A Quiet Morning in Key West

With any new job there is bound to be a learning curve. I am certainly steering through my own right now and I am now more thankful than ever for the little getaway that husband and I took to Key West and Miami. With the anxiety of learning something new, I reflect back on our trip fondly. Any travel experience should contain a moment of calm. Our moment came on the first morning in Key West.

After an eight hour drive, our first night in the Conch Republic ended a little too soon. After a breathtaking sunset in Mallory Square, we spent the evening enjoying a variety of libations up and down Duval Street. And, paying homage to our parrothead nature, we had managed to visit the Margaritaville Cafe, not once but twice in just a few hours’ time. But as we sat on the second level of Rick’s Bar overlooking Sloppy Joe’s and the “entrance” to Duval, we couldn’t fight the fatigue any longer and retired to our hotel room.

We awoke around 8am and made it our mission to start the day by walking to the Southernmost Point. Our hotel was located right off of Mallory Square and as we left the resort grounds, we were astounded to see Key West quiet and serene. We started down Front Street… it wasn’t long before we encountered our first diversion. The beauty of the well manicured grounds of the Truman Annex lured us in. The bright green lawn of the Little White House glistened in the morning mist. The soft sounds of the courtyard water fountain babbled. I was tempted to take the tour, but husband wanted to return to our original mission. We left the grounds and headed to Whitehead Street.

I couldn’t contain my amusement at the sound of rooster’s crowing all throughout the island. As we passed house after house, each one with more personality than the next, I didn’t want the walk to end. We came upon the house with quite possibly the biggest personality of them all: Ernest Hemingway’s Home. Had our trip been a couple nights longer I would have scheduled an extensive visit to this legendary home, be it a typical tourist activity or not. After snapping a few pictures we continued forth.

The urge to just get from point A to point B had no hold on me. I much preferred to wander and savor the sights, and venture down a side road or two. Alas, husband’s desire to reach our goal undeterred won out. On the horizon the distinct rings of red, yellow, and black became visible. Much akin to Cinderella’s Castle in Orlando, or the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Southernmost Point marker is a quintessential landmark for Key West.

We reached the marker and joined a few fellow tourists. Thankfully, with it still be relatively early in the morning, it wasn’t too crowded. We posed for a few obligatory pictures next to the marker. I was a little surprised at the small size this famed corner of the island. I gazed out onto the open ocean, jet skis mingling with a few sailboats. I wanted to dive in. But, we had yet to have breakfast and with a multitude of unique restaurants on the island from which to choose, we ventured off to satisfy our hunger pangs.