A Day in Key West

We were having breakfast with some young ladies the day before we docked in Key West. They inquired as to whether we'd been to Key West before (we had) and what to do while there.

Easy answer. Go to Sloppy Joe's and have a burger or a drink. Then go to the "southernmost point" marker and take some pictures. Apparently this was the answer they got from their dinner companions the night before.

While that's not all there is to Key West, when all you've got is an afternoon, it hits the high spots (at least for us). It was what we intended to do.

We rented an electric car because we didn't think my knee could withstand the walk into town. (Really, I'm not sure I could have walked the distance into town in the heat, anyway.)

We drove to the southernmost point marker and there was a line of people waiting for photos. I must have been so lucky the last time I was there. That time, no one was around and there was absolutely no waiting. We decided to go have lunch to see if the line would be shorter when we came back.

As we approached Sloppy Joe's, we could see the line of people that went out the door and around the block. I wonder how many of them know who Ernest Hemingway was. But that's the big draw because while the food is good, it isn't great. I'd wanted to get a T-shirt but I didn't want it badly enough to stand in line for half the afternoon.

So we had ice cream instead. We found a place that provided free parking for the electric car, which was really more of a noisy golf cart with a little back seat. I don't remember paying to park the last time I was in Key West. Anyway, Key West is supposed to be "laid back". Laid back places are not obsessed with parking fees. It was a bit inconvenient and there were places we might have stopped if we hadn't had to figure out where to park. Next time we're in Key West we'll either get there via car or if we go on a cruise, we'll take one of the hop-on/off trolleys.

We drove past the southernmost point again. The line was still too long so we set off in search of lunch. We found a great little spot with an upstairs balcony overlooking a marina. We had blackened fish tacos (wonderful) with our view.

After lunch, we decided to bite the bullet and get in the photo opportunity line.

Mark said that he would rather go to Key West on our July road trip than to the mountains. (See what happens when you forget to buy sunscreen?)