate it more for some reason. I am not sure I would return, but take another bi-plane ride? I would do that in a heartbeat!
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