{"id":2356,"date":"2011-04-22T17:48:28","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T22:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=2356"},"modified":"2011-12-06T16:02:32","modified_gmt":"2011-12-06T21:02:32","slug":"exploring-key-west-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=2356","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Key West, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, April 22, 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

We checked out of the hotel in Key Largo relatively early and drove south on the Overseas Highway to Key West.\u00a0 We had a reservation for one of the last rooms at a Marriott on the edge of the city.\u00a0 It was Easter Weekend and there were very few decent hotel rooms available at reasonable rates.\u00a0 The drive in brilliant sunshine between Key Largo and Key West took two and a half hours.\u00a0 The water on both sides of the highway was multi-colored green and blue.\u00a0 It was a beautiful “summer” day!\u00a0 It was hard to believe that it was only April!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Beach Behind the Hotel<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Oh well, last minute holiday reservations; live and learn.\u00a0 It was just a clean place to sleep. \u00a0I have to remember second floors in tropical places.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Traditional Key West Architecture<\/span><\/p>\n

We drove to the center of the historic district near the harbor and found a parking lot for the car.\u00a0 We noticed that there were several places for cars and a wide range of fees.\u00a0 We wanted to explore Duval Street, so we walked in that direction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Interesting Antique Shop<\/p>\n

The streets have girl’s names like Elizabeth, Caroline, Margaret, etc. and I wondered who they were named for.\u00a0 The names of the streets were written vertically on cement posts on some corners, so relying on street signs was difficult.\u00a0 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Key Lime Pie Shop<\/span><\/p>\n

First we went to the famous monument which looks like a multi-colored buoy, marking the southern most point in the continental United States.\u00a0 Groups of people were lined up waiting their turns to take their own photos with the monument.\u00a0 It was cute the way people would ask the people behind them to take a group shot of their families.\u00a0 The line was long, so I took a quick photo of the marker alone between families.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Southern-Most Point in the United States<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 You get the idea….\u00a0 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Southern-Most House in the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to see Ernest Hemingway’s house which I had read was nearby.\u00a0 We walked down Duval Street away from the touristy harbor.\u00a0 It was lunch time and we stopped by a small sandwich shop called the Six-Toed Cat.\u00a0 It had interesting paintings of cats on the walls and excellent limeade.\u00a0 Although the restaurant had tables outside, we ate in the cool of the air conditioned room. \u00a0Outside, it was about 87 degrees, humid, and away from the water there was no breeze.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Six-Toed Cat Cafe<\/span><\/p>\n

Hemingway’s house is just down the street.\u00a0 It has a brick wall surrounding the house and grounds.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He directed us to the parlor and said the tour would begin in four minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ernest Hemingway’s House<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know why or how, but I was an Ernest Hemingway fan in high school.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It was an incongruent match for a young, naive New York City high-school girl and the hard-drinking, hunting, deep-sea fishing outdoorsman.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I thought it would be interesting to visit his house.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hemingway’s Dining Room<\/span><\/p>\n

The Southern greeter conducted the tour and told our small group many amusing stories about Hemingway’s life and loves.\u00a0 There are 44 six-toed cats living on the grounds which are descended from Hemingway’s cat named Snowball.\u00a0 As visitors walk around the beautiful tropical grounds, there are cats sleeping everywhere!\u00a0 It was an interesting tour and our guide was a good story-teller.\u00a0 His deep Missouri drawl and pauses, enhanced each tale. \u00a0The 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.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hemingway’s Study<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 We saw Hemingway’s library\/study on the second floor of a guest house, where he wrote nine of his most famous books.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 (This entry, to this point is about 700 words.\u00a0 It doesn’t seem like much!)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of the 44 Six-Toed Cats<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff had read about several of the famous (and infamous) bars and wanted to visit them, so we walked back up Duval Street.\u00a0 We peeked into all the best-known watering holes: Sloppy Joe’s, Hog’s Breath Saloon, Rick’s Bar, and Captain Tony’s Saloon. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Local Entertainment<\/p>\n

Yes, all the bars were full of noisy people on this Friday afternoon at 3:30.\u00a0 Live music pulsated out onto the sidewalks.\u00a0 Bars line both sides of Duval and the side streets for many blocks.\u00a0 We decided that Key West must be a wild place at night!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Duval Street with Tourists<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Afterward, we were getting tired from walking and the heat and we found a relatively quiet place that sold soft drinks.\u00a0 We sat in the shade and sipped our Cokes and felt a bit refreshed.\u00a0 Then we walked back to the car along a street near the harbor where it was a little cooler.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

We drove back to the hotel to rest and take showers to cool off.\u00a0 A couple of hours later we hopped on the hotel shuttle which took us to the center of Key West.\u00a0 This was a nice perk of our hotel.\u00a0 The hot sun was setting and it was a lot cooler.\u00a0 We checked out the action on the boardwalk.\u00a0 Lots of people and lots of noise and lots of music.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Boat Rentals on the Docks<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 We walked past the old colorful BO’s Fish Wagon and walked into Pepe’s.\u00a0 The atmosphere is cozy and we both had really good dinners of steak and fresh grouper. \u00a0Pepe’s bills itself as the “Eldest Eating House in the Florida Keys”. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pepe’s Cafe<\/span><\/p>\n

We walked back to the boardwalk and looked at the harbor at night and waited for the shuttle back to the hotel.\u00a0 It had been a full day and we were very tired.\u00a0 Key West is really a “happening place” and a lot of fun to visit!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
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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.\u00a0 We had a reservation for one of the last rooms at a Marriott on the edge of the city.\u00a0 It was Easter Weekend and there were very few decent hotel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,18,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eastern-united-states","category-florida","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2356"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3671,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions\/3671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}