An Afternoon in Key West, Florida

Duval Street is the go-to Key West area for galleries and shops that, for the most part, don’t sell 4 for $20 t-shirts.  If you’re looking for locally made art, Duval Street is a good place to start.

We had brunch at a cute little French bistro on Duval Street that’s known for their breakfasts and crepes, The Banana Cafe.  A casual and airy atmosphere, with hanging plants to give the feel of an outdoor patio, this place is perfect for a meal that isn’t laden with slabs of meat, dinner plate-sized omelettes, gigantic biscuits, and waaaay too much food.  Those kinds of meals may have their place, but loading up isn’t a good idea when the plan is to leisurely stroll around, window shopping and gallery admiring.

 

 

 

 

 

Key West isn’t known for its beaches, mostly because there aren’t all that many.  South Beach was nearby, so we walked over to check it out.

 

 

The beach was nice, but it was small and quite occupied, so we stayed on the pier.  I’ve seen pelicans eat plenty of times, but it still amuses me to watch them slam headfirst in the water.

 

 

From South Beach we drove over to Fort Zachary Taylor, which I’ll write about in a separate post.

We just had to see at another iconic Key West stop, the origin of Florida’s Highway 1.

 

 

I would imagine California’s Highway 1 has something similar in San Diego, but I’ve never even thought to go looking for it.  I will now!

We decided against taking the time to tour Ernest Hemingway’s house this trip, but we did stop by to at least see it.

 

 

 

After a hot, sunny afternoon at Fort Zachary Taylor, it was time for a refreshing beverage.  Time to check out more well-known historic adult beverage establishments!  Key West has no shortage of them.

Captain Tony’s is as old-school as they come, but it was far too smokey for me to stay long.  But still, I managed to capture the feel of the place.  Think old sailors and aged locals, and you’ll get the drift.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, since I couldn’t stay in Captain Tony’s because I’m so doggone fond of breathing, we went back to our now “usual” place, Sloppy Joes.  As usual, we hovered over a group that appeared to be leaving soon in order to snag their table.

 

A couple of random stops along our way:

 

 

 

There’s another pic of Steve with Marilyn, but I’ll show that one to you when I see you, if you know what I mean.

 

 

 

 

 

I have a sterling silver charm bracelet my aunt started for me when I was 10 years old.  I have been adding to it ever since.  Jill and I found a street vendor selling sterling silver, I picked up a charm, she picked up a souvenir of her own.

We kept hearing about Mallory Square, so we ventured over to check it out.  On our way we saw something that I thought only existed in San Diego.  Ours is located next to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier permanently docked in San Diego, and turned into a top-of-the-line museum experience.

On a side note:  My close friend, Ann, has volunteered at the Midway for years, it’s very near and dear to her. Her husband, Henry, is a high-ranking officer in the Navy.  We San Diegans love our military.  Steve and I have the utmost appreciation for those who serve or have served, AND their families.  Commitment, risk, and sacrifice.

So, back to what we saw in Key West that I thought only existed in San Diego.  This:

 

 

“Unconditional Surrender” aka “The Kiss” is a very famous WWII photograph taken in Times Square.  Victory over Japan was announced (V-J Day), and a sailor grabbed a nurse he had never met, and the rest is history.  What you see above is a statue modeled after the photograph.

We have one next to the USS Midway that doomed to go, and passionately fought to keep.  Many a great debate over love it or hate it happened to the (at the time) temporary one in San Diego.  Only when it was announced it would be dismantled and gone forever did the community outcry illustrate just how beloved our giant sculpture had become.  Donations flooded in, and our controversial statue is there to stay.

 

 

So, Mallory Square was a bit of a disappointment to us originally.  It’s the original part of Key West that dates back to the early days of first being a port of call.  Now it seemed ready made for tourists arriving in port off a cruise ship.  What we thought was, “It has its place, for sure, and if we were traveling with kids, this may have been a single-stop-cover-it-all kind of place.”  The trolleys begin their tours in Mallory Square, there’s cart vendors, ice cream, shell shops, eateries, and a little amusement type attraction.  If you want to buy shells from Key West, I wish you all the best.  Even the sand is mostly imported from Barbados.  There’s coral, yes, but shells and sand, not so much.  If you’re with a little one, though, and they see a pretty shell they like, they will always remember Key West each time they see their shell, so go for it.  It’s memories you’re creating, right?

What we didn’t know is the small area with the large “Mallory Square” sign isn’t the whole of Mallory Square.  There’s museums, shops, and restaurants surrounding the little area we thought was the entire square.  Ohhhh!  That makes more sense now!  We didn’t take in the famous Mallory Square Sunset Celebration this trip, but it’s on our list for next time.

 

 

Last stop on our historic bar check list was Hog’s Breath Saloon.  Hog’s Breath has two outdoor patio areas with a bar, and an indoor saloon with seating.  All the tables and barstools were occupied outside, so we made ourselves comfortable inside, and ordered a drink.  There’s live webcams place throughout, and I thought it would be fun to wave to our family.  Doggone the time difference!  All our kids were at work, and by the time they responded my 30 seconds on camera were long gone.  Maybe next time they’ll be the ones on camera, and I’ll be the one at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One drink to check this off our list, and we’re off to dinner.

Louie’s Backyard is another of Jill’s discoveries.  It’s on the east side of town, on the water, and really lovely.  The restaurant was fully booked, but there’s an upstairs wine bar and bistro, Café at Louie’s .  We went upstairs and were greeted by a light breeze, a beautiful view, delicious small plates of food (none of us were hungry enough for a full meal anyway), and attentive service.  PERFECT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the coach, we took in the end of a stunning sunset before calling it a night.

 

 

Keep looking up 🙂