Key West, Day 5

Time to leave back to Orlando. Lily and I were getting ready to go. I had plans for a hot breakfast that morning at the Inn where I stayed. The stated hours were 7 to 10. I was out the door at 7:00 and nothing was set yet. I walked Lily a bit and she was still being difficult. Checked back and still nothing. Decided to get my car and head back. On the way, we hit up the Old Town Bakery, which happened to open at 6. There was a very small crowd and we were able to get in easily. I thought this was the place the Restaurant Store was, as that place was not the location I had hoped it would be allowing me to get bread on before I headed back. Alas, this was not the place that supplied everyone in Key West with bread, and if it were, they weren’t selling it readily.

Lily was chill as the people that entered either complimented, asked to pet her, or both. She decided the wait was too much and just crashed on the floor again. I moved up in line and she moved with and sat politely. I gave my order for the hot sandwich they offered. It was listed with the price then cheese or bacon. I wanted both cheese and bacon and asked. The lady said it came with cheese and I agreed to that. I also asked for a ham and cheese croissant for the road, as well as an apple fritter and cheese Danish. They had a nice selection of cheeses and I decided to get some of them as well. I asked for the buttermilk blue, goat cheese, and brie. The lady didn’t understand when I was asking for the goat cheese, so I repeated the brie because that was the one I was pointing to, and she responded with, “I know what brie is.” I did eventually get the goat, and it was a feta wrapped in brie. A grabbed a Hank’s root beer, as I had never seen it before, and as I was finalizing my order, they just put fresh chocolate croissants out so ordered one of those as well. I tipped based on the bill, which was a really high tip for a sandwich. Not really a fan of products being added to an order bill, and honestly, how hard is it to make a sandwich. Either way, they got WAY more than they should have.

Grabbed the food when the sandwich was ready and headed to the car. I hopped in after getting Lily situated and I opened my plunder (never use the word booty, people laugh at that). When I looked in the bag, I thought I saw an extra sandwich. I did, as one was with cheese and the other with bacon. The lady totally misunderstood what I asked for. So I ate half of the sandwich before I started the car and the other on the way back to the mainland.

I parked the car in the loading area and went back to the room to gather my gear. It was just after eight and I saw they finally set up the food. As I had food in my car, I opted to move on. I went to check out and asked for assistance getting my stuff to the car. Assistance in my case was having him hold Lily as I took the larger items and eventually the crate. I just needed someone to watch her. Locked everything down, returned the key, and said my final farewell to Key West. As I drove off, Welcome Back by John Sebastian played on the radio. A little early, but still appropriate. Lily looked through the back window longingly and eventually went to sleep. She was quiet for the whole ride.

We stopped a few times to get her some water and a gas refill. Made it home with enough time to discover my internet needed some work. I unpacked the car, took a little nap, crated Lily, and headed to a friend’s house to take care of their dogs. It was part of the reason I needed to be back on a schedule. I arrived and was shocked to find one of the residence there but did my duties and headed off to the next destination.

I picked up Nash. He was being co-fostered while I was gone. I informed the other family that I was near and went over there because they were on my way back home from the far-off location of the dogs I fed earlier. When I got there, and the door was opened, he lunged at me to welcome me back. Guess he missed me. I chatted to get an update on him and he seemed to be a bit of a problem, not a big one. We got in the car, and he had a quiet drive back.

Once I returned home and released Lily, the two of them were back at it “playing” as if no time had transpired. Lily was happy. Nash was happy. I was exhausted. That didn’t last long, as I crated Nash (he had been crate-less at the other location) and took Lily with me in my room.