Destination: Key Largo - A Day Off

I have a problem. It may be nothing, it may be serious, but either way it’s a problem. Since the day after I got to Key West I have had little bites on my ankles and feet. At first I thought mosquitos, but now I’m not so sure. They are very itchy, and red, and some are quite swollen. I have been putting anti-biotic and pain killing cream on them to keep the itch down and to fight the possibility of infection. I am thinking I might have become the victim of bed bugs, but after several bedding (I do this in most hotels I stay in these days) and luggage inspections, I can’t find any evidence of them.

However, I am concerned enough to take some proactive steps. I go to K-Mart and buy a cheap suitcase set ($40) and some green plastic garbage bags. I leave the new suitcase in the car and take the plastic bags to my room, place all the clothes in one, and then pack the old suitcase in another three bags, alternating end openings, and seal it up using scotch tape. I will leave it in the room with a note saying it’s a broken suitcase and its garbage. I can’t find an accessible dumpster or I’d throw it out myself.  I take all the clothes to a Laundromat next door to the hotel wash them in warm water, and then dry them on the highest heat that the fabrics will take. Only then do I place the clean clothes in the new suitcase. I can’t be sure this will work but I have tried everything I can think of to prevent cross contaminating the clothes and the suitcases.
This whole process takes nearly half the day.

And now the vacation narrative continues.

I start my day with new bites. They itch. It’s also raining lightly. The storm of last night has passed through but left enough rain to drizzle most of the morning, and to cloud over most of the day.
At 9 I am sitting in Harriette’s, a breakfast place on my list. It’s about 4 miles south of Key Largo right off US 1. It’s a yellow roadside diner with middle aged waitresses who smile and laugh and make you feel welcome with just a look. The food is great. I finally get some sausage that have a robust meat flavour and not of starchy filler.
On my way back to the hotel to begin today’s adventure in bug control, I stop at Shell World, a large roadside souvenir store, to pick up some t-shirts and stuff.
I miss the K-Mart shopping center entrance. Believe it or not the whole place is practically hidden from the road by trees. Imagine a shopping center that doesn’t want to be seen? I am actually impressed, but not by driving 4 miles too far north and having to turn around.

After finding the suitcase set, and perusing my value options in doing so, I grab some large green garbage bags, and a six pack of Land Shark. I get ID’d by the checkout clerk. I can’t believe it. I asked if my grey hair didn’t give away my age, and she just smiles and says it’s not about me, it’s about her being under 18, selling alcohol, and needing to check as State Law required. It’s about protecting herself. I kind of like the idea.
At the hotel I bag the clothes and drive over to the Laundromat. A woman in late middle age is the attendant on duty. She gives me change, a $10 roll of quarters, gives some bizarre instruction on how to load the machine, and sells me two scoops of laundry soap. I’m really out of my element here. Being in a Laundromat is not on my day to day calendar. I have in suite laundry at home, and I manage to get my clothes mostly clean without ruining them. Though I sometime wonder why my blacks fade so quickly. The music coming through the lady’s computer is from the 40’s and 50’s, and when she feels like it, the lady sings along quietly. Her voice is pleasant and I enjoy listening. As the clothes go around and around, hopefully eliminating all traces of the elusive little biting things (if they even exist), I write up a couple of blog posts, and check some e-mail using the Laundromat’s free wi-fi.
After folding the laundry, actually rolling it up, I place it in the new suitcase and head back to the hotel for a nap. This is not the kind of thing anyone plans for on a vacation. It carries a kind of stress that I really didn’t want or need. On my drive up from Key West I became aware that my breathing and general state was more relaxed, and smooth, and peaceful. I actually like that feeling. It’s beyond a feeling of comfort, it’s more a feeling of what life is supposed to feel like. A life without deadlines, intrusions, role playing, gamesmanship, and political office crap. Only 10 more months and this type of life will be mine full time.
And before I forget, it is election season in America. At least it’s supposed to be. Driving down here, across the breadth of the United States, I saw very few roadside election signs. I was very surprised because normally there are candidate and policy signs everywhere.
And I continued to be surprised until I reached Monroe County, Florida. There are signs on every fencepost for candidates running for everything from Sherriff to Congress to School Board to County Clerk. Believe it or not a guy by the name of Andy Griffiths is running for School Board District 2. And my personal favourite? The folks running for a seat on The Mosquito Control Board! I have never heard of a Mosquito Control Board, or that it requires elected people to oversee it.

After my nap I feel like an early dinner. I drive over to place that came highly recommended for lunch but I’ll try for dinner. It’s called Chad’s, and guess what? It’s also just south on US 1. I walk over to the long take-out counter and ask the obviously new guy behind the counter if I can see a menu? I order the Seafood Pasta with Rasorda Sauce. I had never heard of Rasorda Sauce but it turns out to be a mix of red sauce and alfredo sauce, nicely seasoned. It comes over a bed of Angel Hair pasta, scallops, and shrimp.

 

Chad’s itself is a cozy place with red lacquer tables, wooden seats, and friendly staff. It’s immaculately clean. I mean immaculate, eat off the floor kind of clean. Disneyland, one of my favourite examples of clean, could take lessons! When not involved in other things, I see staff cleaning the windows. I am highly impressed.

While I’m eating my dinner the folks at the next table are chatting with their server about common schools and soccer stories. It’s the first truly normal everyday domestic conversation I have heard since I hit the road. I don’t like to eavesdrop, but this conversation finally gives me an idea of what it’s like to live down here, with a family, and everyday lives. I feel better inside myself for having been able to finally get a connection to normalcy. I get the impression that Chad’s is a family place, and I’m heartened to see that these type of places still exist, and that in some towns fast food places aren’t quite the king of the family dining hill.

When I placed my order I passed along greetings from my friends to Teri the manager, and on my way out we have a brief chat about my trip and the distances, and that her son once drove all the way from Alaska to Key Largo. He wins. I know it’s not a contest, but he wins anyway.

I head back to the hotel to turn in early. Tomorrow I leave Key Largo and begin the journey home.