We started our tour with a visit to Harry Truman's Little White House. He loved Key West so much that he was able to take a house that had been part of the officer's quarters on the Navy base and made it into a working home away from home in the tropical paradise. The house is what I expected of a 1940s tropical home hideaway with white walls and big open rooms for parties and entertaining as well as serious problem solving required of the President and his staff.
The afternoon was spent walking up and down Duval Street wandering in and out of the stores and taking in the street entertainment, both people watching and street performers. The evening included plans for a sunset champagne cruise on the catamaran with Sebago. It had been a bright sunshine-y day all day long but the second we boarded the boat the clouds started to move in so there wasn't much of a sunset but it was still a lovely evening out on the boat. The staff was super friendly and our cups were always full if we wanted it to be. The weather was warm and the breeze was cool making for a relaxing evening sailing past Mallory Square and Sunset Key and watching the sparkling lights around the island of Key West.
On Sunday we tried to go to the Hemingway house but the line was very long with 2 cruise ships in port that day, so we decided to walk across the street and go to the lighthouse instead. Legend has it that Mr. Hemingway bought the house across the street from the lighthouse so that he could find his way home after a night of drinking. The lighthouse has 88 steps up to the top. They are very steep steps, narrow and circular with people going up and down them at the same time. Personally, on my way down, I let people going up pass me and hung on for dear life to the middle pole while standing on the most narrow part of the step! It does offer a great view when you get to the top and a unique perspective of Key West and how it is laid out. At one time the lighthouse was closer to the ocean, but as Key West has grown it is actually quite a ways from it now. There is also a little museum located in the keeper's quarters with one room done up the way it would have been when the keeper was living there and the other rooms tell the history of the lighthouse and the light.
Dinner that night was at the Conch Republic on the harbor. It is always fun for me to play the "pick your dream boat" game and there were plenty to choose from while you are sitting waiting for your meal. The food was very good there... so good that I went back again the next week with my brother and his fiancé while they were visiting. The second visit I had bacon wrapped stuffed shrimp and if you are ever down here visiting they are definitely worth it! So delicious!
Todd and Serena came down to visit for the New Year. We went to Old Town Key West for dinner and to walk around and see the excitement on Duval Street. They like to "drop" things here. There is a conch shell, a unicorn, a pirate wench, a key lime wedge into a martini glass, and the one we wanted to see for ourselves, a high heel shoe drop with a drag queen in it (who coincidentally was getting married on New Year's Eve as well). We made it down to see the shoe and saw the conch shell all set up but it is a crowded place and decided to go home before the shoe actually dropped but it was fun to see a little of the craziness before it got too crazy!
We decided to relax a little in the morning and slowly make our way into the day. We did go on another sunset cruise with Sebago tours and this time were treated to a gorgeous colorful Key West sunset. Somehow all sunsets feel better to me when watching them from a boat. Pinks, purples, red and orange all lit up the sky at different times and just when I thought it couldn't get any prettier, it did.
On Saturday we had reservations for Latitudes on Sunset Key which was recommended to me by a patient. We decided to go into town early and visited the Hemingway house first. I've tried to read his work a few times and can't really get into his style of writing (although I am determined to read the Old Man and the Sea while I'm here- and I only have 4 weeks left so I better get on that) but I find his life fascinating. He lived in Key West with his second wife and enjoyed the lifestyle here with lots of characters, fishing, sunshine, and drinking. Lots of drinking. The house is a really beautiful house and his wife had lots of style with pretty chandeliers and tiling in the bathrooms but I cannot imagine taking out the ceiling fans to put in chandeliers in a place as hot as Florida!
Then we were on to Latitudes! I really think this has been one of my favorite experiences so far. You need a reservation and I made this one for lunch about 2 weeks in advance. The reservation time is the time you take the boat over to the island. It's a short 10 minute ride but the little boat had to squeeze next to and then between the 2 big cruise ships parked in port that day! Immediately upon arrival, they sat us at a table on the patio which turned out to be very nice. It was a little warm that day and sitting out on the beach would have been a bit hot without the cover of the patio but we still got the relaxing view of the ocean, palm trees swaying, and white sand in front of us. A delicious lobster roll in my stomach and a strawberry daiquiri to wash it down really made for a perfect afternoon.
I really enjoyed having my family in town even if we couldn't all be here together at the same time! I'm looking forward to Ruth and her family coming to visit soon!
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