Idyllic and Zany Key West [April 6-13, 2016]

Two important aspects of Key West - Tourism and Cuban Coffee

Key West is equal parts tropical paradise, endless party, tourist trap, and zany Conch Republic.

Tropical Paradise – It is really beautiful here.  The sky is blue, the weather is warm but not too hot, there is a light breeze.  Tall palm trees sway gently in the breeze, many with coconuts clustered under the fronds.  The ocean water is a gorgeous color green.  The sand beaches are blindingly white.  It would be easy to get used to this climate.  Our first campsite at Boyds Campground was on the waterfront.  We backed the motor home up to a shallow retaining wall and the ocean, and put our chairs behind the camper to enjoy the view.  You couldn’t wake up to a prettier view.  We decided to stay a bit longer and had to move to another site, this one “inland”, but just steps from the kayak launch point and beach where Tiki swims.

Sunrise from our campsite

Key West is closely tied with Cuba.  For centuries folks from Key West and Cuba visited and traded with each other.  After all, Cuba is only 90 miles away and Miami is 120; for many years you reached both of them by boat.  At one time, the big industry on the island was making cigars out of Cuban tobacco.  There are quite a few Cuban restaurants on the island, and Cuban coffee shops (we are developing a taste for this rich milky beverage).  DeLuna's across from the campground serves a delicious breakfast and lunch menu to local workers.  Simple, yummy Cuban food.

Russ and mangroves

See how clear the water is...

 On the other side of the Boca Chica Bay from our campground is a Naval Aviation base.   Jet fighters regularly take off, circle in various formations and land there.  We took a kayak paddle in the Boca Chica Bay.  We passed working docks with piles of what looked like crab traps.  We also passed a few derelict vessels listing and half full of water.  We spent some time paddling around the mangrove islands.  We were interested to see mangrove shoots 10-15 feet from the "mother" plant sticking out of the water.  We only saw one bird (a cormorant), which could be attributed to the noise from the jets.  It was a lovely paddle in dramatic clear water, none the less.

Working Dock

Sad derelict boat

Mangrove shoots

Across from the dock in the campground is a mangrove island where pelicans roost at night.  At first we couldn't believe that we were seeing 20 pelicans roosting in a tree.  We went back over the course of several days, and sure enough that is where they roost.  Go figure.  I guess we had never wondered where pelicans go at night...

Did you think you would ever see a pelican sitting in a tree?

Sunset at Mallory Square

A sunset worth cheering about!

Endless Party – Yup, in Old Town the party never stops.  Key West has wall-to-wall bars and folks carry drinks in go-cups in the streets.  The party is punctuated by the nightly sunset ritual.  Hundreds (probably 500) of people gather at Mallory Square each night, to watch street performers, buy art and jewelry and things to eat and drink, and watch the sunset.  We watched a juggler named Ridiculous Neal.  He was really good!  The sunset, when it finally comes, is quite lovely over the aptly named Sunset Key.  Sailing vessels move back and forth in silhouette.  At the point that the sun goes down, everyone cheers.  And the party continues.

Smathers Beach

We visited Smathers Beach twice and saw 3 wedding venues being set up on the beach. While we were visiting the Hemingway house, the grounds were being set up for a wedding reception.  Talk about a destination wedding!

Stone Crab Claws

Tourist Trap – There are thousands of souvenir shops – some classy and some trashy – in Key West.  There are hundreds of tourist activities – 3 hop-on-hop-off tour bus/tram lines, water sport services, bicycle/scooter/golf cart rentals, kayak/jet ski rentals, etc.  Everything includes leaving a tip.  In some places they will even suggest how much tip for you to leave.

Southernmost Point of the US

There is a big monument at the Southernmost Point of the US, and tourists stand in line to take their picture next to the monument.  At the time we were there we saw 35-40 people in line.  So we  took our picture across the street from the monument.  In the process we made friends with a couple from Utah taking each others picture while traffic passed between us and the monument.

Mile 0 - US Route 1

On another street corner, in another part of town is the beginning of highway US 1.  If you are on the other side of the street it is the end of Route 1. Either way it is Milepost 0 of a highway that goes all the way to the top of Maine.  While this landmark is not as crazy with tourists as the Southernmost Point, you can always find someone there to take your picture with the sign, as long as you take theirs as well. 

Conch Republic – If you were born and raised on the island, you are called a Conch, after the mollusks with the beautiful shells that are harvested here.  If you were born someplace else, but have lived on Key West for 7 years, you get the designation of Freshwater Conch.  In 1982, Key West seceded from the US, and threw stale Cuban bread rolls at the US Courthouse.  The next day they asked to be returned to the US and requested millions of dollars in foreign aid, that they didn’t receive.   The island is proud of its individualism, and you see crazy characters on the streets.

Rooster and hen at De Luna's

Baby chicks at Boyds Key West Campground

These guys liked Tiki's water bowl

At some point, the sport of cock fighting was banned on the island, so the Key Westers set all their chickens free.  Roosters, hens and baby chicks walk round everywhere, all over the town.  Roosters crow throughout the day.   The birds have no natural predators.  We were told that they are a natural form of pest control; they eat scorpions, palmetto bugs, small snakes and other creepy things.  Once you get used to the idea that they are there, you come to appreciate them.  There are two broods of chicks that we’ve seen in our campground.  They are very camera shy, so most of our photos are of chicken tails scurrying under a bush.  

This guy tried to join us for lunch...

We also have seen 2 iguanas, one tried to invite himself to lunch.  Apparently, these iguanas come from escaped (or freed) pets.  Again they have no predators, so they have taken over a small niche in the island ecology.  There is one that we regularly scare into the water at the boat dock.  It is funny watching them run with those ridiculous long-toed feet.  We didn’t know they could swim, but they do.

Key West is worth a visit.  After the wilderness and isolation of the Everglades we found the free-wheeling traffic of cars, scooters, golf carts, and bicycles bewildering.  Once we got our urban selves back together we came to appreciate this lovely island.  We will definitely be returning here again.