Down in Key West…

Sittin’ here restin’ my bones

This loneliness won’t leave me alone

Two thousand miles I roamed

To make this Key West dock my home

Now I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Watchin’ the tide roll away

Sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Wastin’ time Sam & Dave

The Key West sunsets I remember at Mallory Square were some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in the world, but the last time I was in Key West was 20 years ago. This week there were 3 cruise ships parked at Mallory Square blocking the sunset view completely! 20 years can do some damage to one’s ability to relive the past.

We finally made it to the southernmost point of America- give or take a mile here or there. We are staying in an RV park called Boyd’s and its packed to the gills with RVs as you can see from the photos below. But you will also see our little camper and it has plenty of room around it. One of the benefits of being only 20 feet long, about as long as a SUV, you can stay in spots that are reserved for tents. So where are all the tents? They pretty much got blown off the campground peninsula by the winter winds hammering the Keys. Nobody told us about this type of weather this far south 20-30 MPH winds!

We road our bikes from the campground into Key West’s party and cruise ship zone. Our day one attempt of a glorious sunset was fudged by aforementioned the three cruise ships. We were both struck at how sad this was. The next night that we went into town was much more successful due to their absence. We visited a couple of the bars that were recommended to us from friends, but our tangential relationship with alcohol in 2018 limited the bar’s affects. We also took one of the tourist trains to get a feel for where all the attractions were at. Lisa had a good feel already due to all of her visits here with family. As far the rooster below– its illegal to kill them in Key West.

One of the highlights for us in Key West was visiting Hemmingway’s house. It was beautiful and survived the hurricanes of 2017 without much damage. The grounds of the house are homes to the Hemmingway 6-toed cats- close to 100 polydactyl cats live on the grounds. When the hurricane was inbound in 2017, some of the house volunteers brought them into the house and babysat them until the storm passed. Below are a couple of interior photographs of his beddin’ room and his writin’ room.

We didn’t get to do any type of water sports we had planned on doing at Boyd’s campground or snorkeling in the reefs since everything was pretty much shut down with the high winds.

Our food discovery this trip was Hogfish. This is a light, fluffy, mild fish that is found near reefs and has a snout that resembles and pig. Not sure if the snout will bite a hook so I think you need to spear this fish! We first tasted this fish at Hogfish Grill on Stock Island and then had it every day for the remainder of our time in The Keys! Delicious!

After leaving Key West, we stopped in Marathon Key to check out one of the best beaches in the area, Sombrero Beach. The beach looked fine but locals said the sand had to be trucked in and they are still grooming the area. This area is slowly recovering. I know this restaurant looks rather old fashioned and shabby but it is has delicious steak & lobster at Florida Steak and Lobster House in Marathon.