Key West with my sister

grandmaR

Last summer, my sister Barbara said that she had bid on a condo in Key West in a charity auction. She wanted us to stay down there with her in February 2011. So we drove down there for two days in her condo.

On the way down we stopped in Marathon for lunch at Keys Fisheries
This is a neat seafood place where you give your order in at the window and they ask you to give a name in some category. For singers, I said Freddie Mercury. There were some Dolly Partons and even a Caruso there. We both had a lobster roll, which is one of their specialties


and I had ice cream. We watched the carp and the pelicans while we ate. They had food for kids to feed the carp and one of them tried to nibble on a pelican's foot. The pelican didn't like it.

We got down to Key West and went through the condo gate when the gardening guy pulled in behind us and opened the gate because we couldn't back up with him behind us. We brought our luggage in, and my brother-in-law George returned his rental car and got $50 back because he turned it in early. The condo that Barbara had was on the 4th floor, but there was an elevator. It was near the airport and their unit looked out on the beach.


In the interior courtyard, there were tennis courts and also a heated pool which none of us took advantage of. The weather was beautiful and warm, unlike our visit in January, although it was still windy. The north wind was bringing armadas of Portuguese Man of War jellyfish and washing them onto the beach. They had wi-fi, but I could not log on to it so I had to do the internet on Barbara's computer when she wasn't using it.

Barbara had made dinner reservations at 7 Fishes which was on Thomas Street. My map had Thomas Street and Thompson Street mixed up which annoyed Bob. But we eventually got there and Bob let us off and parked. They opened at 6 and showed us to our table - I'm sure you could not have gotten another person in there. They had people sitting in front of one of the two doors.

Bob had the shrimp salsa appetizer for $9.00 (as an entree),


and I had the fresh fish entree (which was mahi) Barbara and George had the scallops. Then we shared a piece of strawberry whipped cream pie.

Our plans were constantly changing to accommodate conditions. Our plan for the first day was to eat a late breakfast at Blue Heaven and then tour Hemingway House. I haven't been since the 60s.

First we went to see our old house on Patterson Avenue where we lived 1966-1968, which we found without a problem as the church where my kids went to school was a good landmark.

House as it is now

The same house as it was in 1967

We tried to find the other house that we lived in for two months in 1961, but didn't recognize it. It wasn't until afterwards that I found that it was at Patterson and Fourth streets.

Then we went to try to find Blue Heaven, but my map had Thomas and Thompson streets reversed on it. When we got there. first we tried to go in the wrong door. When we found the gate, it was very crowded with a long (1.5 hour) wait. So we sat down to wait. George went out to intercept Bob who was parking the car. Barbara and I sat at the entrance and people watched. Here she is taking a photo of a cat




Eventually she went down to where George and Bob were and they also registered at the La Crêperie. However Barbara noticed that people were not being seated there any faster than at Blue Heaven, so she crossed our names off their list when we got seating at Blue Heaven.



Menu
Bob got banana bread and bacon. I got a fruit smoothie and a lobster omelet which was the special. B and G got the lobster eggs benedict.

grandmaR

Bob had observed that there were many cruise people in town and that the line for Hemingway house was around the block, so we scrapped that plan and went to the East Martello Museum instead.


First we looked at the Mario Sanchez pictures which are in the 'basement' in an A/C area. They are bas-relief, carved from wood and painted of scenes in Key West when Mario was a child (so about 1920).



and then we went around the rest of the museum. There was a big dollhouse



There were some exhibits that I don't remember seeing before - there was one about a creepy guy who had a crush on a younger woman and
after she died he was convinced that he could bring her back to life. They lived together as man an corpse from 1931 when she died until 1940.



The children's playhouse was still there




After a little siesta, we went to Mallory Square for the sunset celebration.

Instead of going to the city parking lot like I told them to, we parked at a $15 for all evening lot, and walked over.


I sat down near the sword swallower, while B, G and Bob wandered around. The cat trainer wasn't there and neither were any of the statute people. It was also a cloudless day so not as good a sunset as usual.


I think the photo I took a couple of years earlier was much better



And this one was from a cruise ship docked at the square

grandmaR

We had no plan for dinner, but B had seen Two Friends restaurant mentioned in the AAA book and since that was right next to the parking lot, we ate dinner there. I had conch fritters and gave Aunt B one to taste (Bob is allergic to them)


Bob had a half pound of shrimp and chicken tenders. B and G had the lobster.

