Things to Do in Key West
I was fortunate enough to coordinate a quick weekend trip to Key West for my birthday. Since we live in Florida, it’s not too far for a birthday celebration. We left on a ferry and in four hours we arrived in sunny Key West! I’ve done the drive a few times (anywhere from six to eight hours), and it’s feels sooooo long. So, I’m glad we just hopped on the ferry at the nearby beach and called it a day.
If you have any photos of winter in your state, share them at the end! Click Chicks is a weekly photography challenge, and this week’s theme is winter.A Key West Winter Birthday Celebration in 23 Photos
I probably took 400 photos, but I only wanted to share a few that really captured our experience on the island. It was a busy, blurry weekend, and I believe we are still recovering. We stayed at the Pegasus on Duval (which I do recommend even though the accommodations were a little dodgy), and we hit all of our favorite bars. I discovered a new restaurant/bar (Smokin’ Tuna, I hadn’t been there before), and tried a different brunch place (Havana Key West) after seeing Blue Heaven’s ridiculously long wait.
Not only did we arrive on the day of the Christmas Parade, but it was Pirate Weekend. Pirates took over Fort Zachary State Park and set up camp. They had performances and battles all weekend, and we arrived to see their last reenactment. That was a sight to see. We made sure to stop by and visit Cat Man who is a street performer with trained cats. We took a sunset sail with a Bob Dylan cover band, and we were in bed each night before midnight. I definitely am closer to thirty than twenty.
This is unedited folks! This is Sunset Key which is a small island off of Key West. You see it when you arrive to the port. It was about eighty degrees all weekend. That’s a nice winter temperature! More pictures after the jump!
This is early morning leaving Ft. Myers Beach. We were able to catch the sunrise as we boarded the boat, and had a nice ride for four hours. The way back was another story, but getting there was relaxing.
We did a Sunset Sail for my birthday, and it was by far the best part of the trip. I was able to ride free, and there was unlimited beer, wine, champagne, margaritas…
A Key West Christmas Tree … Buoys instead of boughs… Next up on the weekend agenda was a Pirate Festival at Fort Zachary. We had been here before, but it was a few years ago. It’s a beach, park, there are forts… it’s an interesting place.
Lots of pirates. Lots of sunshine. We couldn’t miss Cat Man at Mallory Square, so we walked to catch the sunset show.
Cat Man is a special character, and if you are in the area you need to stop by. It’s ridiculously awesome.
A Key West adventure isn’t complete without a fishbowl.
Flowers on the roof of our hotel
And, that’s one whirlwind of a weekend. Have you ever been to Key West? We try to go every year!
Florida Travel Tips For Families
Heading down to Key West proved to be quite the adventure this past weekend! A good friend was celebrating her marriage (Basically just having the wedding reception in KW), and this was good timing for us to head down and enjoy the party. Yes, a pregnant lady in the scorching summer weather in Key West… it was certainly an experience. I enjoyed it but … it’s HOT.
We woke up early on Friday and headed down making a pit stop in Islamorada at the Ocean View. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you will know that not only is Islamorada our favorite Key… it’s also where we got engaged TWO years ago. Can you believe it? I can actually remember sitting down and scheduling my blog posts from that week in Islamorada two years ago. It’s crazy how time is flying right on by.
Ocean View is a divey sports bar with an “inn” connected to it. We just love it. We pulled in for drinks and lunch just for nostalgic purposes. This is the third year we have stopped in and every time we go… it’s the same staff on duty. It’s funny… things in the Keys seem to never change. [Side note: There are a LOT of abandoned buildings or closed up businesses…every time we make the drive down… it’s as if nothing has changed. The same buildings are empty, the same businesses are shut down, nothing has been renovated. It’s funny we go on living our lives back home and return to the Keys and see that everything is the same.]
Outside the back of the Ocean View.
Instagrammed. After this pit stop in Islamorada… we still had a LONG way to go to get to our final destination–Key West. For those that have driven this stretch, once you get to the Upper Keys… it’s still a very LONG drive to Duval Street. From Tampa the drive time is about 8 hours. Our new home in the Naples area promised us just five… and most of that drive is just on US1 heading down to Key West. No highway driving… just a long road surrounded by water. Once we arrived in Key West, we headed straight for our bed & breakfast–L’Habitation. When we were researching hotels, there wasn’t much information on this one… so I’m going to put some stuff here in the hopes that some other traveler will find it useful! It’s officially caleld the L’Habiation Guest House and it’s located on Eaton and Duval Streets. If you’ve ever seen the retro movie theater down in Key West… it’s right next door. Along for this trip was the fabulous (and very missing blogger) Jen, and we booked two rooms right next to each other. Our rooms shared a deck. It was cute.
We had a king bed in our room and a sort of sitting area with a fridge and a table. We, of course, loved to have the space to throw all our stuff.
Napping husband. After *finally* getting settled and checked in, it was time to try to catch the sunset at Mallory Square… oh, and see CAT MAN. Jen swore that this show was amazing. I will say, this gentleman is quite the character. Cat Man has a show down at Mallory Square every night with his trained cats. They do…stunts. They’re kind of amazing since my own dogs cannot do half the things these cats could.
The view from Mallory Square. This is the third time I’ve been down in Key West and have yet to see an “amazing” sunset. This was a misty night.
Cats jump through rings of fire…
…and I’m pretty sure this just sums up the show. After “sunset,” we headed to find dinner on Duval. Jen suggested Cheeseburger and I’m so glad she did. I’m pretty sure I wanted nothing more than to scarf down a large cheeseburger with fries. It was…heavenly. Honest. The Duval Bar Crawl started after that and this preggo managed to stay out moderately late.
We started at Captain Tony’s which is the husband’s favorite. They serve “pirate punch” which is a cheap mix of some kind of rum concoction that everyone loves.
What the inside of the bar looks like
Me, Jen, and the BRIDE!
With the husband …And, just for the sake of documentation… Key West is a crazy place. Though, I haven’t seen it really CRAZY. There’s a clothing optional bar called the Garden of Eden right on Duval. It’s on the rooftop and I’ve been here before…and no one was naked. It was just a normal bar. Well, let’s just say this past Friday it was certainly crazy. I had never seen anything like it before…obviously. The music was really good though…there just happened to be some people not wearing any clothes. Clearly…. no photos here. Security was on the BALL and anyone who had a phone out or a camera was immediately caught. After this experience, we were passing by our hotel and it was time for this pregnant gal to take a nap! All in all — a very successful day in Key West! Next up — the WEDDING celebration!
