Easter in Key West

Friday

Ron and I have been to the Keys with friends or by ourselves, but this was our first family trip. Since we couldn’t spend Christmas together, we decided to celebrate Easter (and getting our vaccines!) in Key West instead. We hadn’t seen each other since Gretchen’s wedding in August, and I couldn’t wait.

We landed at EYW at around 1:30 and were welcomed by Jer, who had arrived the day before. While Jenny arranged an Uber to take Charlie, Mama and Michael to the Grinnell house, Jer drove me, Ron, Mary and Laura to the condo at the Key West Beach Club, near Higgs Beach. The condo was wonderful. It had two bedrooms downstairs and a spiral staircase that led to a loft with a third bedroom. It also had a full kitchen, which we only used for making coffee. My favorite part of the condo was the huge balcony that overlooked a narrow strip of beach and that amazing blue and green Keys water. Gorgeous! From the balcony, we could see the White Street Pier, jet skis zipping through the waves, and far in the distance, the pyramid shape of the Sand Key Lighthouse. I can’t imagine there is a nicer view anywhere in Key West.

The Key West Beach Club was a bit outside of the Old Town district though, so bikes were a necessity. I’d booked four bicycles from Eaton Bikes and by the time we’d settled in, I got a text saying the bikes had been dropped off. I love how Eaton Bikes will deliver bikes to wherever you are staying. They had also upgraded our single-speed beach cruisers to 7-speeds, although that might not have been a plus for me. I kept trying to brake with my feet all weekend. :-) Jenny and Mama joined us at the condo later and we visited on the balcony while Laura took advantage of the pool and sunshine.

Dinner that night was at Mangia Mangia Pasta Cafe. We ate outside in the little courtyard, sharing a bottle of red, a bottle of white, and most of the appetizers on the menu. After dinner, we hung out at the house for a while, playing a new game called Code Names until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. We biked back to the condo, taking White Street since it was the most straightforward route. But once we got to Atlantic Boulevard, I realized that there weren’t any streetlights. My little bike light was enough for me to be seen but not enough to see the bike path. It was kind of scary. I decided we should let Uber do the nighttime driving for the rest of the trip.

Mangia Mangia

Saturday

We woke up the next morning in time to catch a beautiful sunrise. Mary was up too, so she and I took a short walk on the beach in front of the condos and then Mary settled down on the balcony with her watercolor paints. Ron and I hopped on our bikes in search of breakfast. We like to find a new breakfast spot each time we go to Key West and this time we chose Croissants de France on Duval Street. We were seated in the little garden behind the bakery. Since it was still early, we were the first people there, but it started to get busy by the time we left. COVID didn’t seem to have slowed down tourism in Key West at all so I was glad we had gotten an early start. Arriving before the masses was key. It also helped that Key West has so many places to eat outdoors.

When we were done with breakfast, we spent about an hour at the Key West Butterfly Conservatory. We’d been there ten years ago, and it was just as pretty and peaceful as I remembered. Well, maybe not quite as peaceful because the conservatory had added two flamingos, Rhett and Scarlett, and Rhett was honking loudly. There was a sign that said “Why am I making so much noise? Because it’s mating season and I’m trying to get Scarlett’s attention.” Men… :-)  Besides the flamingos, there were all kinds of butterflies and birds. You aren’t supposed to touch the butterflies, but a few landed on us. Before leaving the gardens, we had to check ourselves for hitchhiker butterflies.

Key West Butterfly Conservatory

Rhett and Scarlett

By the time we were done at the conservatory, I was ready for a mojito. We biked down Duval to the Grand Cafe, but it was only 11 o’clock and they didn’t open until 11:30 so we settled on Caroline’s instead. I had a Key lime mojito, which was very nice although I didn’t taste much Key lime. Vacation officially begins with my first mojito!

