Rob + Holly at Perry Hotel and Marina

Audacy Music

Across 5 iconic Keys' locations, travel with Rob + Holly through incredible parks and excursions to give you a sample of what the Florida Keys and Key West is all about before you book your own trip.

Transcript

00:00We are the Rob and Holly show. We're at the Perry Hotel and Marina in the Lower Keys and we're

00:04talking to Johnny Vance, the excursion expert. Now I feel like, I'm like, I want to trade jobs.

00:11I want to be an excursion expert. You know, it is honestly the very best job I've ever had. I

00:15grew up in a home improvement company, family business, and you know, putting windows in a

00:21guy's house has a certain level of stress. You know, putting in a new front door for a guy,

00:26he's on edge. It's his greatest investment he's ever made, you know, and he's not happy half the

00:31time. Here in my job at the Perry Hotel and Marina, I get to put the icing on the vacation cake is

00:38really what I do. A guy shows up, he doesn't have much going on. He visits my desk. I put him on

00:44amazing sunset cruises and snorkel trips and jet ski tours and, you know, yacht charters and fishing

00:50is really huge at this hotel. And if I do my job right, he's a happy camper. And the nice thing

00:57about the Perry Hotel and Marina is the last part of that phrase is Marina, right? We're one of the

01:02very few hotels in the Lower Keys that have our own Marina. 300 boat slips in this Marina allows us to

01:10have the opportunity to put our guests on boats in the backyard. And these boats take half a dozen

01:17people. Our sunset cruise leaves the dock with 12 folks on it, you know, and it's like when you go

01:22downtown to Key West, you end up with a whole different vibe on the excursions that they promote.

01:28It's the big booze cruise style, hundred person on the catamaran draft beer in the limbo. Hey,

01:37and if you come to Key West and that's the vibe you're looking for, it's there. But I have found that

01:41the people that visit us here at this hotel love going out of our excursions right here at the hotel.

01:47They walk out the back, they do a nice boat trip. They're still right here on property. They don't

01:51have to fight their way back. It works out very well. Well, we felt extremely special to be aboard

01:57the Malabar 10, the 73 foot sailboat. Absolutely stunning. Isn't that amazing boat? We were like,

02:04this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Yeah. We are so blessed to have that boat here. Captain Seth

02:09with Sunset Sail Key West. He has two of those boats, one called the When and If, one called

02:16Malabar 10. When and If, coincidentally, is the boat that was once owned by General George Patton.

02:22That's why it's called the When and If. It was his statement that when and if he came back from war,

02:28he was going to go around the world sailing. He never got to do that, but they did spend a lot of

02:32time on that vessel. And Seth brings those boats here from Salem, Massachusetts every fall. He's here

02:39about six months and then he's gone back to Salem. So while he's here, he's one of our featured

02:45excursions. And I think that's kind of why they chose that one for you this morning is such an

02:49amazing boat built in the early 1930s. I'm telling you, every time I walk by that boat, Seth and his

02:56crew got a sandpaper in one hand and a varnish in the other. It is non-stop maintenance on one of those

03:03old wooden schooners, but an amazing boat trip. So if we, if someone comes here to the lower keys

03:09and they just have like one day. Yeah. And they have one thing to do. Yeah. And they look like a

03:15fun person. Right. Where are you sending them? What are you, what are they doing? You know,

03:19it's very interesting if they really only truly have one day, they can sometimes do a sunset cruise

03:24that night. Okay. A lot of times they've got the next day and then I would probably take them out

03:30maybe on a snorkel trip. Yeah. We've got a really cool glass bottom snorkel boat here. The happy

03:36captain he's called. Captain Evan takes six people at a time out to a very shallow, pristine area of

03:43our reef system on the Atlantic side. He's got glass bottom so you can see through the bottom of the boat

03:48and he's got amazing snorkel gear. He's a retired Navy guy. So he really knows the waterways. He's

03:54got an outstanding captain's license. So that's the kind of thing. A lot of times that people are

03:59able to sneak in before they check out of the hotel. The real secret to success. Don't come to

04:05the keys for one day. Yeah. I'm down for at least two nights because really there is so much here to do.

04:11And another misconception, it's extremely family friendly. A lot of people think of Key West just for

04:17Duval Street and Sloppy Joe's and the bar scene. And while it's a whole thing down there, you know,

04:24families love Key West. This is what we've experienced. We've seen a lot of kids. Yeah.

04:28Yeah. Because we started in Key Largo and we've been making our way down to Key West. And so,

04:32you know, it's definitely, and this is my first time too. So it feels a lot different than what I

04:38expected, but I also have not been to the Duval Street yet. So we're still in for that.

04:43On the way for that. An amazing little ecosystem of its own down there. You know, 150 some chef

04:50owned restaurants, another 150 some bars, you know, museums, the Hemingway House, the Butterfly

04:57Conservatory. There's a trolley tour. There are walking food tours. There are some really big water

05:04sports conglomerate style companies that do the very same kind of boat trips we do from here. But

05:10instead of doing it with six people, you're going to do it with 106 people. Saves you a little money.

05:15Not quite the same experience, but you can still have a good time on a budget.

05:19Yeah. You feel, you feel like you're just being treated like royalty here. And that's what I love

05:24about it. It's like we, everything feels private and special for you in your own unique experience.

05:30The hospitality is incredible.

05:32I'm happy to hear you found it that way because I will point out you guys, what, CMA award.

05:39Congratulations.

05:41That's so kind.

05:41You deserve every bit of the royal treat.

05:44Thank you so much.

05:45I'm very touched to be here with you guys today. Congratulations on that.

05:48That's an amazing achievement.

05:49Well, we appreciate everything you're doing here. Johnny Vance, Lower Keys excursion expert

05:53at the Perry Hotel and Marina in the Lower Keys.

05:56Glad to be here, guys. Thank you.

05:58Awesome.

05:59Awesome.

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