Betsey and I recently travelled to Key West, Florida from July 16-19, 2019. It has been a location on our “Bucket List” since 2005. We took a cruise in 2005 that was supposed to include a stop in Key West but were diverted due to Hurricane Rita being in the area. 14 years later we finally made the trip.
To make the most of our time, we opted for an early morning flight. This helped to ensure that we would there early, but also that we would be cranky and not in the best of moods for the remainder of the day. I find that this is always a great idea in planning but a poor idea in execution.
Our flights were uneventful. We were offered to check our carry-on luggage to our final destination and did so to make life a little bit easier. A nice feature of the Delta app is that it tracks your bags through out the journey. I was able to ensure that they were onboard during the initial and connection flights. A very nice touch.
We arrived at Key West International Airport around 12:35 p.m. It is a quaint little airport where you must take the steps down to reach tarmac. You stay between the green lines and walk to Arrivals. Upon entering the building, you are quickly asked “Would you like a drink?” What a nice way to start our vacation. Drinks in hand, we received our luggage and called for a Lyft. We were on our way to our Bed and Breakfast, The Mermaid and The Alligator. This is a very nice Bed and Breakfast. We stayed in the Treetop Suite. As much as I enjoyed it, I would not recommend it to anyone over 5’5″. It was a constant awareness of not knocking your head against the angled ceilings.
After getting settled, we looked for recommendations for lunch. Mara, the manager, suggested B.O. Fish Wagon. It was amazing. I had the fish tacos and a beer. The fish was freshly caught and everything was cooked just perfectly. We also shared some Conch Fritters. Personally, they seemed like overpriced Hush Puppies. However, when in Key West, I was told I must try them. I can say I did.
During our time there, we had meals at Blue Heaven, Waterside Brewery, Sloppy Joes, Santiago’s Bodega, amongst others. You want to know more about the food, just ask.
Key West is an interesting, quirky place for me. It is a town that seems to be longing for the past and searching for the future at the same time. Upon our first walk around Duval Street (touristy section) we noticed a lot of run-down store fronts, buildings for rent, and just general need to repair and sprucing up. It made me wonder if I just needed to spend more time in beach towns and this is what they all look like, or if this is a town that is lost. At the end of four days, I still don’t know.
On our last evening, we went to Sloppy Joe’s. This is an old bar in town. The bar used to be at another location one block away. The owner of that building wanted to raise the rent $4 a month. So, the bar moved over one block. They had all their patrons help move it to the new place. Ernest Hemmingway helped them move. The people got a little carried away. They even helped move the plumbing. While moving the plumbing, Hemmingway felt that he had let so much of his money go down the drain that he deserved a urinal. He and his friend stole one and carried it the whole way back to his house. It is still there today.
This bar is built and pays tribute to Hemmingway. Pappa and his deeds are all over the place. While we were there, they were even having a look alike contest for his 120th birthday. Sloppy Joes’ though seems like a packed bar of quiet desperation. It seems filled with people who looking to grab and hold on to that piece of nostalgia. Hemmingway lived in Key West after Paris and before Cuba. He was a young man. It was a very productive nine years. I mention this to go back to the look alike contest. All the contestants look like “Old Pappa”. The beard, the heavy face, the twilight of Hemmingway, not the prime. Much like a lot of Key West, Sloppy Joes just seemed to want to embrace the legend of what it was once was, but never really reaches its full glory. Hemmingway’s portrait hangs on the wall in quiet judgement of all that pass thru its doors.
With beautiful sunsets and views that can only be found that far South I am sure we will return to the shores again one day. When is to be determined.
72 and you. 