Next, we biked over to the house to spend some time with Mama. Michael had just gotten back from exploring the waterfront and said he’d found his way back by using the cars as landmarks. Of course! :-)  I knew Michael would like Key West – there’s so much to see just walking around. Mary and Laura arrived too, and we worked on a jigsaw puzzle together until we were ready for lunch. Mary wanted to eat at First Flight because she and Laura had really liked it on their last trip. The restaurant was named First Flight because it was housed in the historic Pan Am building, where the first Pan Am tickets were sold in 1927. We ate outside under a canopy of banyan trees and ordered plates of deviled eggs, Brussel sprouts, street corn and fried ravioli “for the table”. Ron and I also shared a burger. There was some awesome live music going on at Hank’s Saloon across the street. The singer/guitar player barely looked old enough to drive, but he was great. As he was singing Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive”, a woman walking down the street joined in as backup. “I’m wanted…” “WANTED!” “…dead or alive.” We could hear her singing “WANTED” for at least three blocks. Jenny joked that she’d never realized how many wanted’s there are in that song. :-)  When we left First Flight, we stopped at Hank’s to tip the singer because we’d all enjoyed him so much. I looked him up later online and his name is Sheldon Benton. And he is only 17!

Mary and Laura were ready for some pool time, so we biked back to the condo with them, stopping on Atlantic Blvd to let a rooster lead a flock of hens across the road. I think there were even more chickens in Key West than on our last trip, especially around the pier. Every time we rode by, we could hear the little chicklets peeping. We had just enough time to relax on the balcony and change into fresh clothes before the Uber driver picked us up for our Wind and Wine sunset sail with Danger Charters. There was plenty of wind! A cold front had come through the day before and I was afraid the sail would be cancelled, but by that afternoon, the gusts had died down a little. Jenny met us at the marina by the Opal Key Resort where we boarded Danger’s Prize, a 65-foot schooner. Our previous sunset sails had been on catamarans so I was looking forward to a different experience. We had barely cast off from the dock when Shanan started bringing the wine around. There were eight different kinds of wine to sample, as well as beer for the non-wine drinkers. We sipped our wine and nibbed on cheese, sausage, grapes and crackers topped with apple. As we sailed, Shanan pointed out some of the other boats, including the When and If, the private yacht of General George S. Patton. When he commissioned the boat in 1939, Patton said "When the war is over, and if I live through it, Bea and I are going to sail her around the world."

What a beautiful evening! The setting sun cast rays through the clouds, lighting up the silhouettes of the sailboats. We even spotted a pod of dolphins playing and splashing nearby. As the sun went down, it started to get chilly, and the crew brought out blankets to keep us warm. You can’t go to Key West without seeing at least one sunset.

Shanan with Danger Charters

After the sail was over, we walked back to the house, taking Duval Street. That was a mistake. Duval was packed! I’ve never been a fan of crowds but after the past year of social distancing, I got more and more uncomfortable. I just wanted to get off Duval as quickly as possible. Mary and Jenny had popped into a shop for a minute when a fight broke out on the sidewalk right next to us! Two guys started hitting each other and as they broke apart, I saw that one of the guys was holding a shirt with blood all over it. I grabbed Ron’s hand and we walked as fast we could away from there. Once we got to Southard Street, we stopped to pick up Philly cheesesteaks from Mr Z’s while the others caught up. I was pretty shaken. Duval at night during spring break is not the place to be!

Easter Sunday

The next morning I slept until 7:30 and missed the sunrise, but it felt so good to sleep in! While Ron and I showered and dressed, Mary picked up a big box of pastries from the Old Town Bakery and we all met at the house for a breakfast of croissants and scrambled eggs. After breakfast and more jigsaw puzzling, Ron and I rode over to Whitehead Street for a tour of the Truman Little White House Museum. We had a bit of trouble finding it. We kept seeing signs that said “entrance ahead” but there weren’t any arrows. Finally we asked someone at the Mel Fisher Museum for directions, and we got there just as a tour was starting. The Little White House was the home where Truman spent the winter months of his presidency. Originally built in 1890 for Navy officers’ quarters, it was boxy and modest on the outside, but the inside was large and comfortable. It was fun to imagine the meetings that took place around the long dining table. We saw an original print of the Chicago Daily Tribune with the headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”. Our tour guide told us that the newspaper had eight errors on the front page, including one paragraph that was upside down. (It really was upside down, I checked.) That paper was published during a printer strike and so the work was being done by management, which explained a lot. :-)  There was also a picture of a young Lauren Bacall sitting on top of a piano while Truman played. He looked like he was enjoying himself, but our tour guide explained that the photograph was a bit scandalous because Miss Bacall’s skirt showed her knees. Mrs. Truman was not amused and didn’t want her husband playing the piano in public after that.

