A Little Mind Trip to Key West to Warm Us Up!

Okay, I know this weather is supposed to improve for the remainder of the week.  But for now I can't take it.  Warm weather people should never be made to endure a long winter.  Somebody needs to shoot that damn groundhog the next time he comes out of his hole.  So, with that said, we're going on a mind trip.  It's going to be a short one and we aren't even leaving the US so no virtual passports required!

So, here's the deal, I typed that paragraph and then I went into my system and created an itinerary to get to Key West arriving 2 weeks from today and staying through that Saturday and guess what.... Not a single hotel room available within 60 miles of the Conch Republic.  I guess we aren't the only ones who are fed up with the weather.  So, I re-ran it and our little mind trip will start 3 weeks from tomorrow.  We'll fly into Key West on Delta with a 2 hour stop in Atlanta.  Just long enough to get a quick breakfast and arrive in Key West at 2:09 PM.

Now, you can go one of three ways as far as transportation goes in Key West and I think all three work just fine depending on what your plans are during your trip.  You can either rent a car, but this is Key West so it pretty much has to be a convertible, you can take a cab or a shuttle to your hotel and spend the weekend walking or riding bikes to your destinations or you can rent scooters after you check in to your hotel.  

Key West is small and the tourist area is very compact.  So depending on the location of your hotel, you can easily get to anything you are interested in by foot or bicycle as long as you don't plan to drive up the Keys during your visit.  We're staying at the Westin Key West which is located on Front St just one block from Duval and right next to Mallory Square.  We'll only be here for 3 nights so there's really not time for driving the Keys and I've done it before anyway.  So I've decided to forego a car.  There was not much of a selection of rooms available so we're just going to have to rough it in an oceanfront room at the Westin... heheh... (There went the budget!) The view is spectacular.  But we won't be spending too much time in the room because after all, we'll only be here for 3 days and the sun is shining! So we'll take a cab from the airport to the hotel.  But be aware!  Even though it's only a 2 mile cab ride, it'll cost about $25.  Taxis in Key West are not cheap!

So as soon as we drop our things off at the hotel, we head out to make the most of our time here.  Now, I've only been here once before and on the previous visit although we hit a lot of the highlights, there were a few things we missed and I don't want to miss them again.  So our first order of business is to walk up Duval St. and stop into mecca (Margaritaville) for a Cheeseburger in Paradise with an ice cold Landshark and then we'll be heading to Ernest Hemingway's house.  On my previous visit, we walked by and took pictures from outside the gate but decided not to go in.  We were a little pressed for time and still had a lot to do on that trip. So today we'll do the full tour taking pictures of plenty of the 6 toed cats around the place. The light house is right across the street but I've visited it before and have taken pictures of and from every location in and around the light house.  So, we'll just pass by and maybe snap a few shots as we go.

 After all of that sight seeing, we'll probably be starting to get a little thirsty, so it's time to head back down toward Mallory Square walking down Whitehead St. but first we'll need to stop and wet our whistles and I know just the place for an afternoon cocktail.... We're stopping at The Green Parrot Bar which boasts itself as A Sunny Place for Shady People.  Sounds like my kind of place. After a drink there, we are ready to set out on our journey again.  By the time we get back to Mallory Square the Sunset Celebration is already in full swing so we join in stopping off to watch the nightly performance of Dominique the Cat Man and his amazing flying cats.  After getting our fill of flying cats, we'll stop off for Will Soto's nightly high wire act and then head over to Sunset Pier for dinner.

Hope you have enjoyed this first day in Key West and you are nice and warm after a day of walking around in the Key West humidity. I know I feel better. Tomorrow we'll do some exploring and maybe rent scooters!  Have a great Hump Day!