So you live in the Keys and your oldest friend has just got engaged. You have no choice but to get on your magic carpet and fly off to Never Never Land known locally as Little Palm Island:
Little Palm island is a lump of sand halfway between Key West and Marathon, a barrier island at the mouth of Newfound Harbor. It is known as one of the most exclusive and expensive resorts in the Keys and a night here will cost you I'm told somewhere north of $1500. However if you really want privacy you can rent the entire island for yourself and your entourage and people do do that. Frequently they arrive by boat and park their motorboats at the island's docks and do what we locals get to do every day, paddle in the water:
check out the horizon:
and stuff their faces on some really excellent cooking:
For the rest of us mere mortals Little Palm is an oasis we get to enjoy for a meal and some contemplation before returning to the drudgery of daily life on our own self-serve slivers of paradise. Locals get a break so for somewhere less than $100 US each ($150 for you I think), we plebs get a ten minute boat ride to and from the island (private boats are not allowed to dock for anything less than an overnight stay), a fabulous brunch (gratuity included) and a pause in the stress of daily life in the shade of the magnificent lounging area next to the docks:
Robert and Dolly came by our house and we drove them a mile up the highway to the Little Torch Key marina where the launch is docked:
Down the canal, and out into the open waters of Newfound Harbor on a magnificent sunny day:
We took the comfortable seats inside the cabin allowing the visitors to toast outside in the heat of the day. Dolly doesn't really hang on every pearl of wisdom that drops from Robert's lips but she did tell us she is learning something new every day from hanging out with him:
Down the canal, and out into the open waters of Newfound Harbor on a magnificent sunny day:We took the comfortable seats inside the cabin allowing the visitors to toast outside in the heat of the day. Dolly doesn't really hang on every pearl of wisdom that drops from Robert's lips but she did tell us she is learning something new every day from hanging out with him:Robert moved to the Keys in 1976 ("The Bicentennial"he points out) and has never looked back. He's worked all sorts of jobs including as a lobster fisherman and a business manager but these days he operates the Marine Sanctuary boat out of the Eco-Discovery center at the Truman Waterfront. It's his dream job and it was with some shyness he told us he'd got engaged, news that completely floored me. So naturally I viewed this as an opportunity to waste some cash and be decadent. What a glorious waste!
Little Palm has 28 cottages, a spa, a pool some beaches and a restaurant packed onto its five acres. The island has electricity and one phone in a shed-like booth for those desperate to call home. There is also a TV room for those unable to abandon the habit, however cell phones are banned in public places and television is not provided in the rooms. It is a real retreat and everything is quite beautifully appointed:
It's kind of rustic but not really... and service is impeccable, which must be a mighty strain for a Keys lodging and, I really don't want to sound like an advertisement but Little Palm is really great fun and highly enjoyable.
I say this despite my reservations about such appalling decadence in the middle of a world that has enormous difficulty sharing the most modest of necessities. For instance alongside the numerous cold food buffets we got a menu of hot dishes which are more like samplers, pork loin and fried yucca seen here:
Or tuna on crispy rice:
Doesn't look like much does it? But you can order as many of each dish as you want, in addition to the seafood, cold pasta, vegetable and fruit and pastry buffets from which you help yourself. We tasted French toast, pancakes, soup, eggs Benedict but skipped the scallops and some other thing I can't remember. They also have a do-it-yourself vodka and champagne bar as well as a $13-a-shot cocktail menu. Really this place puts you in mind of Marie Antoinette. I think Robert and Dolly enjoyed it as much as we did, despite briefly suffering the same pangs of bourgeois guilt:
The waters of the Straits of Florida were sparkling in the sunshine and there was a cool fresh breeze (it seemed so to us!) blowing in off the water. Oh and then there was the desert tray, with a special message for them:
My wife and I enjoyed our tray every bit as much as we watched Robert scrape the chocolate lettering off theirs...rum raisin ice cream, miniature éclairs and Key Lime pie. Oh dear and I had quite a caffeine buzz on after our third pot of coffee. Or was it four? I lost count, as Julio kept whipping up a constant stream of stuff for our table.
This was Robert's first visit to the island but on a previous trip my wife and I got a tour of the island thanks to our friendship with an employee, so we knew of the charming alleyways, the upstairs spa, whose recollection gave Dolly an ecstatic look as she remembered immersing herself in a hot tub overlooking the open waters below.
It's kind of rustic but not really... and service is impeccable, which must be a mighty strain for a Keys lodging and, I really don't want to sound like an advertisement but Little Palm is really great fun and highly enjoyable. I say this despite my reservations about such appalling decadence in the middle of a world that has enormous difficulty sharing the most modest of necessities. For instance alongside the numerous cold food buffets we got a menu of hot dishes which are more like samplers, pork loin and fried yucca seen here:Or tuna on crispy rice:Doesn't look like much does it? But you can order as many of each dish as you want, in addition to the seafood, cold pasta, vegetable and fruit and pastry buffets from which you help yourself. We tasted French toast, pancakes, soup, eggs Benedict but skipped the scallops and some other thing I can't remember. They also have a do-it-yourself vodka and champagne bar as well as a $13-a-shot cocktail menu. Really this place puts you in mind of Marie Antoinette. I think Robert and Dolly enjoyed it as much as we did, despite briefly suffering the same pangs of bourgeois guilt:The waters of the Straits of Florida were sparkling in the sunshine and there was a cool fresh breeze (it seemed so to us!) blowing in off the water. Oh and then there was the desert tray, with a special message for them:My wife and I enjoyed our tray every bit as much as we watched Robert scrape the chocolate lettering off theirs...rum raisin ice cream, miniature éclairs and Key Lime pie. Oh dear and I had quite a caffeine buzz on after our third pot of coffee. Or was it four? I lost count, as Julio kept whipping up a constant stream of stuff for our table.This was Robert's first visit to the island but on a previous trip my wife and I got a tour of the island thanks to our friendship with an employee, so we knew of the charming alleyways, the upstairs spa, whose recollection gave Dolly an ecstatic look as she remembered immersing herself in a hot tub overlooking the open waters below.
We took the first brunch ferry of the day at 10:30 and after some lounging we caught the 2:00pm ferry back, though no one pushed us to leave. We arrived at the dock as The Truman was pulling in:
And disgorged a number of twittering visitors, a wedding party it seemed facing a bill whose proportions I find it hard to imagine:
And their abundant luggage:
Which was loaded into a hotel dolly, equipped not with the usual casters but with substantial rubber tires, suitable for a little off-roading necessary to get to the rooms on the island:
Everyone noticed the heron standing in the shallows near the dock, and for a moment it seemed hard to differentiate between the bird and people behind it. The big difference became apparent when Phil the piano player (whose wife is a a teacher alongside my wife) pointed out the humans were mere guests while the heron has been living full time at Little Palm for 15 years:
We should all be so lucky.
Which was loaded into a hotel dolly, equipped not with the usual casters but with substantial rubber tires, suitable for a little off-roading necessary to get to the rooms on the island:Everyone noticed the heron standing in the shallows near the dock, and for a moment it seemed hard to differentiate between the bird and people behind it. The big difference became apparent when Phil the piano player (whose wife is a a teacher alongside my wife) pointed out the humans were mere guests while the heron has been living full time at Little Palm for 15 years:We should all be so lucky. 