The next day, B went out to walk on the beach and threw her back out. But about 8:30 we inserted her into the car and Bob drove us to Hemingway's house. He didn't go in as he said he had seen it. This is the famous urinal made into a cat drinking fountain


B and I took a photo of the same cat's foot (of Hemmingway's famous six toed cats) - she took the pad side and I took the top side.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for the next tour, so B went into the shop, and I did too but didn't buy anything.

The tour was very interesting


Pauline had a thing for chandeliers. This was the lighthouse from the balcony outside their bedroom. Hemingway complained that the lighthouse keeper was a peeping tom




and afterward I went to the cat cemetery and took a couple of photos.


We then drove down to the Key West historic marina area

grandmaR

and had lunch at the Turtle Kraal restaurant. I was astonished to find that the tower is no longer there. I had the chicken tortilla soup,



and B had the TK Signature Salad which had beef brisket in it. I think G had the tacos, and I had a BBQ sandwich. Bob had oysters. G saw the oysters were good and so
he had some too.


Then we were too full for dessert, so we went over to the turtle museum. This used to be free, but isn't anymore

B said to the man at the museum that we had lived there, and he misunderstood and tried to let us in for $2.00 the local rate instead of $3.00 for everyone else and Bob didn't want him to do that, so the upshot was that none of us paid.

We looked around and talked to the guy and he got out his dulcimers and played them and he told us his life story. He said he was trying to get a novel published, so B said she knew a good agent and gave him her card and told him to email her. Then we went back to the Turtle Kraal restaurant and had Key Lime pie because B said she hadn't had any yet.




For our last dinner we decided to try and find the Rusty Anchor Restaurant on Stock Island which we tried to find twice before when we had our boat at the marina on Stock Island, and failed both times - we just couldn't find it in the dark. B called for directions, and we tried to follow them. But even in the light the directions she got made no sense. So we just kind of bumbled around until we got there.



It turned out to be a good choice. I had the Mahi with rice and beans, B decided to try conch (not realizing that it would be fried), and Bob and George had the stone crab claws - George had the large and Bob had the medium.



They came cracked but with no additional eating tools other than the ordinary knife, fork and spoon. Then at the end Barbara had their Key Lime pie which was very good.. I had the ice cream.

The next day my granddaughter had a soccer game which was originally scheduled for 1:00 but it was rescheduled for Boca later in the afternoon. We left early and drove up to Miami. This is the old railroad bridge at Bahia Honda with the highway built on top of it - from the new highway




to make the rest of the trip with our daughter. We thought they might have done away with the Big Pine Swap Meet, but that is apparently still operating. There was also a big Nautical Swap Meet in Taverneir which held up traffic for a bit too

We lived in Key West for three years, and have spent several winters there, both on our boat and by car, plus we have visited several times by cruise ship so on this trip I really didn't take many photos actually of Key West. I didn't realize this until I got to the end of this trip report.

FlyNavy

Wow, Thanks for the great memories! I spent many weeks in Key West on weapons dets throughout my military flying career. Never had cruise ships visit in my day.

grandmaR

What time frame was that? Bob was with VX1 when it was in Key West from 1966 to the end of 1968. We went back to visit on our boat in the winter of 2000-2001 and again in 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. We spent two weeks there in a trailer on the Heliport in Jan 2005. Then in 2008 was our first visit on a cruise ship.

FlyNavy

'76-96. Always as a Carrier Air Group det. Sorry if we kept you up late at night!

grandmaR

-- when Bob went through Flight Training in Pensacola, we had an apartment in Beach Haven right under the flight path of the jets practicing their touch and go's.

But I think you were there between times we were. We did have our boat at the Boca Chica marina for a couple of weeks in 2001.

There were some changes between 1969 and 2000 of course. But I did find where the old Commissary was - it is now a government office building. They've made the enlisted pool on the Heliport where I used to teach swimming into a water park

Ed911

Nice images. My wife and I visit every year. If any of you guys or gals happen to be there around breakfast time...Pepe's is a great place to eat. We went in March/April and I've been meaning to post some pictures...maybe I'll get around to it...sometime this month.

Key West is one of our favorite places to visit. We love people watching and taking pictures there.

And, if I'm not mistaken, those aren't carp, they're tarpon swimming around the docks and marinas in Key West.

grandmaR

Yes you are right - I am not a fisherman. But it was Marathon and not Key West.

Ed911

grandmaR wrote: »

Yes you are right - I am not a fisherman. But it was Marathon and not Key West.

Oops, missed the location in one of the previous photos. The water and fish all look the same...lol..

We're planning to visit South Beach again in September and will probably find out way out to Key West again. It's such a wonderful place.

Thanks for Sharing.