Key West, Final Thoughts

Before I forget, I must mention that we had our last evening meal at Louie's Backyard.  This is located very close to the Casa Marina.  We ate our evening meals close to the hotel.  We also usually weren't very hungry.  This is due to the late hearty breakfasts and lunches.  By the time, supper time arrived we weren't very hungry.  We also knew that we must save room for the delicious bedtime snacks of chocolate brownies and gelato that we had discovered in the lobby gift shop.  Frequently ordered appetizers only at the dinner hour.  The same is true of Louie's Backyard.  They have a delightful Upper Deck that opens in the middle of the afternoon and does not require reservations.  They do have some plates but we ordered small plates and a nice drink.

View from our table on the Upper Deck

My key lime vodka martini

My pink shrimp with mango cocktail sauce and James's cheese board (both were delicious)

I cannot say enough good things about the hotel that we stayed in.  It was not inexpensive but price was greatly reduced when we combined booking of the flight and hotel at the same time.  We were in room 316 which had a large balcony.  Our balcony was set at an angle.  We could look straight towards the Atlantic or off towards all those things happening on the beach.  We drank our morning espresso and are evening drink on the balcony.  Every time we walked into the room we always opened the door and stepped out.  Even if we were going to leave again shortly.  I think the room below ours would have been too close to the ground but the room above would probably have had a better view of things.

Pelican sitting on the railing of one of the hotel piers.

Trees were just so unusual.  I think this is part of the root system.

Couple of gals paddle boarding.  I believe one of them was an instructor.  Looked like hard work.

The person to the far right is James.  Walking to board the plane home.

Trip home was fairly uneventful.  We did have some turbulence.  A funny thing, well not so funny if you were James.  He was wanting to use the facilities at the back of the plane.  First time he got up, seat belt sign was still lighted.  Back he came.  Light went off and once again he headed to the back of the plane.  Just after he was in the bathroom, light came on that said return to your seat.  Of course, the plane was bumping all over everywhere.  (Probably not very bad but I hated it).  Third time was the charm.  We arrived in KC right on time.  Hampton shuttle arrived quickly to pick us up and return us to our car.  We did enjoy visiting with the other shuttle passengers. One couple had been to Marco Island which is close to Naples and the Everglades.  I think this might be a good destination for us in the future.  We were back in Lawrence around 7.  As always, it is good to be home.  I do look forward to our next adventure.

Key West, 5th and final day

We had saved some very fun things to do today.  But as usual we started slowly then meandered down to Duval to reach the Croissants de France restaurant.  We both had what they called a fruit bowl with a butter croissant and fresh squeezed orange juice.  That croissant was delicious and we enjoyed the fruit as well.  There was so much fruit left-over that we actually carried that back to the room refrigerator.  I think I will try to get us to eat this before we go to breakfast in the hotel in the morning.  Although I have been eating very well, not always very healthy.  My digestive track was suggesting I needed to do something about that.  All is good once again.

We had thought before we ever left Lawrence that we should ride a bicycle around the island.  Well, we didn't get that quite done as that took us through the really busy old town area which has very few sidewalks that are good for a very inexperienced bicycle rider.  After all, it has been decades since I rode one.  But we did ride for 2 to 3 hours and enjoyed everything we saw.  There is a wide sidewalk for pedestrians and bicyclists.  I only crashed once.  I know, how embarrassing.  Two very nice bicyclists behind us stopped to check on me.  They told me I was blown over and it was not my poor riding skills.   That is probably what happened as it was extremely windy.  Might have thought we were in Kansas.  The bicycle sidewalk took us through the area of Key West where the locals live.  We saw Sears, McDonalds, Wendy's, Dunkin' Donuts, and a Nissan car dealer.  We also rode by an area where there were houseboats.  Like a little community in the water.  We also rode through the cemetery which is above ground with lots of history.

Houseboats

Key West Cemetery

 After returning our bikes, we are quite the attractive couple.

Finally, it was time to get on the swimsuit I invested in and put my feet in the water.  I convinced James to come with me.  He did not get off his lounge but we both thought it felt pretty good to being laying in the warm sunshine.  Couldn't stay too long as we didn't want to get burned.  I love watching all the activities in the water,  Not only the humans on jet skis, sailboats, and catamarans, but all the bird life as they jump around on the shore as well as the rocks.  The pelicans look majestic as they fly past looking for a bite in the ocean.  

That's our hotel in the background.

Sand bottle being created.

Sand mermaid needing some repair work.

All in all, we have had a great time.  Unfortunately, we need to get on a plane in the morning and return to the great state of Kansas.  I have watched the forecast and I do believe we are going to be welcomed with cold weather.  But sunshine forecast for most days.  I will post some final thoughts after we have been home for a day or two.

Key West, Day 4, Still lots of tourists

We foolishly thought there might be less tourists in town today.  And this morning as we walked Duval, there were less.  I think the weekend visitors to include the 6,000 bicyclists are gone.  But there are two giant cruise ship sitting at the dock.  I think that every passenger must have disembarked to wander around Key West.  As we slowly walked down Duval from the gulf side of the island to the Atlantic side of the island, the crowds thinned out.

