Changes in Latitude

Saturday

Our early morning flight landed in Key West at 8:30 and we were at our hotel by 9. On our last three trips, we stayed at Chris’s house over by the cemetery, but a couple of weeks ago, we found out that the house was unexpectedly unavailable. So… a quick change of plans and we booked a room at the Southernmost Beach Resort at the south end of Duval Street. I was a little bummed about missing the convenience of the house but also excited to be staying in a different part of Key West and trying out new restaurants and bars.

Since it was so early, our room at Southernmost wasn’t ready, but the super-friendly front desk staff held our bags while we went off to explore. First we walked around the resort property, which was spread out over a couple of blocks and ended at South Beach. The resort was made up of half a dozen buildings, all painted pale yellow or blue with metal roofs and white wooden porches which gave them a unified and cottage-y feel. There were three pools and three bars, plus a sun bathing pier and hammocks overlooking the beach. Although South Beach is public, Southernmost resort guests could use the beach chairs and umbrellas for free. Ron and I stopped at the Southernmost Beach Café for a drink, where I had my first of many mojitos. I love a good mojito and Key West is the perfect place for sampling. I ordered a grapefruit mojito, which was refreshing on the already-hot morning. I noticed that our drinks came with paper straws instead of plastic. Earlier this year, many of the businesses in Key West pledged to participate in Reef Relief’s “Skip the Straw” campaign, providing straws only on request or switching to paper. After visiting the Turtle Hospital in Marathon last year and seeing how much plastic is ingested by sea turtles, I thought this was great.

Southernmost Beach Resort

Southernmost Beach Cafe

Southernmost House

By the time we had finished our drinks, our room was ready so we checked in and carted our bags down to the room to unpack. We had booked the cheapest room, so I was pleasantly surprised at how large and comfortable it was. It had a huge flat screen TV, mini-fridge, coffee maker, plenty of big fluffy towels and robes in the closet. Even though the room faced the parking lot off United Street, the line of privacy trees and the wide “front porch” kept it was very quiet.

Eaton Bikes had dropped off our rental bikes at the hotel so once we settled our stuff into the room, we took a ride to the other end of Duval for lunch at Amigos Tortilla Bar, a plate a carnitas tacos with a side of avocado. It was starting to get really hot and since we were both tired from being up early, we decided to spend the afternoon relaxing back at the hotel, Ron napping in the room while I read by the “Pineapple Pool”.

Amigos Tortilla Bar

We had an early dinner at the Blue Macaw in the Bahama Village, listening to a Caribbean trio sing Mento music and taking advantage of the Happy Hour half-price apps. One nice thing about Key West is that there are so many great food options but you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money. There are all kinds of specials during Happy Hour, and Trip Advisor’s Key West forum has a really helpful compilation here: The Community Key West Happy Hour List.

When we were done with our appetizer dinner, we rode the bikes to Truman Waterfront Park to watch the sunset from the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. Ingham was in service from 1936 to 1988 and is the only cutter to be awarded two Presidential Unit Citations. Now a floating museum, the ship can be toured during the day, and on Friday and Saturday nights, the deck is open for a sunset Happy Hour. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a sunset that night because it was really cloudy, but it was still neat being onboard the ship. We’ll definitely have to go back for a full tour some other time. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Mr Z’s on Southard to pick up a Philly cheesesteak for Ron. While I waited outside with the bikes, a woman walked by dressed like a normal tourist in a cute sundress except she was carrying the biggest chicken I have ever seen! I would have loved to hear the story behind that. Was the chicken a pet? Was it dinner? You never know what you are going to see in Key West.

Blue Macaw

USCGC Ingham

Sunday

The next morning, we had our dolphin watch and snorkel tour with Honest Eco. There’s something about knowing I have to be somewhere at a certain time in the morning that makes it impossible for me to sleep. So of course, I was wide awake at 4 AM. Ugh! We met for the tour at the seaport at 9:15.  It turned out that there were only two other people on the tour with us, a couple from Germany. With it being Father’s Day, I couldn’t help thinking about Daddy and how much he would have loved speaking German with them. He was so good with languages. Has he really been gone a year? It’s so hard to believe.

historic seaport

our dolphin watch boat, the Patty C.

Melanie was our captain, crew and guide for the tour. She gave us a quick briefing and then we were off to the “dolphin playground”, a sandy shallow area about ten miles off of Key West. It was a lovely, calm day, perfect for dolphin spotting, and we all kept our eyes peeled for signs of dorsal fins breaking the surface. I spotted the first one, a dolphin leaping out of the water in the distance. Melanie turned the boat in that direction and we soon came upon a pod of four or five dolphins who swam over to say hello. There were dolphins all over, playing and splashing in small groups. Melanie said that the dolphins lived there year round and did not migrate. Baby dolphins stayed with their mother for their first four years and then the males would find another male dolphin and become buddies for life. Apparently it takes two males to mate with a female – something about needing a headboard? :-)  That was new information to me!

At around 11 o’clock, we left the dolphin playground and rode over to the snorkeling spot, close to a small island. There was a lot to see – the usual parrot and butterfly fish and dozens of big Southern stingrays resting on the sandy bottom. Ron was great at spotting lobster and he pointed out three or four. We even saw a couple of hogfish, including one HUGE one. Even Melanie was impressed by the size of that guy. Back on the boat, Melanie cut up some fresh pineapple for a snack and then we motored back to port. When we passed by the dolphin playground again, a mama and baby dolphin followed our boat for a bit. What a neat tour.

