June 9
June 10
June 11
June 12
June 13
June 14
We really slept in. Once we got our rears in gear, we walked over to breakfast at the Beach Café (where we had had drinks last night) next to the beach. Yogurt, fruit, and granola. The whole time we were eating, there was a tractor outside, cleaning the beach - raking it and removing the accumulated seaweed. A bit obnoxious....
We finished up there about 10. It’s already getting hot. The day had started out overcast, but no rain ever materialized.
From the Beach Café, we walked over to the Southernmost Point marker. Cute....
We walked back to the room to grab the camera gear, then to the lobby to rent bicycles for the day. That’s the only way to see Key West! We headed north, up Whitehead Street, past the Hemingway House, the Lighthouse, and the edge of Mallory Square. We were headed towards the historic port area.
Our first stop was the Pirate Soul Museum. It was okay... Kelly had told us to be sure to visit the privateer museum. Couldn’t find anything like that. The pirate one was recommended. Was that the one she meant? Nope. It’s only been open three years. Talking with Kelly after we returned to Kingsport, we decided she really meant the Shipwreck Museum, which we saw, but didn’t go into.
While in the port area, we stopped at one of the restaurants for “lunch”. Caramel ice cream... Walking around this area, we spotted one of the many cats taking a nap (photo on the left above). There are two animals that run wild on the island, chickens and cats. We’ve been told that the cats don’t chase the chickens, however, I did see a chicken chasing a pigeon off.... The photo on the right above is one of the sights we spotted while riding the bicycles. Someone had hauled an old bicycle up to the railing of the second floor balcony and lashed it there, using the bicycle's basket to hold some artificial flowers.
So, we rode on to the Cemetery. Not bad. It’s the highest point in town at 17 feet above sea level... There’s a good sized section dedicated to those killed when the Maine was sunk in Havana. And we did find the tomb with the “I told you I was sick” inscription. The woman buried there had a reputation as a hypochondriac...
The three photos above were taken in the Battleship Maine section of the Key West Cemetery. And, yes, that is a British Union Jack in the right photo...
The two grave markers above were found on the same monument. The one on the left was the town's best known hypochondriac... They were obviously related.
It was really getting hot by now, so we headed back to hotel to turn in the bikes. We had had them for about four hours. My arms got sunburned - completely forgot the sunscreen... I did remember it for my face, however.
Once the bicycles had been returned, we pulled stools up to the Tiki bar by the pool. Frozen margaritas first, then Carl had a Rum runner and I had a frozen mudslide. Yum!!! Then we switched to ice water...
We people watched for a couple of hours. Then out came the crossword puzzle book and my book. We finally gave up about 5:15 and returned to the room to take a cooling shower.
I put on one of my flowing type dresses and sandals (and not much else). Carl put on some dry clothes, and we walked back downtown for dinner. On the way, I bought a new hat.
Dinner was at Cuban place (El Mesón de Pepe) near Mallory Square. We split a nice dinner of fish, yellow rice, plantains, and bean soup with some conch fritters for an appetizer. Very good. The only bad thing was our initial seats - we requested a different table because the table next to us had two very unruly young girls with mothers that didn’t seem to care who they bothered.
We finished eating just before sunset. Well, the sun had actually set, but the afterglow was fantastic! Where we were standing, there were some very good musicians near us. We also watched a dog act. The act wasn’t much, but the guy’s patter was good.
The three photos above were taken from the pier at Mallory Square, looking towards Sunset Island.
Once things wound down, we headed back down Duval and had a piece of Key Lime Pie at the Blond Giraffe. It was good, but very, very sweet. We got back to room a little before 10 to shower again and crash.