January 20, 2022
Key West!
It felt like we were home!
We have spent lots of time in Key West, and we absolutely love it
here. On our first day, we had breakfast
at Harpoon Harry’s, lunch at Schooner Wharf listening to Mike McCloud, dinner
(Prime rib) at the VFW, and evening drinks at Dante’s. Wow!
We won’t be eating out that much every day, but we really got a start at
hitting our favorite places! In the
past, we have camped on the Navy base for 3 months at a time. This time, we will only be in the marina for
two weeks, so we have to ‘make hay while the sun shines’!
Our second day, we were a little bit more conservative on
eating/drinking out….just a little!
Breakfast on the boat, then I went on a walk. I saw a friend from Trumbo, Pat, who had a
shirt over her arm that looked like a familiar style. On my walk I found that the KW Half Marathon
is this weekend, and they were handing out the volunteers’ shirts. I asked and was gratefully received as an
additional volunteer, and got one of those cool shirts! I have to be at my post, at Greene and Duval,
at 6:30 on Sunday morning. That’s so
close to our boat, and I’ve been getting up early anyway – not a problem!
I was contacted by friends from our first days in the Looper
organization, Sandy and Kevin Tucker.
They are staying in Marathon but visiting Key West for the day. Would we like to meet up for Happy Hour? OF COURSE!
They are vegan and Sandy is gluten intolerant….Decided we would check
out the offerings at the Boathouse, one of our favorite happy hour places. We had our lunch there and sampled the
goods! The Tuckers brought friends down
who are staying on Stock Island – we met them and had an enjoyable couple of
hours. Turns out these friends are
friends of June and Tim, on Subject to Change, with whom we cruised some this
year. After they all left, we trekked
over to Dante’s which is another of our favorite happy hour places – a second
happy hour? Why not! Another terrific day on Key West!
We had reservations at a marina on Marathon for the month of
February. They have a rather onerous
requirement that we need $1,000,000 in liability insurance, naming the marina
as a co-insured. Our boat insurance
company, Progressive only offers $500,000.
After some effort, we were able to locate a company that will give us an
umbrella policy, costing $728 for the year!
While telling our friends, Sandy and Kevin, about our woes, they
contacted a friend who is commodore at a private club on Marathon. We have a slip there for much less than the
other place, and no weird requirements!
Win!!
We invited Dan’s daughter, Michelle, down for a visit from
Seattle. She’s coming on the 25th
thru the 29th. Looking
forward to her visit, even though it spans a time when we were scheduled to leave this marina. However, we were able to extend our stay through the 31st!
We are loving our time on Key West…I’ll let the pictures
tell the story. I try to go on a walk
every day, and I take pictures of places that intrigue me!
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| everyone must have this picture! |
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| even more stickers - I think those are what holds the truck together! |
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| Our Go To place, Harpoon Harry's |
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| adorable manatee getting a drink of fresh water |
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| at 6:30 a.m. , the finish line for the half marathon! |
I volunteered for the race, so was out on the street at 6:30 a.m.!
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| Looking up Duval street - eerily empty of people at 6:30 in the morning! |
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| Green Street, 6:30 a.m.! |
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| The iconic Sloppy Joe's! |
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| and there they go! |
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| Good morning! |
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| adorable coffee shop mural |
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| adorable swing seats in the 'trees' |
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| sitting in Schooner Wharf, we have company! |
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| He loves the sun on top of the umbrella! |
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| plus, he loves hopping into the garbage, tries, unsuccessfully to eat a chicken bone! |
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| We haven't seen this bike move, nor have we seen the lights on! |
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| This is where the floating tiki bars go to rest! |
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| lovely porch |
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| another porch! |
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| love this tree - not sure what it is! |
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| Huge tree, maimed for the electric lines, but rubberized sidewalk trying to spare it! |
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| Trying to spare the tree - no cement! |
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| beautiful treed walkway |
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| porch! |
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| cool bike! |
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| for this tree, they just rerouted the sidewalk! |
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| old train station - everytime I walk by, I think that guy sitting on the bench is real! |
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| us at our favorite people watching spot |
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| Key West bike! |
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| beautiful church |
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Well, the tree was here first!
