Spring Break - Key West

OK, I finally got some of the pictures uploaded so that I can post them here. Our Key West adventure started on March 20, early in the morning - we had to be at the dock by 8:00, and knowing that the Fort Myers' commuter traffic was anything but fast, we left Estero at 7:00. We did arrrive early, but that was OK - we were able to view a very nice sunrise along the water and we were the first ones on the ferry. We took the Key West Express - their Big Cat Catamaran:
We boarded the ferry and had our choice of seats inside. Another couple, Scott and Marilyn from Detroit joined us at our table. The ferry detparted from the San Marco Island bridge at 9:00.

Here is a picture as we left Fort Myers, on our way to Key West:

We arrived in Key West around 1pm. We chose to walk everywhere - we must have walked 4-5 miles that day. We stayed in a nice Bed and Breakfast, the Avalon B&B, located near the Southern most point, about 1.5 miles from the North side of the island where the ferry docked. We explored Mallory Square first and perused a couple of museums and shops before heading down Duvall Street to our B&B. We walked Duval street at least 3 times that day - thank goodness I had my running shoes on! Duval street is the "main strip", with the famous Sloppy Joes and other bars, clubs and shops.




After an early dinner at the Crab Shack (yum!), we headed back to Mallory square for the Sunset celebration, where numerous street vendor and performers entertained the crowds as the sun set into the sea. At sunset, a person pronounces the time and that the sun has set - cheering abounds and much of the crowd disperses.






The next day, we visited the Light house museum and the very popular Ernest Hemmingway house. The history around the Hemmingway house was very interesting. Scott even decided to pick up some Hemmingway literature to re-read (The Man and the Sea).


At the Left, the Hemmingway house, on the Right, we stand under the banyon tree next to the Island Lighthouse.

Our trip to Key West would not have been complete without comsuming the famous KeyLime Pie. Scott thought The Blond Giraffe was a hilarious name, but they made very good Key Lime Pie, and had a large bakery on the island and several stores.




And here is MY favorite store in Key West - namely because of the moniker. Scott and I both bought Shirley Can't Surf T-shirts. The owner of the store did admit that they have many Shirley's come into the store and he had never met one who could surf......







Our adventure ends as we depart Key West for Fort Myers. We met up again with Scott and Marilyn from Detroit and they were nice enough to save us seats with them with a beautiful view of the sunset: