4-10-2016, Two Trips to Key West

There were several ways for us to get to Key West. We could have sailed there, going west via the outer (southern) channel of the FL Keys ("Hawk Channel"), or we could have sailed west along the inner (northern) channel (ICW) (in a different boat, it might be too shallow for ours), or we could have sailed directly south from Sarasota on the Florida west coast, after we attended the Baldwin Yacht Club Winter Rendezvous and visited friends in March.

We didn’t do any of these! Instead, we sailed down the west coast of Florida to the Everglades, land of extreme natural beauty, a lot of insects, and no cell service whatsoever. From there, we continued south to Marathon, on Boot Key, in the Middle Keys, where we “camped out” in the harbor for two weeks. During that time, we went to Key West twice, the easiest possible way. We took the bus!

Monday, 3/28/16

To take the bus, we dinghied to shore, walked about ½ mile west to a bus stop, and waited. We were advised to take the bus that leaves around 10:20 AM. The earlier one (8:00) has people commuting to work, so it’s a longer ride, with more frequent stops. The bus is cheap! The cost is $4.00 each way, reduced to $2.00 for those 60 and over, active and retired military, students, or disabled, and even less, $1.50, for seniors.

We got onto the almost empty bus in Marathon. Almost empty except for 3-4 people, one of whom was not an ordinary bus rider, but instead was a costumed street performer, “Zanibar the Pirate,” who was half asleep. He had a half-asleep stuffed parrot nodding out on his shoulder, where it was pinned to his costume. 

As we rolled along, the bus stopped and gradually filled up. Lady with no change asked everyone on the bus for change for a $20 until she made her $4 fare. Homeless looking guys waiting at a stop, where mysteriously, some got on and some did not. Other “tourists” and other cruisers. Land cruisers from an RV park. 

Around noon we landed in Key West, at the corner of Caroline and Duval Streets. Our first order of business was to find a rest room, and we did, at the “Oldest House in Key West”, which had free admission. Being the oldest house, of course there were no bathrooms in the house, and we were not about to try those chamber pots! Fortunately, there were rest rooms located in out buildings in the back yard. Perfect!

Back yard of the oldest house in Key West

At the oldest house in Key Weest

Rested, we moved on to the next order of business. Lunch! Chuck mentioned a restaurant that he had visited 10 years ago, Louis Back Yard. 

Louis Back Yard Restaurant

We called. Yes, open. Yes, reservations needed. It’s pretty far away, about 45 minutes by foot. No 1:00 PM reservation available. 12:30? Yes, we’ll take that. We’ll be a little late, walking. OK, see you then.

Nailtini, Nail Bar and Day Spa

Even though we were in a hurry, I couldn’t resist grabbing this shot of “Nailtini, Nail Bar and Day Spa” for my girlfriends in CT (you know who you are!).

We walked quickly and got to Louis Back Yard just after 12:35. Got a nice table outside in the shade.

Louis Back Yard

 A lovely place, with linen table cloths, a beautiful ocean view, and a great menu. It was the Monday after Easter Sunday, so lamb was on the menu, in the form of a special sandwich on focaccia bread, served with Moroccan Carrots and homemade potato chips. We also ordered a salad of “Wilted greens with duck confit and roasted grapes”. Duck confit is duck cooked in duck fat. It is tender and flavorful, and surprisingly not greasy. Roasted grapes are somehow made into skinless grapes. By roasting them, I guess, and they are delicious. We enjoyed this beautiful lunch, and we felt fancy and special. Fortunately in Key West, casual dress is acceptable anywhere. Many people in the restaurant were more dressed up than we were, but it was fine, and no one made us feel like we had just come from the bus with the homeless people.

Lamb sandwich on foccacia bread, with Moroccan carrots and homemade chips

Salad of wilted greens with duck confit and roasted grapes

After lunch, we walked past the “Dog Beach” just next door, where dogs were playing in the water, and napping on beach blankets in the sun, near their people.

Dog Beach

From there, we passed the “Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S.” There was a big line to take pictures with the monument, which looks like a huge channel marker, so we just snuck around and took some pictures of the marker, from a different side. 

At the southernmost point in the Continental US.

We walked along and soon discovered the ubiquitous Key West roosters and chickens. Like the sacred cows of India, the chickens roam free all over the streets and yards of Key West. They are noisy, but they eat bugs, and they have been a Key West fixture for a long time, so no one pays attention to them, except to try to avoid running them over.

Roosters and Chickens are everywhere

We stopped into an art gallery, where the owner does water colors that are vibrant and don’t really look like what most people consider to be water colors. He was fun to talk to and offered me a cold bottle of water. It was a very hot day, so this was most appreciated.

We walked toward the Hemingway House, but there was a very long line, so we decided to skip it. We passed some time chatting with Rudy, a street vendor selling jewelry made from sandalwood and Poinciana seeds. He says he found the seeds himself, but a little research (later) told us that it would be much easier for him to just buy them online. Hmmm. 

