Florida trip

The trip to Florida was a great vacation. Mom, Dad, and I went down several days before the wedding itself to spend some time in Key West, which is an interesting place. It was extremely busy and touristy, with a very active night life. I have never been to a place where I could feel the gay community so strongly, though I guess that's not surprising since Key West proclaims itself to be the "Gay Capital of the World." They even have a pink section of the phonebook that is dedicated to gay businesses, along with a pink taxi company, and signs saying, " The End of the Rainbow." We did have some great food there, and tried to go snorkeling once, though there really wasn't anything to see.

Key West was fun to wander around, but it was nice when we finally headed north to Islamorada, where we met up with everyone else. Our hotel was right on the beach and was a huge complex, with several tiki bars, pools, and restaurants. We all went to the tiki bars pretty often where I became a fan of key lime coladas. Yummy. Rusty, his girlfriend, Alex, Ted, and I hoped to try parasailing, but it wasn't too be; too much wind one day and a broken boat the next. Instead, we rented jet skis for a half hour, which I had never been on. Rusty and Alex lucked out with a faster jet ski, topping out at 51, while Ted and I only hit 41. I got bucked off at one point when Ted was driving and made a sharp left. I was holding on, but I guess it wasn't tightly enough. At first I thought I was going to pull Ted in with me, but it was just me.

The wedding itself was held right at our hotel too, which was super convenient. I barely made it to the ceremony on time because Rusty's Alex was having trouble straightening my hair, which then led my cousin's wife, also Alex, to take me to her room to finish the job. We were the last people to the ceremony before the bridal party. Oops. I later found a message on my cell phone from my aunt, telling me I needed to get down there. The ceremony was short and the reception was nice, held under a tiki hut on the beach. I think everyone had a good time.

All in all, it was a nice trip. My only regret is that I didn't get to swim with a dolphin, which is something I have wanted to do since I was little. To make it worse, I found out on our last day there that I could have done it at a place right next to our hotel. Oh well.