This is our first visit to Key West. We started our Conch Republic adventure when we picked up our rental car at the airport in Miami. We all have places we don’t like to spend money and rental cars is one of mine. I had reserved an economy model, turned out to be a Kia Reo, which is just fine for our needs. As we were escorted to the car, I noticed a shiny convertible. “oh” I said, “I should have reserved a convertible.” our escort was quick to offer to upgrade us to the shiny convertible for a mere $50 per day. Since we were only paying $140 for a whole week of Reo rental, I declined his gracious offer.
It is about 140 miles from Miami to Key West. As we arrived in Miami late in the afternoon, we broke our trip at Key Largo. Most exciting part of the stop there was seeing the African Queen, the boat from the movie of the same name and all the MGA’s in the parking lot at our hotel. The British car club is having a gathering in the Key’s this week.
The rest of our drive to Key West was delightful. It was wonderful to be wearing shorts and flip flops, leaving our winter clothes behind. Besides stopping at a few birding sites, we did visit Robbie’s, probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to tourist traps. For a $1 you can walk out on the dock and see tarpon swimming. For a couple of bucks, you can buy a bucket of fish and feed the tarpon (or the pelicans if you aren’t paying attention). It was great fun as folks squealed when these big fish would jump out of the water to grab the offered fish.
When we arrived in Key West, the first order of business was to locate our hotel and park the car. Parking is at a premium in old town and our hotel has a parking lot for 3 or 4 cars. No surprise we have been on foot the rest of our stay. We are at the Ambrosia Key West, a wonderful little boutique hotel. The property is comprised of several classic Key West homes converted to hotel rooms and suites. We are 2 blocks from Duval Street, the heart of tourist activity, so a short walk and we are in the thick of it.
To fill the culture/education square we visited the Little White House and Hemingway’s home. The Little White House is a step back in time to the late 40’s when Truman was president. Located on the navel air station, this is where the President came for r & r. The house is still furnished as it was when President Truman visited, although it is still available for the current president’s use or high level meetings. Hemingway lived in Key West with his 2nd wife, Pauline from 1931 to 1940. Here he wrote 8 of his novels, went fishing and gathered ideas for more novels when he visited the bar each evening. Pauline isn’t a favorite of the guides for the house. She removed all the ceiling fans and replaced them with chandeliers, so instead of adding to the comfort of the home, she only raised the temperature. Hemingway was a cat fancier and owned many 6 toed cats. There are still around 40 cats on the property, about 1/2 with 6 toes.
For our sporting activity, we went kayaking in the mangroves near Boca Chica. Although we hadn’t been in a kayak since last summer, we were in sync from the get go. We saw sea cucumbers, several kinds of star fish, a spotted sea hare (looks more like some kind of slug and emits a purple ink), a ray, bonnet sharks and lots of sun. We continued our sporting activities with a trip to Dry Tortuga National Park. Paul and I added to the bird list with a more than good look at a yellow billed cuckoo. The little guy just sat there, eating a grasshopper while Paul fired off several dozen photos.
Between all these politically correct activities, we found time to watch the evening show at Mallory Square where local artists perform while folks wait for sunset, saw the Independence Day parade in Duval street, ate and drank at many of the fine and not so fine tourist traps. Just wish the bars were non-smoking, I can’t enjoy a brew with a foul smelling stogie nearby.
Next stop a night in Miami, then off to Cuba.
