Pride)
The word of the day was sunscreen. Yesterday afternoon the Family
Pride staff ventured off the boat into the beating sun of Key West,
Florida. For those who don’t know me yet–let me explain that I am
about as Nordic as they come (see photo here). I
have blond, blond hair, blue eyes, very pale skin. So today was a
day of application and re-application. I say this by way of
introduction–not to put a damper on our day’s experience 🙂
We got off the boat to pride flags & banners, welcoming the
ship and the r family
vacations crowd. The citizens of Key West were happy to see us,
as always. The staff headed over to Duval Street, stepping in and
out of airconditioned shops for ice cream, key lime slushes, and
gelato. We took Duval all the way down to the water and the
southernmost tip of the United States (about a 30 minute trek in
the blazing, blazing sun), just about 90 miles from Cuba.
For those who haven’t been to Key West, it is a place like no
other: big, gorgeous old houses with wrap around porches, palm
trees, pride flags everywhere, conch shells, and roaming chickens
and roosters! It was great to be in a place that was so welcoming
of our families.
But I have to say I’m glad to be out of the sun–for now. My
teammates won’t let me stay inside, safe from the blinding rays.
They don’t suffer lobster disease like I do–turning red after a
minute too long out of shade.