Key West - The Best Day

On our last day in Key West, Kathy O. asked us all what our favorite moment of the week was. Several of us came up with events from Saturday, including me. It could be because it was the only day I didn't work but we packed in a bunch of fun that day.

First, the Babes, Jim, Darrel and I went to Meteor Smokehouse for lunch. They have an awesome spicy green bean dish and the BBQ is really good. I started drinking Diet Pepsi but the server talked me into an adult beverage. I picked their lemonade and it was fabulous! Darrel had their Hurricane and he thought it was great.

After lunch, we went next door to the Green Parrot (an old Buffett haunt) for a beer then decided to go to Pepper's. But first, we had to buy some beer to take with us so we hit the mini-mart where I ran into Kelly McGuire. Kelly actually remembered Darrel from meeting him a few years ago in Belize. I'm always amazed at how good the trop rock musicians are at recalling faces.

Here's the deal with Peppers. They sell all sorts of hot sauces, marinades, rubs and spices and they have a tasting bar set up for their patrons. They also have a mini-fridge where you can store your beer to drink while you're tasting. The owners are also very appreciative when you share your beer with them! We brought in one 12 pack and Dawnie ended up getting another and we went through both of them before the afternoon was over.

This is how many samples we went through. The tasting is really a big social event and we got all the scoop on the potential sale of Peppers (which made us sad), talked about our histories and got some skinny on some of the island people. We were there for hours and Catnip (the Parrot Head formerly known as Cheap Bastard) popped in for a while and wished he'd been there the entire time. He said their was a whole party vibe going on. He was right.

Darrel was liking the hot stuff so he went for the big boy taste. They put the sauce on a toothpick and warn you not to touch your lips or gums and to just put a little dab on the middle of your tongue or you're going to be burned.

Dawnie tried it, too. I doubt that she'll do it again. She was dying.

This is possibly our favorite picture from the trip Yes, those are tears on his cheek. It was definitely hot enough for Darrel!

I wish my camera focused better up close. The white streak down the middle of Dawnie's tongue is her burnt taste buds.

Jim was the cool cat of the group. None of the hot stuff hurt him, including the toothpick sauce.

After we finished our tasting, it was on to shopping. The Babes and I ship back a selection of sauces, peppers and wasabi balls every year and it's always over $100 by the time we're done.

It's all good stuff, Maynard.

And, it was the best day!