Chasing Butterflies in Key West with Alisa!

On Saturday the 2nd of January we picked up Cody, Alisa and baby Rachel and went to the Key West Butterfly Nature Conservatory.

The gift shop is the ultimate in butterfly and garden accessories. Alisa had fun looking at all the butterfly scarves, shirts, ... well, everything!

So many to choose from....

I like this one!

How about this for room accessories?

Butterflies, flowers and hummingbirds were everywhere we looked.

Studying the "Butterflies of the world" Map.

They had a lot of information to take in before going out to the 'Conservatory'.

We will pretend that Rachel was as excited as the rest of us to see all the butterflies.

Words cannot express what it is like when you enter the conservatory. Butterflies fluttering around you everywhere!

What a cute little family!

A butterfly "kissed" baby Rachel's hand then lighted on a flower.

The big gray and brown butterfly has the most vibrant blue wings on the back side.

It was hard to keep your eyes in one spot as there were hundreds and hundreds of butterflies fluttering around your head all the time.

You weren't allowed to touch the butterflies but if they touched you I guess it was okay. I had them landing on my head and arms just minutes after entering the conservatory.

The blue blurs in these photos are the big blue Brazilian butterflies.

There were many different varieties of butterflies to look at and admire.

Yes Alisa, that butterfly did just dive bomb your head.

Loved the Flamingos, whose names were Rhett and Scarlett..

Looking at their natural defense system, camouflage. 

About now you are wondering, "Why are there so many photos of Alisa and not so many (or any) of Cody, Darryl and Cindy?

Alisa's mom asked me to take a lot of photos of her in the conservatory so they could put a very short clip together to her singing the song "Chasing Butterflies".

Then Darryl and I got so enthralled with the conservatory and talking about how neat it would be to have one of our own, that we forgot to take pictures of us.

There were hundreds of beautiful, colorful birds in the conservatory too along with some turtles.

If you go to Key West the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory is a must see! Take my word for it. 

"They say, when love hits, there’s no way you won’t know it.

When the sparks fly on the first kiss, that’s the one thing I’ve been wanting -

To feel that nervously excited, uncontrollably delighted kind of feeling.

Something beautiful and crazy, unbelievably amazing to believe in.

I wanna feel my heart beating double time, looking all starry-eyed.

That’s the reason why I’m chasing butterflies!

I won’t stop until I find those butterflies!

If I have to I’ll spend my life chasing butterflies." 

- Kendra Walker Stevenson

Click here to watch Alisa sing "CHASING BUTTERFLIES".

Hanging with The Redhead Express in Key West

Darryl and I actually had to work while we were on vacation in Key West. It was such tough and tiring work we were required to do too. (Can you read  the sarcasm in that sentence?) 

Our main responsibility was to babysit little Rachel while her mom and sisters played two, three hour sets each day at a wonderful restaurant called Blue Heaven and her daddy ran the merchandise / sales table.

The RedHeads first show was Saturday the 26th at 10:00 a.m. Darryl and I went early to have breakfast. The food was so flavorful and delicious! They are famous for their Eggs Benedict at breakfast. I had one of their signature 'Bennys' and was delighted.

This handsome guy came buy to say hello and of course, taste our food.
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The girls put on such a wonderful show and the restaurant started setting out more and more chairs for people just to sit and listen. They literally packed the house every time they played.

Sometimes the wait to get a table was over an hour long. I had one women tell me that listening to the girls was worth the wait. 

Most of the seating for Blue Heaven is out doors on the patio. They have a ping pong table set up, a local artist selling his paintings in an impromptu gallery, a physic reader, or fortune teller as we used to call them in the old days, a local artisan selling hand made wind chimes, and a gift shop. It's all very eclectic and fun.

People watching the band from the patio while they wait on a table

or watching from the porch, they just didn't want to leave while the girls, or their brothers, The Walker Boys, were on stage.

Looking towards the bar.
And yes, that is an old water tank on top of the roof of the bar.

They would play from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then get a 5 hour break -

During the break the band would rest up in the apartment and Darryl and I would usually go back to the campground and swim or take a nap, 

or go into town to find a delicious snack and look at the many shops. Sometimes we would visit with Deb Stevenson, Kelly's mom, a wonderful cook and great new friend, (and I don't just love her for her cooking! ;-)  Brett and Apryll, or run errands for anyone of the family who needed something.

At 6:00 p.m. The RedHead Express would start their second show and play until 9:00 p.m. The crowds were amazing. People who were eating wouldn't leave their tables and it sometimes caused a back up and the Management would come and ask the girls to take a 20 minute break so people would leave their tables. Each night the restaurant was packed. Even the locals started coming out to hear the girls. (That's saying something in Key West!)

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Cody is the Merchandise Manager for the bands and is quite busy during the sets. Kendra's husband Kelly is their sound technician and can be seen walking throughout the venue monitering the sound. 

They played this same schedule from the 26th through Janauary 1st.- 2 shows a day. It was exhausting for the girls, but they never let is show on stage and no matter how tired I knew they were, they were always gracious and kind, happy and smiling, and took time to talk to everyone who came up to them. 

Cody and Kelly get a chance to chat during the morning set.

The people who started it all! - their mother, Apryll Walker, holding her grandson Ryan, and their dad Brett, talking to a new friend at Blue Heaven.

The Walker Boys, Sean (17), Joseph (15) and Ammon (13), aren't just the road crew helping to set up and break down after every show, they also have their own band and are quite popular with the crowds. "Budapest" anyone?

On Wednesday night during one of their breaks, the owner of the restaurant asked the girls to come and meet a special guest. They went up to a private dining area where they met Kenny Chesney!! Wow! He told the girls that they sounded great and gave them some very good advice and left them with a cool souvenir, an autographed cloth napkin from the restaurant! You can see a picture of it here.

I don't know if I can express how much fun Darryl and I had as we tried to help the Walkers and the Band in anyway we could and being able to be a small part of their crew..... okay... the official Rachel Babysitters. It was fun to talk to the people at the restaurant and hear their reactions to the girls and their brothers. I was complimented several times by people who thought I was their mother (must be the red hair) and watched their surprise when I said I was only their outlaw.... er... in-law. All in all it was a delightful holiday break.