Key West - The return of Matthew

Early Matthew

AHOY! The Return of Matt is upon the Fleetwing. After an early morning and a day of travel, not only have I returned to the Fleetwing but also to Key West. It has been close to 3 years since I last step foot in the Conch Republic. What better place than Key West to spend my spring break? In true Fleetwing fashion, the day started early. I was probably up before the captain and first mate. Five thirty I left home to catch a nine o’clock flight out of Providence to Newark, New Jersey. Had a great window seat right on the wing. The pilot made good time coming in twenty-five minutes early. After having a turkey salad wrap for lunch I caught a flight straight from Newark to Key West. Surprisingly enough, it was far from a sold out flight. Half the plane was empty so I ended up with a whole row to myself. Four hours and a couple hundred pages of The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy later, and I arrived at the Key West airport. 

The now Matt

My flight ended up missing the thunderstorms that hit Key West earlier in the day. Those same storms kept several planes grounded here in Key West that was planning to go up to Miami. The delayed flights left my flight stuck on the runway with no parking spot. An extra hour was tacked on waiting for a spot to open. Once the plane got a spot, I caught a taxi just outside the airport that took me the rest of the way to the Fleetwing. The driver moved down to Key West from Wisconsin. He said it was a four-day trip by bus. The other patron of the cab was a Thai chief out of Boston that had just spent five days by bus traveling down to Key West with five hundred pounds of cook wear for the restaurant. Once I was dropped off, it was a quick two-block walk to the boat. Nana and Grandpa met me next to the new hotel that replaced the dirt lot next to BO’s. It was built in the time since I was last on the island. They walked with me the rest of the way to the boat where Hoolie greeted us. We got Cuban sandwiches from the Cuban Coffee Queen for dinner while a front of clouds rolled in. Hopefully the weather will stay in our favor for the rest of the week. Its good to be back on the boat, especially down on Key West. Here’s Matt, veteran crew, signing off. I’ll be here all week don’t miss the new Blog posts.

The feed me Matt

Matthew first joined us on Fleetwing for an extended trip in 2007. He was several sizes smaller then! Wow, has he grown. He's now a junior in college at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island majoring in Architecture. It's a five year effort to get a degree in that field.

He's now ensconced in the aft cabin and I think he's mainly just going to chill-out for five days. Key West is not a bad place for that strategy. However, our string of 78 degree days has come to an end with the temperatures forecast to only be in the high 60's the rest of the week with winds around 20 kts. That's certainly warmer than where he spent the winter so far and I don't think it will deter him very much. We're looking forward to having Matt around for awhile.