Melanie on the lookout

After lunch and a nap and shower at the hotel, we wandered a couple of blocks down Duval Street to check out a new bar (for us), the Rum Bar, a tiny, friendly bar which specialized in rum drinks, housed in the lobby of the Speakeasy Inn. Of course, I had my usual mojito but Ron branched out and tried a Dark and Stormy. Captain, the plump resident cat, kept us company on one of the bar stools. We had dinner that night at Mangia Mangia and then rode down to Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration. It was another cloudy night but we still enjoyed the people-watching and the sailboats on their sunset cruises. Joining the fleet of sailboats were two floating tiki bars making circles around Sunset Key. Now there’s something you don’t see every day!

the Rum Bar

Captain

Monday

Monday was our “explore the island” day. You’d think that after a dozen visits to Key West, we would have seen all there was to see, but we keep discovering new things each trip. After breakfast at Blue Heaven, we rode the bikes to Smathers Beach, the farthest beach from Old Town. It was a very pretty beach except, wow, there was a lot of seaweed! We walked around the beach a bit and then headed back towards town, stopping at Higgs Beach to see the small African Cemetery. In 1860, three slave ships on their way to Cuba were intercepted by the US Navy and brought to Key West. The Key West community fed and sheltered the 1500 refugees but despite their efforts, almost 300 died from the inhumane conditions they had faced on the ships. Over time, the exact location of their burial ground was forgotten but in 2002, graves were discovered using ground-penetrating radar and the area was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Smathers Beach

sea turtle nest

African Cemetery at Higgs Beach

Next to the cemetery was the West Martello Tower, one of three Civil War era fortifications built on Key West and now home to the Key West Garden Club. We walked around the remnants of the fort, enjoying the quiet tranquility of the gardens. The trees and plants at the tower had taken a huge hit during Hurricane Irma last year but everything had been restored beautifully. This was our first trip back to the Keys since Irma and I’d been curious to see if things had changed. But apart from some missing large trees, Key West looked the same as it always had. Everything was lush and green and the bright orange flowers on the Royal Poinciana were in full bloom. The only difference I noticed was that the roads seemed in worse shape. I don’t have much natural “padding” and after bumping over potholes on a bike for three days, I figured I’d have to sit on a pillow when I got back to work. :-)

West Martello Tower and Joe Allen Gardens

Clouds were starting to build as we rode back into town. We ate lunch at Garbo’s Grill and had just been seated at an outside table at the Grand Café for a mojito “dessert” when it started pouring rain. Fortunately, we were under a big umbrella, which kept us (mostly) dry. We waited for the shower to pass and then walked up Duval to the Guild Hall Gallery, a gallery for local artists. I saw some prints there last year that I loved and I’d been kicking myself ever since for not buying anything. After a little browsing, I settled on a painting of the Key West lighthouse by artist Susan O’Neill. It’s always nice to have a little piece of vacation to bring home with you.

Once the rain and clouds cleared out, we spent the afternoon lounging by the “Shores Pool” at the hotel, then went to dinner at El Siboney, a Cuban restaurant that was a bit off the touristy path and always seemed to be packed with locals. Ron and I shared a plate of ropa vieja with rice and beans and fried plantains, which was more than enough for both of us. Pleasantly full, we rode down to Mallory Square for one last shot at a sunset and one last mojito.

the Custom House

Mallory Square

Tuesday

Nobody does daybreak like Key West. … It’s worth setting an alarm – or staying up all night – to enjoy this gentle, sun-drenched spectacle; the scent of seaweed, mingling with frangipani and gardenias; the sea and its cacophony of fragrances; the good-natured incoherence as people wait for their first cafe con leche to take the edge off the too-bright morning.
(William McKeen, Mile Marker Zero)

I woke up early again and it was just starting to get light so I pulled on some clothes and walked down to the pier to watch the sunrise. There were only a few other people out and about, and it was peaceful and cool. I suddenly realized that while I’d seen a lot of sunsets, this was my very first Key West sunrise. Every day in Key West brings a new surprise.

When I got back to the room, Ron was awake so we finished packing our suitcases and then walked to breakfast at the Banana Café, a cute French café just a block from the hotel. Time to head home, but there’s nothing like a change of latitude (even a short one) to make it easier to get back to reality.

Banana Cafe

Mojito Review

Staying in a different location gave us the opportunity to sample the mojitos at some new bars and restaurants, as well as the tried and true. Here is my ranking for this trip, starting with the best:

1. Southernmost Beach Café (grapefruit mojito) –  Even though I usually stick with classic mojitos, my two favorites this trip were flavored.  The Café’s grapefruit mojito was refreshing and not too sweet
2. Southernmost Beach Resort Shores Bar (cucumber mojito) – cool as a cucumber
3. Grand Café – not as minty as our previous visits but still delicious and the best bargain at $6
4. Rum Bar – great rum flavor
5. Conch Republic – just a tad heavy on the lime
6. Mallory Square drink cart – way too syrupy but you couldn’t beat the sunset view