6/24 - Key West remains a dream

Earlier in the month my wife finally agreed to visiting Key West so I started making all the final plans and getting costs nailed down.

I selected the date for our trip, leave NY July 27th on Amtrak. Arrive in Miami the next evening. Cab to a hotel nearby for the night. Next day rent a car and head to the Keys. A few hours later arrive at the hotel and spend 5 days in the Keys enjoying life and checking out the areas. Then back to Miami, hotel, next day return the car and Amtrak back to Penn Station.

I have the train selected, the hotels and the car as well. We will save money by getting a room we can cook in and buy food from Publix. There are laundry facilities in the hotel plus a few laundomats near by. Our daily excursions were to be to let our passions guide us. A few must do stops are planned like Mallory Square at sunset, lunch at the No Name Pub, The little Key Deer refuge, and possibly the Dolphin Research Center.

Of course no trip would be complete without stopping off at the Hog's Breath Saloon and Smokin' Tuna. Might even run into Mayor Gonzo Mays at The Tuna. A brewski is in order at Sloppy Joe's and The Green Parrot would be great.

And naturally I would love to be able to sit down and meet some of my 'FB friends' like Dawn, Steve, Judy, Bucky, Stacie, Johnny, just to name a few.

At the end of the day I figure that the entire trip will run just under 3 grand. Not too bad. The bulk of the money would be for the train, hotels and car rental. The actual stay would be relatively cheap. Would be great if I could get and stay there for free, wishful thinking.

Time to start gathering the finances in order and finalize everything before making the reservations. Then it hit hard, real hard.

Looking at our bank balances we have the money. Plus I was able to sell a webpage (finally some income) that would help cover the trip. When running down our checking account I found out that my unemployment has stopped. My benefits have been exhausted without warning. Mind you it was way below the national poverty level to begin with, thank you very much Albany, but at least it was something coming in.

So once again I am forced to put the trip on hold and going to the Keys remains nothing more than a dream unless I get lucky in finding a job here or better still in the Keys.

'till next time.