This morning we stopped once again at Banana Cafe for breakfast.  It is just a nice little spot.  Unfortunately, the tables on the porch were full.  But once again we were able to be seated immediately.  After a large fruit salad which we shared, James once again had bacon, eggs, and toast.  I had a bagel with salmon and capers.  As you will see from the photo, there was enough for 3 of me.  Couldn't even eat all of it.  I felt bad about that.

After breakfast, we then just started walking.  Not sure where we were going to go.  Decided to walk into Bahama Village for a bit.  I learned on our trolley tour the reason this is called Bahama Village is because there was no lumber on the Key West island, so the Bahamians took apart their homes and moved them when the came to Florida.  We didn't stay long. 

Thought you shoud see a rooster.  We saw this one on our way into Bahama Village.

 This mural was on a building in the Bahama Village.

Then a quick swing thru part of the Truman Annex (there are some lovely homes in this area) towards Fort Fort Zachary Taylor Park but soon headed back to Whitehead and down towards the aquarium which we toured.  

Baby shark at the acquarium.

Then headed over to the Mel Fisher Marine Heritage Museum.  Very interesting and reminded me of the Steamboat Arabia Museum in the KC City Market.  I believe the Arabia exhibit was much better.  Definitely different kinds of treasures were found with each ship wreck.  

We were fortunate that we discovered it had been raining while we were in this museum.  This is the only rain we had today.  Key West was predicted to have 60 percent chance of rain today.  That is the only time it rained all day although it had rained during the night.  Our balcony was wet when we sat out for our morning expresso.  There's an expresso machine in our room.  One of the features that we really like about this place. 

After those two items, we found a place for lunch.  James picked the place.  Fogarty's.  I was excited as I could get peel and eat shrimp with cocktail sauce.  To my surprise, James ordered the same thing so we just got one order of a 1/2 pound of shrimp.  It was the perfect amount for lunch.

Don't think I can eat shrimp too many times while I am in Key West.

We then headed down Duval towards the gulf and our hotel.  I had been seeing some shirts made in Nepal at many of the stores.  I love them because they are so colorful.  Broke down and bought myself one.  I needed a souvenir.  We also stopped at Kermit's Key Lime shop for a couple of pieces of pie.  Brought those back and put them in the refrigerator for our bedtime snack.  Then we headed back to the butterfly conservatory.  I am so glad we went in here.  Not terribly expensive and the butterflies, birds, and plants were just awesome.  

 We learned that flamingoes have been around 500 million years.  These two were brought in from the Everglades.  They were injured and are no longer able to fly.  They were gorgeous.

Back for happy hour at the hotel and then off to supper at Salute.  Second time we have eaten here but it is close and the food is great.  It is right on the beach.  As we ate, we were entertained with a parasailer on the water and a sand volleyball match going next to the restaurant.  A perfect place to eat in Key West.  Once again another great day.

Key West, Day 3, Beautiful day

We finally felt like we could find our way around without going nuts.  We tend to do that when we don't know what we are doing.  Once again, started the day slowly.  After cleaning up, decided to head out with our first stop at the most southern point in the United States.

I don't think I have mentioned that the Ragnar Relay between Miami and Key West was happening.  6,000 runners with many vans started pulling into Key West Saturday morning.  If you want specifics, here is a link for you to check out what was going on.

https://www.ragnarrelay.com/ragnar

I mention as there was a team in front of us and a team behind us at the southern most point.  It was interesting to hear them talk about the run.  One of the team members behind us kindly took our photo.

Every tourist must get their photo take here.  Then we headed down Duval Street looking for the Banana Cafe for breakfast.  They had regular bacon, eggs, and toast breakfasts as well as crepes filled with all sorts of good things.  The interesting thing about this was that we were entertained by a hen and her chicks while waiting for our food.  Key West is a bird sanctuary and all birds are allowed to run free.  This next photo I took from our table on the porch.  The locals are not fond of the chickens.  I am sure there are more hens than roosters but one sees many more roosters.  They seem to make noise all day long.

When done we headed on down Duval Street going in and out of quite a few shops deciding to indulge in our first piece of Key Lime pie.  We shared.  It was then onto the Hemingway House.  Very interesting and James was very impressed with the writing studio he had.  Hemingway could access it with a cat walk between his bedroom and the studio until it was blown down in one of the hurricanes.  It was never repaired.  

James as we were entering the grounds.

James on the bedroom balcony looking towards the building with Hemingway's writing studio.

 Hemingway's writing studio.

 This one intrigues me.  It was in the gardens and that plant was held on by an old stocking.  Hmmm?

We then ventured on over to the Truman Little White House.  The Truman facilities are just well done.  We sure enjoyed his library in Independence, Missouri.  This was just as well done.  If you look closely among the leaves you will see the red, white, and blue flags decorating this house.