Rudy, street vendor

Rudy's jewelry made of sandalwood and poinciana seeds

Rudy, carving a gourd

My new necklace, of sea bean and found silver chain

I bought a necklace and pair of earrings, and Rudy gave me a beautiful sea bean, with a hole already drilled. He made a quick finding out of silver wire, so I could hang it from a cord or chain. It’s supposed to be good luck. Well that turned out to be true! The next day I found a broken silver chain, which I was able to fix. 

 Chuck stopped at a store near “Mile 0” to buy a card and a postcard to mail to his daughter, Sarah, for her birthday, and then made a trip to the Post Office so he could mail it, after dodging many more chickens.

We returned to Duval Street where we visited several art galleries, and then stopped for a much needed pick-me-up of coffee and fabulous pastries.

Cafe con Leche, Raspberry Tart, Key Lime Pie, 
with apologies for diving in before photographing! 

Then we proceeded to Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration. We had planned to meet up with Alex from the sailing trimaran Hafvalla, but he unfortunately got tied up with boat work. He and Kate have moved to Key West and are planning to sell Hafvalla, so he had some straightening up to do before a showing. 

Mallory Square is like a carnival, with many circus acts performing and then passing the hat to make their living. We saw a contortionist – a guy who was able to break out of a straight jacket by dislocating his shoulders (pretty creepy).  The straight jacket was pink and his show contained lots of straight (jacket)/gay jokes. We saw a couple of guys who balanced things and each other. We saw a guy with a trained pig. We saw two great musical acts, a Cuban band, and a duo. There were also vendors of stuff and vendors of food. 

Walkway to Mallory Square

Contortionist

Great Cuban band

Trained pig

Just before sunset, we made our way back to the nearest bus stop where we met up with Zanibar, aka Pirate Dan, for the return trip to Marathon. We were happy to see him, because then we knew we would get on the correct bus. He played a couple of songs at the bus stop, and we and others dropped a few more dollars in his tip bucket.

Pirate Dan, aka "Zanibar"

The ride home was fun, filled with regulars and laughter. One of the regulars got off for an errand, and then got back on again, when the bus made a circle, which surprised all of us who didn’t know that the bus route makes a loop and crosses the same spot. A sweet young gentleman got on at the airport. He was from the Midwest and was headed to Marathon to visit a friend and go fishing. It was his first trip to the Keys and he was pretty excited. One of the regulars had rented out his boat that day and made $700, so he was really happy. Other familiar faces rejoined us for the ride home.

Lots of laughs on the bus ride home

Saturday 4/2/16

We enjoyed Key West and knew that there was more that we wanted to see, so we planned to make another trip. On Saturday, 4/2/16, we made our second trip. Pros by now, we decided to take the early bus, since there wouldn’t be a lot of people getting on and off for work on Saturday. And there was an air show at Boca Chica, so we thought the later bus might be very crowded.

We got to Key West before 10 AM. 

Corner of Catherine and Duval Streets

After a nice conversation with a jewelry vendor (and former cruiser) who stopped there 17 years ago and never left, we took her advice and went to The Cuban Coffee Queen for breakfast. 

Jewelry vendor, a former cruiser

The Cuban Queen, restaurant

"Drink more Cuban Coffee, do stupid things faster"

Then we visited another Art gallery (Peter Lik’s photography), and stopped at the “Isle Cook Key West” where I was fascinated with the new boat friendly silicone tools, and picked up a Key Lime Cookbook.

We walked through the "Little Bahamas" neighborhood and went to lunch at Santiago’s Bodega, which is a tapas restaurant. We tried small plates of Tuna Seviche (with mango and avocado), another Salad with Duck Confit, Chicken Skewers with a lemon sauce, and Ground lamb burgers with cucumber and feta salad.

Inside Santiago's Bodega

Another salad with duck confit
(And see the hand painted floor in the top left corner of this photo) 

Chicken Skewers with a lemon sauce,
Ground lamb burgers with cucumber and feta salad.

After lunch we started walking to the beach, planning to go for a swim. On the way, we ran into the Ocean Festival, which we had seen advertised, and which was free. It was a lot of fun, with artists, musicians, and lots of touch tanks and activities for kids. It took place on the grounds of a marine museum, so we spent a little time browsing in the AC (air conditioning) as well.

 

With the artist Noel Skiba

Live Sea Urchin

Entymologist, working on mosquito control

Rays

Turtles

Noel Skiba, painting and dancing

Shortly before 5, we both felt very tired from the heat and realized that we could just make the 5:02 bus back to Marathon, so we ran to the stop and made it with a few minutes to spare. It was nice to do the bus ride back in the daylight.

There is still a lot of Key West for us to see on future visits. I was surprised at how much we enjoyed it. It was a lot different from what I expected. I thought it would be raunchy like New Orleans, with a lot of “adult” t-shirts for sale, and drinking and music in the streets, but it’s much cleaner than that. It has plenty of fine art and good food, and nice things for sale. Or maybe because we were only there in the daytime, we missed an aspect of it that only comes out at night. It reminds me of a story of a former co-worker who went to Woodstock and didn’t see ANY of the wildness that was shown in the movie. We each have a unique point of view, and a unique experience everywhere we go!

Key West Choices!

Any idea what this is made of?
(Seen hanging on a front porch, in Key West)