White Street Pier

We are gradually exposing Zuzu and Tootie to new experiences down here in the Keys in an attempt to break the monotony of their daily routine...

Tootie wakes up around 6:00 a.m. go outside to do her business. Zuzu will not stir from the master bedroom closet until daybreak, which is has been pushed to 7:30 with daylight savings time. After taking care of business outside, Tootie runs back to her warm bed in the closet next to Zuzu and waits for daybreak, which is when Zuzu will get up to go outside. The girls will sometimes jump into bed and "attack" us with kisses and beg us for belly rubs. While outside, one of us will prepare their gourmet breakfast which consists of brown rice and carrots, chicken thigh meat or raw beef, egg, and cottage cheese. After breakfast, it's off to either the bed or the lanai for some rest before heading out to the dock for lizard patrol. Zuzu will go for a walk (we will take Tootie if we can convince her that it will be fun and that we may see a few cats!) and then they both will spend the rest of the day going from the dock to the lanai to the bed...

So one of the adventures to break the routine was to the White Street Pier in Key West. The pier, which is across from the Southernmost Dog Park, resembles a former highway bridge to nowhere, jetting out into the Atlantic. It's a great spot to watch the sunset in the winter months when the sun sets more to the east than in the summer months when its further north on the horizon. There are no crowds, no cats leaping through hoops of fire, no fire-breathing unicycle riding acrobats, no high-wire acts, just a few people, the sound of the waves and of the flights full of tourist leaving and arriving at Key West International Airport.

Zuzu and Tootie were very apprehensive during their first visit to the pier. It took some coaxing and reassuring to make it to the one of the last benches on the pier.

We sat and rested for a while on the bench to give Zuzu and Tootie an opportunity to listen to the sounds, smell the ocean, and further convince us that this was not their cup of tea!
After a five minute break, we headed back towards land stopping for a minute on the beach adjacent to the pier. There were other dogs playing in the water and chasing and retrieving tennis balls. We thought they would inspire Zuzu and Tootie, but they probably thought these dogs were the fools as they quietly observed them with paws safely planted in dry sand.

After a quick walk along the beach and down the sidewalk, we returned to the car. Tootie could not wait to hop back up onto her bed, curl up, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Key West from the comfort of her kennel on wheels. Much to her dismay, we will return to the pier in a week.