Friday, April 22, 2011
We checked out of the hotel in Key Largo relatively early and drove south on the Overseas Highway to Key West. We had a reservation for one of the last rooms at a Marriott on the edge of the city. It was Easter Weekend and there were very few decent hotel rooms available at reasonable rates. The drive in brilliant sunshine between Key Largo and Key West took two and a half hours. The water on both sides of the highway was multi-colored green and blue. It was a beautiful “summer” day! It was hard to believe that it was only April!
The Beach Behind the Hotel
The Marriott Hotel had a similar lay-out to the Hotel in Key Largo, but the lobby was more modern and we had a direct entrance to the back walkway to the bay. There was a beautiful view of the water across the parking lot from our first-floor room, but it too smelled musty. Oh well, last minute holiday reservations; live and learn. It was just a clean place to sleep. I have to remember second floors in tropical places.
Traditional Key West Architecture
We drove to the center of the historic district near the harbor and found a parking lot for the car. We noticed that there were several places for cars and a wide range of fees. We wanted to explore Duval Street, so we walked in that direction.
Interesting Antique Shop
The streets have girl’s names like Elizabeth, Caroline, Margaret, etc. and I wondered who they were named for. The names of the streets were written vertically on cement posts on some corners, so relying on street signs was difficult. Many streets didn’t have names written on the poles and some streets didn’t have poles, so visitors really had to rely on landmarks or memorize their locations.
Key Lime Pie Shop
First we went to the famous monument which looks like a multi-colored buoy, marking the southern most point in the continental United States. Groups of people were lined up waiting their turns to take their own photos with the monument. It was cute the way people would ask the people behind them to take a group shot of their families. The line was long, so I took a quick photo of the marker alone between families.
Southern-Most Point in the United States
Down the street from the monument is the Southern-Most Hotel in the U.S. near the Southern-Most Public Beach, across the street from the Southern-Most House, etc. You get the idea…. Further south down the street, I noticed a plaque on the wall of another house which read: The Southern-Most Southern House in the United States.
The Southern-Most House in the U.S.
I wanted to see Ernest Hemingway’s house which I had read was nearby. We walked down Duval Street away from the touristy harbor. It was lunch time and we stopped by a small sandwich shop called the Six-Toed Cat. It had interesting paintings of cats on the walls and excellent limeade. Although the restaurant had tables outside, we ate in the cool of the air conditioned room. Outside, it was about 87 degrees, humid, and away from the water there was no breeze.
The Six-Toed Cat Cafe
Hemingway’s house is just down the street. It has a brick wall surrounding the house and grounds. We paid the admission fee of $12.50 each and walked up the stairs and were greeted by an older Southern gentleman who wore a seaman’s cap, bright patterned Hawaiian shirt and shorts. He directed us to the parlor and said the tour would begin in four minutes.
Ernest Hemingway’s House
I don’t know why or how, but I was an Ernest Hemingway fan in high school. I had read several of his books, and enjoyed reading the book and Spencer Tracy’s portrayal in the movie, The Old Man and The Sea. It was an incongruent match for a young, naive New York City high-school girl and the hard-drinking, hunting, deep-sea fishing outdoorsman. Nonetheless, I thought it would be interesting to visit his house.
Hemingway’s Dining Room
The Southern greeter conducted the tour and told our small group many amusing stories about Hemingway’s life and loves. There are 44 six-toed cats living on the grounds which are descended from Hemingway’s cat named Snowball. As visitors walk around the beautiful tropical grounds, there are cats sleeping everywhere! It was an interesting tour and our guide was a good story-teller. His deep Missouri drawl and pauses, enhanced each tale. The visitors all had a good laugh when he pulled a small flask out of his pocket during the tour and drank a toast to the old Cuban fisherman who was the inspiration for Hemingway’s book, The Old Man and the Sea.
Hemingway’s Study
We learned that “Ernest Hemingway worked every morning for four hours or 700 words, which ever came first”, then went fishing in the afternoon, and ended every day in Sloppy Joe’s Bar in town. We saw Hemingway’s library/study on the second floor of a guest house, where he wrote nine of his most famous books. We were told that there had been a “cat walk” over the garden, between the study and his second-floor bedroom, which Hemingway walked across every day to write. (This entry, to this point is about 700 words. It doesn’t seem like much!)
One of the 44 Six-Toed Cats
Jeff had read about several of the famous (and infamous) bars and wanted to visit them, so we walked back up Duval Street. We peeked into all the best-known watering holes: Sloppy Joe’s, Hog’s Breath Saloon, Rick’s Bar, and Captain Tony’s Saloon.
Local Entertainment
Yes, all the bars were full of noisy people on this Friday afternoon at 3:30. Live music pulsated out onto the sidewalks. Bars line both sides of Duval and the side streets for many blocks. We decided that Key West must be a wild place at night!
Duval Street with Tourists
I wanted to buy a couple of tee-shirts at the Hog’s Breath so we walked through the saloon to the shop at the rear. Afterward, we were getting tired from walking and the heat and we found a relatively quiet place that sold soft drinks. We sat in the shade and sipped our Cokes and felt a bit refreshed. Then we walked back to the car along a street near the harbor where it was a little cooler.
We drove back to the hotel to rest and take showers to cool off. A couple of hours later we hopped on the hotel shuttle which took us to the center of Key West. This was a nice perk of our hotel. The hot sun was setting and it was a lot cooler. We checked out the action on the boardwalk. Lots of people and lots of noise and lots of music.
Boat Rentals on the Docks
We had planned to eat dinner at the Conch Republic, but Jeff had read good reviews about a restaurant called Pepe’s Cafe on Caroline Street. We walked past the old colorful BO’s Fish Wagon and walked into Pepe’s. The atmosphere is cozy and we both had really good dinners of steak and fresh grouper. Pepe’s bills itself as the “Eldest Eating House in the Florida Keys”.
Pepe’s Cafe
We walked back to the boardwalk and looked at the harbor at night and waited for the shuttle back to the hotel. It had been a full day and we were very tired. Key West is really a “happening place” and a lot of fun to visit!
