Driving from Miami to Key West is south on Highway 1, the only road down over the keys. The drive down over all the keys (islands) is very special, and the water looks like something which you just have to swim in. Once there was a train to Key West, but in a big hurricane it was damaged beyond repair. Unfortunately the old train bridges are just sitting there collecting rust – only some parts are maintained as a historical site – and the power lines have been put on poles just next to the road, so the view is not as nice as it could be.
We came to Key West (well, one island away) in the afternoon and we just sat there in the breeze, enjoying the view and the air, before we went to bed (the WiFi was unfortunately based on a satellite connection, and satellite uplinks are really slow and with the slow server I have for the pages it was almost impossible to actually update the blog).
The next day we drove over to Key West proper, and looked for maybe a beach, or a boat trip, to go to swim in the ocean .. but our plans got changed a bit by mother nature. As we drove into Key West it started to rain – quite a bit. So we opted for looking at Duval Street (the main shopping artery here) and surroundings first by bus and after it had stopped pouring on foot. There are plenty of the famous chickens which live in the streets of Key West in the trees and walking between cars and motorcycles. We got the famous Key Lime Pie and we got a Mojito, waiting out the rain.
That evening we also got one of the best dinners while on the trip at a place called nine-one-five, sitting outside enjoying a very nice evening. Sabine got Florida grouper, I got duck with mole (chocolate sauce) and Felix got both 😉
The next day the weather was supposed to be the same as the day before, so we were a bit careful with any planning. We got out of the door a bit earlier than normal and went looking for the beach. The nicest beach (forgot to take a picture) is Smathers Beach, just like a picture postcard, but the best swimming water is at Fort Zacharay Taylor State Park.
In the afternoon we visited one of the few non party attractions in Key West, the Butterfly Conservatory. Not so big, but really well made.
In the evening we took a sunset cruise with the Schooner (Dansk: Skonnert) Western Union and we got to help set the sail and Felix got to steer it as well (this time with some serious help from first the captain and then from me as you actually had to hold on to it to steer up against the wind).
The cruise was just about two hours long, and it was probably not the best Key West sunset (like somebody said: even a bad Key West sunset is better than a day at the office…), but it was great being out there and given the fact that we only were about 20 people on a ship that can hold 70, we really could walk around without bumping into somebody all the time.