We lunched at Kelley's Caribbean Bar and Grill for lunch.  We then headed back down Duval Street and the Casa Marina.  It was four o'clock and our legs were getting tired.  Not sure what we are going to do for supper but know what we are having for dessert.

Key West, Day 2, Island time

We definitely had a great day.  We have learned about Island time and are adjusting quite nicely.  It started by getting out of bed late, lazily sitting on our balcony watching the waves and people.  We eventually decided we were hungry.  Cleaned up and decide to walk to our breakfast destination.  Might have been a small mistake as James seems to have some blisters from all our moving yesterday.  Anyway, we arrived in Old Town at the Sippin' Coffee House.  Had a delicious breakfast sammy while eating on the porch.  Nice.  We then decided to take the Cityview Trolley.  This cost both of us $42 for all day on and off the trolley at any scheduled stop plus we get the second day free.  We will use this again tomorrow.  We got on and off a couple of times.  Did some shopping but not on Duval Street.  Did pick up the cherished shot glass as well as a refrigerator magnet on Mallory Square.  We also ate a mid-afternoon snack at the Boat House on the wharf.  James had a beer while I drank lemonade.  We also enjoyed our first pink shrimp since arriving.  I intend to have pink shrimp several more times before we leave Key West.

After our mid-afternoon snack, we decided to walk over to the Eco-Discovery center.  It was interesting but maybe not as interesting as our trolley driver suggested.  I am glad that we visited, though.  On our way we walked thru the Truman Annex.  Looks like a very interesting location.  Tomorrow we hope to visit again as well as going thru the Little Truman White House.  We then caught another trolley back to stop 4 near Higgs Beach where we got off.  This is located very close to our hotel.  I am including a few more snaps from today.  May add a bit more after we eat at the Sun Sun Beach Bar and Grill.  This is one of the Casa Marina's restaurants.

Interesting sidewalk art that we saw as we walked to the Sippin Coffe House.

Close to The Boat House where we ate our afternoon snack.

Banyon tree we saw on our walk to the Eco-Discovery Center.

 Schfflera plant like the one I grown in our home.  Although this one is much larger.

Supper was okay but not outstanding.  I had pan seared scallops and James had Conch Fritters.  These were both appetizers and we seemed to have plenty to eat.  Had to leave room for the delicious chocolate brownies we discovered in the lobby gift shop.  First night just brownies.  Last night we had chocolate ice to our brownies.  Yummy good.

Key West, Day 1, Travel Day

Our day started very early.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn close to the KC airport.  The idea was we could leave our car parked there and just ride their shuttle over.  We needed the 6:30 shuttle to be at the airport by 7 am.  Plane was scheduled to depart at 8:10.  Which it did.  But the 6:30 shuttle was full so we had to take the 6 am shuttle.  Needed to get up at 5 am to be ready.  We could have done the same thing from Lawrence and made our flight very easily.  If we ever do that again, we shall call ahead to make sure we are on the shuttle we want.  Landed in Atlanta on time.  The gate for our next departure was close by.  We were lazily eating a sandwich that we had picked up at the TGIF To Go store close to the gate.  Pretty good.  Glanced at my phone.  Guess what, they had moved our departure gate from B10 to F3.  The only way it could have been further is if we had been assigned to F1.  We scurred along and discovered a train. What an experience.  Sudden stops and starts.  We got off at the end of that line.  Wish we had waited to eat.  This was in the international section of the airport and could have had sandwich from a French bakery.  Too bad although the sandwich we had was good.

On the plane from KC to Atlanta

Arrived in Key west right on time.  Couldn't believe.  We had to get off the plane via a stairway. After leaving the plane, we actually had to stop and wait on a plane to depart.  First half of the passengers got off in time.  I hope never to see anything like this.  Well, I guess if I come to Key West again, it would be okay.

Passengers departing from our plane.

 Tail of departing plane we had to wait on.

Took a bit for the luggage to get to the terminal then off to catch a cab to our hotel, Casa Marina.  We had a cabbie that was full of information.  Not sure how accurate everything was that he told us but it was fun to hear what he had to say.  We paid $9/person plus a tip.  Probably a 10 minute trip.  This hotel is delightful.  Our room is very large.  We have an ocean view room which is wonderful.  A small balcony which overlooks the beach.  I am sure the beach is man-made but still wonderful.  I can actually see Hemingway staying in this place.  For as old as this hotel is, the amenities are great.  

Once we were settled we were off to find a few necessities.  Forgot toothpaste and body lotion.  We also needed some wine and bourbon.  Found two small stores about a half mile away.  Walked by the Salute Restaurante On the Beach to and from.  Decided it would be a great place for supper.  Dropped our things off in the room, quick happy hour on the balcony, then back to eat.  Did call and make reservations which would probably be a good thing to do most of the time.  The restaurant was full.  I had delicious blackened grouper with a creamy mustard sauce, wonderful salad, and a potato pancake.  James had a pasta dish which had both chicken and shrimp.  

Back to the hotel to watch a Netflix movie (thanks to the staff member who showed us how to manipulate the inputs on the TV) and off to sleep.  Our first day was a definite success.