A day in Key West, Florida

 

“I want to get to Key West and away from it all.”

Ernest Hemingway

Key West, Florida is a magical, beautiful place that feels like you have left the US and went to some tropical Caribbean island. The island is full of palm trees loaded with coconuts and colorful tropical plants everywhere. The huge Banyan Trees are amazing to see as you walk through the town. The cute pastel painted cottages are well cared for by their owners,  Many homes had beautiful gardens and secluded pathways leading to their homes. Chickens and roosters strut by you as to impress as you walk down the roads as if they owned it. People seem more carefree and enjoying a leisurely life style here. It felt like everyone was on vacation.

Our cruise ship docked near Mallory Square early in the morning. We looked out over the quiet city which appeared nearly deserted. From our ship we had a great view of Mallory Square which was totally empty. That seemed so odd as every evening it becomes a virtual circus with all kinds of street performers who put on shows for tips till sundown. We have witnessed some great street performers here such as the Cat Man with his trained cats. I bet you didn’t realize house cats can be trained to do stunts and will even jump through hoops that are on fire if you feed them enough fresh fish. That was an amazing show. They also had great entertainers such as fire throwers, acrobatics, dancers, and so much more. As the sun is setting, many tall sailing ships sail in front of the sun setting up the most amazing pictures. It is a huge event to watch the sun disappear into the ocean and if you are lucky enough, you may see the green flash right after it goes beyond our site. Everyone cheers when then sun is set and it is great to be with people who truly love the beauty of Gods gift to us of a great sunset. But we were not to see this today as the cruise ships must leave long before the sunset so that all the spectators on shore can see this amazing event.

We headed off the ship with our friends Rusty and Diana to explore the island. We had two missions on our mind of what we wanted to see. One was to go to The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, and then go to Five Brothers, which is a local corner store that sells the best Cuban sandwiches. So off we went. We headed down Duval Street which is mostly closed up as it is so early. Then we head to the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street where we spotted the anchored concrete buoy that marks the most southern point in the continental US. It is only 18 feet above sea level and was placed there in 1983. It was painted by a local artist named Danny Acosta. We got in the picture line and since we got there so early it didn’t take any time till we were able to get our pictures taken in front of it.

Then just a short walk away was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory located at 1316 Duval Street. This needs to be put on your must see when you go to Key West. They have a temperature controlled rain forest environment for the butterflies. The butterflies were gorgeous with many different patterns and colors and put on quite a show for us.  They also had the most beautiful and colorful tropical plants intermingled with cascading waterfalls and small ponds. Two Caribbean flamingos, named Rhett and Scarlett were having quite the conversation as we walked around. Hundreds of beautiful butterflies entertained us and many landed on us as we walked down the narrow pathways. It was magical. If that wasn’t enough, there were some very exotic colorful birds that flew over us to include, Red Factor Canaries, Zebra Finches, and Cordon-Bleu Finches. We spent a good amount of time there as it was fascinating. There was also a beautiful gift shop.

The Oldest School House is located on the corner of Duval and Eaton Street. It is a beautiful building built in the classic Revival style. There is a historic plaque outside the house. It was built in 1838 and moved to this location in 1847 after a huge hurricane hit the island. It was first known as the Patterson – Baldwin House and is one of the oldest structures in Key West. A school bell hangs above the second story porch. Alexander Patterson (the mayor of Key West at the time) was the original owner. He later rented this home to Mr. and Mrs. Pinkney and the mayors sister, Madame Pasalogue began teaching children there. Since Florida did not organize public schools in Florida till the 1870’s, this was a remarkable feat.

Then we headed to the Historic Key West Cemetery. By this time, which was about 10:30 the day started to really heat up. It was getting very hot fast. Come to find out, this was record heat that day in early April. By the time we got to the cemetery, we were all hot and sweaty so we didn't spend as much time as we usually would in this 19 acre park that was established in 1847 as it felt like an oven . This is a very unique and intriguing cemetery where there are tombs above the ground since it is only 16 feet above sea level.  There are between 80,000 to 100,000 graves and they average about a 100 people who are buried here a year. One headstone in the cemetery dates as far back at 1792. The main entrance is on Angela and Margaret Street. We did enjoy seeing all the iguanas of various sizes running along the tombstones.

Opposite the cemetery is Five Brothers Coffee and Sandwich Shop. While in Key West, this is another must stop place. It is a corner store owned by a Cuban family who make the best Cuban sandwiches anywhere. They also serve delicious Cuban coffee and breakfast sandwiches. There is no seating here so you can either stand and eat or grab your sandwich and eat in a park somewhere. They also sell some very unique food and specialty items that you can not buy anywhere else such as hand rolled cigars. Five Brothers is located at 930 Southard Street.

Then we headed back toward Duval Street as I wanted to see Captain Tony’s, a pub which is located at the corner of Green and Duval. This is the oldest bar in Florida and once was the home of Sloppy Joe’s. Back in the day, Ernest Hemingway use to visit here to quench his thirst with a cold one most days. I had heard there was a large tree in the middle of the bar that was known as the hanging tree, and sure enough when we arrived, that was the first thing we spotted second only by the hanging bras and dollar bills. At one time, this tree was in a courtyard but latter they built the building around it. This building went through many changes as it was once said to be a morgue, a bordello, a telegraph office, a speakeasy, a cigar factory, and a pub.

While renovating this club in the 1980’s, they lifted up the floor boards and found 15 – 18 peoples skeletons. There are at least two gravestones in the bar. One was for Elvira Drew, who married young to an abusive husband. She later killed the husband and was put to death even though it was self defense. Reba Sawyer was another gravestone. After her death, her husband found letters between her and her lover who would meet at this bar. He became enraged and got her tombstone from the cemetery and put it in the bar exclaiming, “This is where she wanted to be so this is where she will stay.”

I loved the history of this place but in reality, it was dark, dirty, and dingy. We only stayed long enough to check it out and then left. We never even got a drink. But if you want to check it out, it is located at 428 Greene Street.

The beautiful brick building near Mallory Square located at 281 Front Street is the Key West Museum of Arts and History at the Custom House. It was built as the customs office, as well as postal service and district court. Back in 1828, Key West was designated as a US port of entry and soon became the busiest port in Florida bringing in loads of revenue. This original wooden building was too small for all the business it was doing so in 1885, they authorized a larger building to be built. They started building a brick building in its place and opened it in 1891. There were many flaws with the building but it stood for years before renovations. In 1993 a major renovation occurred and was completed in 1992. This is a gorgeous piece of architecture in Key West. Check it out.

The Strand is another unique building in town. It is located at 527 Duval Street as a movie theater but later became the home of Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. It was later sold and now is a Walgreen's Pharmacy. What a beautiful building.

If you are looking for decadence in town, there is plenty of that to see here as well. Here is just one example. Oh my.

There is so much more to see like the Ernest Hemingway House with all his polydactyl (five toed cats). That is also a must but we had done it before so we didn’t stop this time.There are also some of the best bars and restaurants anywhere both in town and along the waterfront.  Most places have live music. The beaches on Key West are rocky and not the best but the fishing is good. The water is a beautiful turquoise color and crystal clear. I hope you found this enjoyable and learned a little something about Key West. It is a great place to visit. Come down and sit a spell. Enjoy.

Till next time. Bye for now.