First Flight had been such a success the day before that we all decided to meet there for lunch again. The restaurant was surprisingly quiet, I guess because a lot of people had done Sunday brunch instead. It was so pleasant, eating together in the shade of the banyans with the chickens pecking around our feet. After lunch, we split up, Mary and Laura heading off for their stand-up-paddleboard tour, the others walking back to the house. Ron and I did a little shopping on Duval. Since we hadn’t been able to travel for a year, Ron’s souvenir t-shirt collection was looking shabby and he needed to restock. When we were done shopping, we went to the Grand Cafe for a mojito. I was happy to see that they still had their $6 all day Happy Hour price. And they still made the best mojitos. :-)

We had dinner reservations that night at Café Sole, one of Jenny’s favorite restaurants. After a nap at the condo, Ron and I Uber’ed over to the house to meet the rest of our party. Mary and Laura arrived soon afterwards. Their paddleboard tour had turned into a kayak tour because of the winds, but it sounded like they’d had a good time anyway. Café Sole was a Mediterranean/French seafood restaurant with colorful tables set up outside on the sidewalk and an enclosed patio. We ate on the patio, and Ron and I both ordered the hog snapper specialty, which was pan seared in a red pepper cream sauce and very yummy. I just felt bad that Mama hadn't been able to come because she wasn’t feeling well. After dinner, the boys watched a hockey game while the girls played another round of Code Names. When we got back at the condo, Ron and I sat out on the balcony, watching the flashing light of the Sand Key Lighthouse and listening to the waves. Ron said the sound of the gentle waves reminded him of the last night of a cruise when the ship is heading slowly back to port. We couldn’t believe it was our last night already. It seemed like our trip was coming to an end much too quickly and I wasn’t ready to go home yet.

Monday

We woke up to another beautiful Key West sunrise, then Ron and I took the bikes to breakfast at the Banana Café, a French bistro we’d discovered our last trip. We sat at one of the rooftop tables and I ordered crepes and fresh watermelon juice. The street cleaners were out in full force on Duval, cleaning up the debris from the previous night’s reveling. (I have to say, I’ll be so glad when I don’t see masks lying on the ground anymore.) After breakfast we rode to the waterfront since we hadn’t made it to that part of town yet. There were lots of people milling around outside the Conch Republic Seafood Company, waiting for their boat tours to start. We walked along the boardwalk and found the White Tarpon’s new location. Maybe we’ll get there on our next trip for one of their Key lime martinis. There’s always a next trip.

But I couldn’t leave Key West without having one last mojito. We went back to the condo to pack, then met Mary at the Southernmost Beach Café for a quick lunch and drinks. I liked my mojito, but Mary said hers tasted bitter, so we went over to the outdoor bar at the Southernmost House where she got a strawberry lemongrass mojito instead. It came with a sugared swizzle stick and she was much happier. And I was happy too because I got to finish her first one. :-)  The airport transport van picked us up at 2 o’clock and as our plane took off, we looked down at the bridges on the Overseas Highway and the turquoise water dotted with little white sailboats. Key West has always been my happy place, but this trip was an especially happy one. It felt like a gift – the beautiful weather, the sunrises and sunset cruise, good food, the balcony at the condo, and most of all, being together again after such a long time apart.

Mojito Review

Sampling the mojitos has become a Key West tradition for me. Here is my ranking for this trip, starting with the best:

1. Grand Café – consistently my favorite mojito in Key West
2. Southernmost Beach Café – lots of mint
3. Caroline’s (Key lime mojito) – a nice, well-balanced drink although I didn’t taste much Key lime
4. First Flight – too sweet but I asked for extra lime slices and once I squeezed in more lime juice, it was fine