Brunch With Strangers

Yesterday started out like any normal Sunday. I got dressed and headed over to Bayview Park for some tennis. Unfortunately, it started to rain, and soaked the courts before I actually got to play. Since I was not getting any exercise, I thought it a good idea to do the next best thing: brunch. 

There are several good brunch spots in Key West, like Hot Tin Roof. (But there you need to hunker down for several hours with many, many mimosas, and we just didn’t have the time, as we were meeting some friends in on a cruise ship in the afternoon.) We chose a tried and true favorite: Azur. Yes, we go there all the time for brunch, lunch and dinner, because it is always awesome. 100% of the time.

We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation, so we were chatting with some other folks also waiting for a table. One of them had a contraption that intrigued me. It looked like a cattle prod, or possibly a back-scratcher. Maybe it was one of those spring-loaded things used to pick up garbage off the side of the road? I had no idea. Turns out, it was a selfie stick. Of course, I have heard of selfie sticks, I had just never actually seen one. I certainly hadn’t seen one in action, being used by an adult.

If like FKGuy you have never heard of a selfie stick, I will sum it up for you this way: it is a telescoping pole to which you attach your phone, thus being able to take a picture of yourself at a good angle. I also learned that it is much harder to photobomb when everyone in the picture can see you. Oh well.

By the time selfie-gate was over, the five of us had shared several laughs, and a couple of mimosas, and decided that rather than get two tables, we might as well all brunch together. I am pretty sure this was the first time we have ever dined with complete strangers, outside of a cruise ship, and the whole event was rather entertaining. It was also the first time FKGuy swapped dishes with a stranger. One of our new friends (who doesn’t care for runny eggs) discovered that his hash and eggs came with, well, poached eggs. Taking one for the team, FKGuy swapped his frittata for the hash and eggs, and everyone was happy. (Another round of mimosas, please!)

In this typical-for-Key-West moment, it becomes clear why we love Key West. The friendly attitude of almost everyone we meet makes it a wonderful place to call home. A few years ago, I wrote about 25 reasons why I love Key West, and they still hold true today (except #17, Babka is not a big fan.)