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| would love to hear this story! |
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| ok, what is the story of that name? |
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| another pretty church |
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| porch! |
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| this house (and another porch) is made of Dade County pine - coveted wood from trees now extinct |
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| beautiful fountain inside an art gallery |
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| door handle on the same gallery |
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| huge fan palm |
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| delightful porch sculpture |
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| Congregational church |
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| beautiful retreat in a hotel |
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| love the huge rooster and other sculptures |
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| Which came first, the tree or the porch? |
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| LOVE this paint job on the porch! |
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| unique twisted tree! |
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| kooky Key West-y porch! |
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| Dade County wood ceiling in a church |
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| LOVE the flowers in January! |
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| Tree or fence first? |
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| huge kitchy sculptures |
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| back gate at Harpoon Harry's |
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| Key West-y bike! |
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| porch! |
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| Curry Mansion, now a hotel |
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| Lost Weekend Liquor - built from Dade County Pine |
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| porch! |
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| terrific sandwiches from this food truck |
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| great place to eat your Garbo's sandwich |
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| entrance to First Flight - a favorite Happy Hour place |
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| huge banyan tree |
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| huge kapok tree! |
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| lovely church window |
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| love the colors |
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| another Key West-y car |
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| and yet another one |
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| haven't seen this one at night, but it must be fabulous! |
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| lovely church windows - paint job really needed! |
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| dog statues guarding their door! |
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| bike decoration for their fence |
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| lovely porch with plants and pretty lights |
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| pretty porch and a good people watching spot! |
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| sunrise at the marina! |
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| very old wall near the cemetery - made of coral, absolutely not allowed now! |
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| closeup of the wall showing geodes put in as decoration |
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| We are seeing a lot of this - a very old building under construction. The construction saves just the upper story and the side walls. Everything else, including the foundation will be new. |
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| interesting grave in the cemetery. Huge conch shell as decoration. |
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| this is the plaque - you an read about the Conch Republic. Fun history of this island. |
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| Love this gate! |
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| lovely porch behind the previous gate... |
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| beautiful side garden |
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| beautiful porch with an unusually large front yard |
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| tiny and very cool little house |
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| wind vane infront of this little house |
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| beautiful doors and porch |
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| gorgeous windows inside a church I entered to be quiet and cool off! |
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| Beautiful old tree by the Methodist church |
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| lovely porch and yard |
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| I liked this porch enough to take a couple of shots.... |
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| front view of this welcoming porch |
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| humorous sign on this porch |
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| abundant plants on this fence |
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| interesting old piece on the corner of this fence |
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| this house has the ceiling of their porch painted blue (traditionally to keep the haints away!) |
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| roof peak on a shed |
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| this house just had a total paint job - beautiful! |
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| They've let the vines grow on the porch - I like the look! |
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| Only in Key West would someone paint their garbage bins! |
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| I love the face on the big pot! |
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| These totems are outside a hotel entrance near Schooner Wharf |
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| lovely house, two levels of porches |
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| inviting porch |
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| obviously a gardener! |
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| perfect perch for some air plants |
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| nice, tidy, pretty porch |
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| lovely flowers and hedge, pretty door |
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| Key West-y bike |
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| love the bright blue house with the red rockers |
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| next time we come, this will be under construction! |
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| love the big colorful plants |
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| small but exquisite house - I docented here on a house tour. You should see the interior! |
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| pretty |
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| store front, but could be a residence! |
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| they put up their own comical directional signs |
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| tucked away in a neighborhood - we haven't had a chance to try them out |
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| dramatic pig...duck?? |
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| porch with a guard cat |
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| so full of plants - I love it! |
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| plants providing privacy |
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| lovely home, porch with an unusually large front yard |
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| so pretty |
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| now THAT's some Key West-y decorations! |
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| comfortable, colorful porch |
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| We took the Conch Train with Michelle, Dan's daughter |
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| lovely sunset |
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| if you enlarge this view from top of the Martello West, you'll see a large number of shrimp boats out in the Atlantic - they're actually shielding themselves from the big north wind blow. I've never seen so many out there! |
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| whimsical scuptures inside the Fort, created by |
Stanley Papi. He started in 1949 creating his creatures from found objects. The next few shots are of his creations. Too cool!
Ss
There may be no more pictures from Key west this trip.. We are 'hunkered down' from a very strong wind that has our boat rocking and rolling all night and day. Tomorrow, Sunday, 1/30, the high temperature will be 58 degrees! I may or may not get out, but certainly I'll be bundled up!
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