Key West Adventures - Day 116 to 121 - Key West Florida

My first impression of Key West was of a very touristy place.  There were three big cruise ships docked and hundreds (thousands?) of people on Duval Street.   But by evening the cruise ships left and KW became a laid back island again.

We stayed at A&B Marina right along the Harbor Walk and a block or two to Duval Street.

The first order of duty is to walk Kodi when we "land".   Immediately I saw pelicans sitting on the dock posts.  They are graceful in the air, swoop down fast for fish, and look fat and lazy when they are sitting on the posts.  I really like them!

Next surprise were the chickens.  I guess everyone else knows about the chickens on KW, but I didn't.  Of course, they drove Kodi wild!!

Reminiscent of Beatles Crossing Road

It is nice to see flowers in bloom all over in January.

The next day we walked to the Southernmost Point of the United States.  Wow.  Mile Marker 0.

It is the part of the island with nice beaches.  We had lunch at, what else, the Southernmost Cafe.

Kodi got to romp in a nearby dog park  ..  there were two sections, this one for small dogs.

Gosh we walked a lot over the next few days.  We went to Mallory Square almost every evening to see the sun set.  It is a combination of Washington Square in NYC and an island resort.  There are entertainers.

Lots of people.

Courtesy of Les taking pictures from dingy one night

And beautiful sunsets.

The two most notable attractions on Key West were the Little White House.

And the Hemingway House which he lived in from 1931 to 1939 when he got divorced from his second wife, Pauline.

There are still many descendants of Hemingway's polydachtal cat on the grounds.

After a couple of days, I gave in to doing what I thought was a really touristy "Conch Train" ride.

Actually, it turned out to be very interesting.  Seems many historic events happened on KW among which were:  interment of seamen from the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, the Union holding KW during the Civil War, of course WWI and II many pilots were trained from KW, there was the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Mariel Air Lift, and last but not least today's "War on Drugs."   KW has been a busy place!

This blog post doesn't even begin to capture the nightlife.    We took a picture of the oldest bar in KW where Hemingway hung out.

So readers, pack a couple of Hemingway novels, come down and enjoy the sun on KW, and sleep late after a night listening to music at Sloppy Joe's and drinking some rum and Coke.

Written by Diana.

ACTIVITIES BY DAY:

1/25 - Tuesday & Wednesday.  Exploring on foot, Southernmost point photo, discovered doggie park

1/27 - Thursday.  Mallory Square to see sunset that was hidden behind clouds, the Conch Tour

1/27 - Thursday.  LTS dingy exploration

1/28 - Friday.  Little White House, Hemingway House

1/29 - Saturday. Searching for a watch battery, Kodi's nails, Magnificent sunset from the water

1/30 - Sunday.  Long walk ending at Casa Marina