LUCY BURDETTE: We had the great pleasure of hosting Red Deborah Crombie at the tail end of her book tour for GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS a couple of weeks ago. I thought you would enjoy following along in her 48 hours in Key West! Some things were on her bucket list, and some John and I added as our favorites...
First stop, almost always, the Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square. Here's Deb with Lorenzo, Hayley's tarot card reading friend, and Lucy's friend in real life...
And here are Deb's cards...she must pay attention to her spiritual side in April...
(DEBS: I must admit, this made me a bit nervous, which I didn't expect!)
There was a cruise ship blocking the view, so Deb had to choose between seeing the sunset and watching the cat man--cat man won out of course!
We stayed in that first night to give Deb a breather from restaurant food...this is Lucy's cornmeal-crusted veggie tart...
(DEBS: Heaven!!!)
The next morning we hiked across the island to a must-see, Ernest Hemingway's house
She couldn't decide whether she liked his office best...
or the bathroom in the main house!
We met several of the Hemingway polydactyls...
(DEBS: I adored the Hemingway House!! And the cats! It was one of the highlights of my trip.)
The Key West library was kind enough to help set up this last event on Deb's tour. Don't you love what Michael the librarian did with the backdrop? Lucy got to do the interview...and this was after logging in 15,000 steps on the iPhone counter!
And then we met up for dinner with another mystery writer friend, Barbara Ross--lots of shop talk and a little bit of gossip.
(DEBS: Such fun to meet Barb Ross. And can I just mention the cucumber cocktail???)
Every visitor to Key West wants to get this shot--the very tip end of Route 1
Deb's last day started off with breakfast in bed--a maple-glazed donut studded with candied bacon and a cafe con leche from the Cuban Coffee Queen
(DEBS: I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They really are as good as Hayley says!)
And then a stop at Books&Books, founded by Judy Blume and her husband George. We scored signed Babar books for our granddaughters and a photo with Judy herself!
(DEBS: Unfortunately, Wren loved the book so much it's now missing half a page... Hopefully, Mr. Brunhoff will sign a few more.)
Last minute gift from Debs, as she explained her plotting secrets to Lucy:)
(DEBS: That may not look like much, but I promise it was brilliant:-) And can I just say that Lucy is THE best hostess and tour guide!!! And that I am in love with Key West!)
Who else has fallen for the Key West magic?
