Key West and X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Over the weekend, the most likely final "X-Men" movie was released. Didn't make it to the opening night but even two days after the movie was opened, it was a sold out crowd in the cinema. Boy was it good! It was even better than the opening night of "The DaVinci Code!" this was one must-see, awesome, fantastic movie. or maybe i am an X-Men fanatic. yeah, i have seen all three of them plus the numerous cartoons they had in my teenage years. It's been almost ten years since those cartoon days and seeing the movie was surely refreshing. Hugh Jackman is a stud too. there was no better role for Wolverine. He was sexxxy! Even if the movie was bad, which it wasn't, Hugh Jackman would have aided in putting it to the very good list of 2006 movies. The only character i did not like was Rogue. Her character in the cartoons was more powerful than the movie. She seemed almost insignificant even though her role was suited in the light that there would be some that wanted to fit into human society. However, it was insignificant nontheless, because she played no part in the fight at the end.
Oh, and where was Gambit my boy??????? Missed him and his deck of cards. Beast was awesome! The makeup was fantastic. Famke Jansen did her best performance since the beginning as Jean Grey/The Phoenix. She really had me a little worried in the end. I guess i became engrossed in the movie. Maybe it is like that for everyone who watches a movie based on an action comic....you put yourself in the shoes of the superhero. Here, Jean Grey was the class 5 mutant and for a little while, i was drawn into the world of mutants and humans. Magneto and his cohorts rocked this time also. gotta give the bad guys props too. they put up a good fight with the X-Men. Oh and poor, poor Cyclops. he was so sexy to just die like that!=0(
On the whole, GREAT MOVIE!!!!!!!! Two thumbs and two big toes up too to the supercool action movie of the year! Last year, it happened to be "Kong."
Today, it was Memorial Day. Ami woke me up at 8:15am and asked me if i wanted to go to the Keys with him. I think i am addicted to traveling. Any mention of a road trip and i am packed and ready to go! wasn't too sure in the beginning though so i did not decide until about 9:00. i went online, printed out a map that led from my house to Duval street and called him back saying i had the map. we left at 10am. this time, only me and Ami went. The ride to go took almost 4 and 1/2 hours. This is longer than going to St. Augustine but the scenery on the way was a lot prettier. After passing Miami, we travelled on South US1 all the way through the larger Keys until we had reached Key West.
i can see why the residents are urged to leave when there is a hurricane approaching. It looks as if storm waters rise quickly in the Keys. All the houses are built on stilts and it does not look safe at all. some places were so isolated and it seemed as if they were built so close to the open ocean that a hurricane would obliterate it in a matter of minutes. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight. It is the Southernmost place in the Continental US.
Ami had never been there and i wanted to see the place again for the historic places. The buildings are old there. It did not seem as if we were in Florida anymore. There was a caribbean feel to the entire Keys and hence, we felt almost at home. I am used to seeing circa 1960 buildings in S.FL but this time, there were old Spanish-style and colonial style houses that dated back to the 1800s. We parked on Duval Street, the most famous street in Key West, and walked to the end of it. At the end, there is the Southernmost house in the US and the very final point of the US. A huge stone was put up marking the place and the number of miles to Cuba. It is 90 miles.
There was a tablet on the stones of the sea wall that paid homage to the many people who lost their lives trying to come to the US from Cuba. Ami and I took pictures there. He seemed more happy than I was. It was too hot for me.
Then we walked to Whitehead and Truman to where the Lighthouse was and we climbed the stairs there. Students get a discount...half the price off. this was so cool! I love being a student! We entered for $5 each!!!The lighthouse was not as fascinating nor as tall as the St. Augustine lighthouse but it was nevertheless beautiful. From there, we had a really beautiful view of the entire surroundings...No we did not see Cuba though! Inside the Lighthouse museum and keeper's house, there was some really old writings, paintings, magazines and even the wedding dress that the keeper's wife wore at her wedding. It was real hand woven lace! Then there was this room that seemed like a room from the early 1900s with an old sewing machine, some chairs, a glass cabinet and a piano. there were old records of the famous people who lived in the Keys at the time also. It was something that made me appreciate the history behind the buildings and places there. It definitely looked like a warmer and less shaded Savannah, Georgia.....with the beaches of course!
Obliquely opposite the lighthouse is Ernest Hemmingway's house. it is really big with a Caribbean flair to it. it is definitely tropical and it suits the Keys. On seeing his house and the land around it with all the trees, Ami said to me, " seriously, why would he kill himself if he had all this?" i guess it is the rich people who are most depressed....and to couple it with his writing and involvement in the Spanish civil war, i guess he must have had some problems. it is one of Key West's haunted houses i believe. while we were standing outside, looking in, I overheard a tour guide telling his passengers that it is one of the two houses in all of Key West that has a basement. Didn't get the name of the other house.
On the way to Key West, we passed many less famous Keys and we traveled over water and many bridges. There were places on the side of the road that people could stop off and swim in the water there. The beaches are all calm. Too calm, i think. My idea of a beach is a place where there is surf and sand....maybe i should be in California! Really, the only time there are waves really is when there is a hurricane approaching. But nevertheless, it did not stop us from wanting to be in the water rather than watching it. We are, after all, originally from an island too! I guess it is my weakness. we didn't walk with any extra clothes though. However, we went to one of the local Walgreens and i got some beach clothes and a towel. Was all excited but on the way back, i realized that it was going to rain soon and if it did, lightning would surely be striking the water. Opted to not be fried so we just drove back. Bummer! Ended up buying chinese which was really really good then took the FL turnpike all the way back until we got home. It cut the drive through Miami considerably.
In the end, Ami told me that he liked the trip a lot but we both agreed that we would rather drive North than drive through Miami. I guess we are used to Miami and we like seeing new things. For Ami, this was new. for me, it was something Ami needed to see to be able to understand what i talked about when i said i had been to the very last place in the continential US. I did have a lot of fun though...and we never stopped talking all the way and when we weren't talking, we were singing. for less than $100, we saw the very end of the US, including the historic as well as island parts of it. that included gas money at about $2.79/gallon. If we had taken our fishing rods, we could have caught a lot of fishes. don't quite know what i would do with that though....the Key's are a great place to fish. there's lots of game. Once again, i enjoyed myself and i have a beautiful tan to show for it!