Thursday spent in the Keys

Thurdsay morning, I took the shuttle to the Butterfly Reserve. Conveniently it was the second stop of the shuttle service too. Talk about door to door service.
I entered the Reserve and paid the $12 fee. It was lovely. I was there for about 25 or 30 minutes, completely, at peace with the surroundings. I took a boatload of photos and considered returning to explore during the afternoon.
I walked around the "southernmost" part of Key West. Near the beach, Hemenway's house, Louie's Backyard and several hotels. I wanted to check out Louie's Backyard to consider it as a dinner option. And, it was. I definitely believed that I would be dining there while in the Keys.
I walked up Simonton towards Trueman. I wanted to buy a book and the concierge told me there was a bookstore on Trueman called Bare Assets. In hindsight, I should have thought about the name of the store before committing to a walk there.
However, the walk provided more discovery of Key West. I began to feel familiar with the surrounding areas. As I approached Bare Assets, I understood the name. I couldn't believe the female concierge would send me to that adult shop.
Across the street, I found a bargain bookstore. The clerk was knowledgeable about restaurants and after buying one book and trading in the other, I found Sandy's Cuban Shop. The clerk suggested it as a great lunch spot or even, only coffee.
Sandy's was a walk up restaurant conveniently attached to a laundromat. Kinda funny, but I sensed that the food was amazing. Fantastic coffee and I decided, then, to return for a few more visits.
Unfortunately, xmas intervened and I was only able to grab a coffee on christmas eve.
I didn't have plans for dinner that evening or any sort of set schedule. My friend, Jenny, mentioned a sunset wine cruise. She knows that I love wine and felt this would be right up my alley. Still, I was undecided about whether or not it would be a good option for me.
I walked up Duval St and stumbled into a wine shop. Vino's on Duval which had recently opened and incredibly cute.
I met the owner, Clayton, and we discussed travel, food and wine. Somehow, he sensed how much I needed to use a lap top and generously allowed me to use his. I drank a few glasses of wine and relaxed. Vino's on Duval was an excellent find and another reason that I prefer traveling, solo. I am not forced to hold a concrete schedule or justify why I want to have a glass of wine mid-afternoon.
Moreover, I meet a bunch of people--always--and for the most part, we become friends and it expands my travel destination opportunities due to the friendship.
My afternoon was successful and pleasant. I wandered into Martin's and sampled the lobster bisque. Extremely rich. I had a few bites and then ran to make the shuttle back to the hotel. I wanted to shower/change before the sunset wine sail. I knew that my window of opportunity to do that was closing.