KEY WEST GET AWAY, QUICK TOURIST GUIDE

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Have you had the pleasure of visiting Key West? We decided to take a few days and drive to the Keys for a little get away, and this is what we found!

Once you make your way to Highway 1 headed South you will find the first of the Florida Keys, Short Key, which we honestly flew right through before we realized, we were lookin for the bridges. When we got to the first bridge, it took us to Key Largo. The water is absolutely beautiful, shimmering aqua blue and so bright and clear!

I always thought of the trip to the keys as one long bridge, but it isn’t. There’s not really an incredibly daunting bridge (my opinion), it’s a 85 +/- mile drive at 40 mph across bridges and islands. Welcome to the keys. We stopped in Key Largo for a potty break, I wasn’t sure how easy restrooms would be to find along the way, each key has little towns with places to stop for gas, restrooms and food. The biggest towns along the drive are Islamorada, Layton, Conch Key, Marathon, Big Pine Key, Summerland Key, and finally, Key West. If you have time on the drive, make sure to stop at some of the shops along the way, you never know what unique treasures you might find. If driving isn’t accessible for you, there is an airport on the island, Key West International Airport. We did see plenty of jets coming and going during our visit.

Roosters & Hens have free roam of Key West

Highway 1 comes to a T when you get into Key West, you will go right, which will take you to the north side of the island. This is the main strip that leads to the downtown/old town area. We chose to stay at The Laureate (A) which is on Hwy 1. Our room had beautiful ocean views and was large, clean and comfortable. There is also a heated pool, with an ocean view! The only downside to our hotel is the 10 minute golf cart ride to the main town area that we wanted to visit and the highway noise. The upside, there is quick access to shopping at Publix, CVS, TJ Maxx and stores of that sort, also chain restaurants like Wendys, Sonic, Outback Steakhouse, Denny’s, and IHOP. Don’t be surprised if you hear a rooster crow, there are chickens roaming free all over the island.

a fun play on Hemingway in our hotel room

Our hotel was just a mile to a rental location where we rented a golf cart for getting around during our stay. The streets in the old town area are very narrow and parking can be difficult to find. Most places are within a few blocks so you can park and walk, a golf cart is fun, open, and easy to maneuver; the cost was $125 per day and it would seat 6 adults. Downside, no place to store you purchases, we had to shop and then make a trip to the room to unload our stuff.

The evening we arrived, we spent a little time in town, we visited the southernmost point (12) and watched the sunset from White Street Pier (11). The White Street Pier has an AIDS memorial wall and is adjacent to the African Cemetery at Higgs Beach and The West Martello Fort which houses the Key West Garden Club.

Day 2, our first full day. While we wanted to take in as much as the city has to offer, we also wanted to rest, so we slept in and hung around the hotel most of the morning. Once everyone was ready, we headed to lunch at The Stoned Crab (14). Delicious! Just a couple miles from the hotel and also a place you can rent jet ski’s, we had a wonderful lunch. I chose the Fishermans choice (fish and shrimp) and a Baileys Top Banana cocktail, which was strong, very strong, I could only drink to the eyes of my glass.

Once we were fueled for the day, we went to our first tourist attraction of the day, The Hemingway House & Museum (6) 907 Whitehead Street open 9a-5p daily. The museum consists of the house, carriage house (writing studio), a lush tropical garden, a beautiful pool, a bookstore, and housing for the cats. Mr. Hemingway had six toed cats, and the cats on the property today are descendants of his cats. They are super friendly and will let you pet on them all day long. One of my favorite discoveries on the property were the Banana trees! I’ve never seen one, and now I want one in my yard! So fun!

When we finished out tour of the Hemingway house, we went across the street to the Lighthouse & Keepers Quarters museum (7). In our party, were 2 non-climbers of the creepy stairs so we decided not to pay to go onto the property and we enjoyed it from the outside, the views were still beautiful. We hopped back in our buggy and went to see the Little White House (2), but it closed just as we arrived, so we could only view the grounds. Then we went to the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and Beach (10) to see the fort and visit the water. We made another visit to White Street Pier (11) looking for fish off the dock, and I found a shovel (see pictures). From there we went to Mallory Square (1) to catch the sunset, but the view was obstructed due to all the people, so we walked the market and then went to dinner at Duffys Steakhouse (13). Totally exhausted from walking, climbing, and exploring we called it a night and headed to the hotel.

Day 3, 2nd full day. We began the day with breakfast at IHOP and then headed back to town for another full day of exploring. Our first stop was the Key West First Legal Rum Distillery (9) where my husband had a free tasting. I had heard about the coconut rum from this location, which would turn pink when put in the sunlight. That apparently only happened with 1 batch of rum, and it no longer turns pink, but it’s delicious in a Pina Colada! I’ll share my recipe at the end. Then we made our way to Papa’s Pilar (8), another rum distillery where we had another free tasting, all of us took part and all I can say is, one tiny sip and I felt like I was blowing fire. It’s hot!

From the distilleries we headed to the Shipwreck Museum (3). I thought the museum was a little underwhelming, but they had some neat artifacts. The best part was the view from the top of the crows nest, it was so worth the frightening climb up, I seriously couldn’t look down!

We moved on to shop around Mallory Square (1), walked through the Head Bust Memorial Gardens, hit a few shops and then had a sunset dinner at Sunset Deck (16) dining at the Opal, located at Mallory square. The view was amazing, the sunset was spectacular, the food delicious, the live music was an island dream! It was a perfect evening.

After dinner, we took off on foot and visited a few stores, most notable, the Harley Davidson Store (4), my husband collects the poker chips, so he was happy to find a store on the island. We decided to end our evening with some live music and a couple cocktails at Island Dogs (15) and Sloppy Joes (9). We made our way back to our room by midnight and got a good nights sleep in preparation for the drive home.

Day 4, travel. We started the day saying our goodbyes, grabbed some breakfast at Denny’s and then made the 7 hour drive home. We made one stop on our way our at a Sandals outlet, oh it was flip flop heaven, worth the stop for sure.

I hope you find this little guide helpful. We really enjoyed our stay, when we make a trip back, we will stay at Margaritaville (C) or Opal Key Resort (B) which is right in the heart of town, and will leave no real need to rent a golf cart, most of the attractions are within walking distance from these hotels.