Leslie and David's Wanderings: 1-2 March 2020 Key West, FL

We finally spent time exploring Key West. On Sunday, we drove the one hour drive (38 miles) into the city and parked not far from the ferry terminal ($4 and hour) (since we knew where that parking lot was located and that it could handle the Behemoth). From there we walked to Kermit’s to get a slice of authentic Key Lime pie. It was delicious! Our Cousin Beth had recommended it. From there we walked down to the Little White House where President Truman went for summer respite during his presidency. At that time, it was on the Key West Naval Station grounds. It has since been sold to a private non-profit to run as a museum. We did not go in since we were running low on time to get to our next destination. From the Little White house, we walked along the exclusive Front Street residences before cutting up to Whitehead Street. From there we walked south and came across the southern terminus of US-1. US-1 goes from Key West Florida all the way to the Canadian boarder in northern Maine. Just beyond US-1 is the Hemmingway House where Ernest Hemmingway lived and wrote several of his books. We wanted to tour the house, but they wanted $15 per person entrance fee and only took cash. We just don’t walk around with much cash on us anymore. So we did not have enough cash for the entrance fee. We did see one of the famous six toed cats that live on the grounds of the house. From there we made our way to what is advertised as the southernmost point on the contiguous 48 states. It’s a bit of a misnomer since you can see right behind the marker is a point that sticks out further and is therefore further south, but it is on the Key West Naval Air Station (Truman annex) and not accessible by the public. But in truth, there is a small sand key further south than even the point, but it is not accessible except by boat. After waiting in line to get our picture taken, we walked to Duval Street and made our way up Duval Street with the intention of getting to Mallory Square for the sunset. Along the way we stopped at a wine shop and enjoyed a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio. Duval Street kind of reminds us of the French Quarter of New Orleans with back to back bars and tourist shops. It was very crowded and dirty. As we walked along, we noticed there was a heavy deck of clouds moving in which meant there would not be a good sunset to view. So we stopped at Bogobelle restaurant for a wonderful seafood dinner before heading back to the Behemoth and home.

Monday was another beautiful day in the keys. We headed back down to Key West intent on catching the sunset at Mallory Square. After poking around on the narrow streets near Mallory Square, we were finally able to find a parking spot for the Behemoth ($25) for the evening. We wandered toward Mallory Square and ducked into the Hogs Breath to grab a couple of beers to take with us. Apparently it is not legal to carry an alcoholic beverage on the public street but we were told enforcement is pretty lax. We saw another group doing the same thing so we felt there was strength in numbers! As we headed toward the square, Leslie stubbed her big toe (the one with a blister on it from our hike in the Everglades) pretty hard on a lip in the sidewalk. But fortunately she did not spill a drop of her beer. Wandering into the square about 30 minutes prior to sunset, there were a lot of people milling around. There were several street performers in the square vying for attention and other folks were staking place out on the waters edge for the sunset viewing. We stopped and watched one performer that was doing a combination balancing, juggling and comedy act. Fortunately he did not fall or cut himself. We found a good spot along the sea wall and absorbed the beautiful slow setting sun. There were lots of sailboats on the bay making for some great photographic opportunities. After the sunset and a cheer was raised in the square, we headed for the harbor. We had dinner at the Commodore Restaurant overlooking the harbor. Our friends Gale and Michael had recommended it. It was delicious and the view over the harbor was beautiful. This was the second night in a row we had stayed out late which meant Etta was home alone and her dinner was later than normal. So after we finished dinner we rushed home to the Wanderer feeling guilty for making her wait.