Doing Key West....in 4.5 hours

[lindalee]

Hi again -

I posted this last night but evidently it didn't take for some reason. So here it is again for those interested. We had a list of places to see in Key West since we weren't sure when we would get back. On the Grandeur, we only had from 9:30 a.m. to around 2 O'clock or so. Here is what we did:

 

(Pick up a free map of Key West (available in Mallory Square)....and use it. It has a great street map on it unlike the one the ship gives you.)

 

We took a cab to the Butterfly Conservatory (1316 Duval Street) when we disembarked. ($2.50 a person for four of us.) Be sure to get the cab driver's card so you can call him later to pick you up. (Assuming someone has a cell phone on them.)

 

Before going into the Conservatory, walk pass it, turn right at the corner, and down one block, to the zero mile marker, southernmost point, where everyone takes their pictures. (A line forms later, so do it early, before the Conservatory.)

 

The Conservatory was great and costs about $10. a person. I bought a Butterfly Fandex ($10) at the cash register where we bought our tickets. It fans out and each strip has a butterfly on it with all its information. (We have a butterfly garden at home, so this was a nice remembrance.)

 

Leaving the Conservatory we walked down four or five blocks to the Flamingo Crossing Ice Cream Parlor on the right side of the street....I had read it was rated the best ice cream in the south by Southern Living.....we didn't like the passion fruit so you may want to try your favorite flavor...Eat on the run so to speak and head towards the Key West Cemetery (9 blocks or so). You could do a map quest before your cruise from the Conservatory to the Cemetery. Another option is to get a brochure with a map of Key West (available and free in the shops etc. ....and put out by http://www.historictours.com) The map they give you on the ship is not very good. The free map will show the cemetery. Looking back, we may have been better calling a cab from the ice cream parlor but it is walkable and gives you a feel for the surrounding area. (We passed a small cottage for sale.....1100 sq. feet....asking price, $800,000!)

 

At the Cemetery you can check out the famous, "I told you I was sick" headstone which is located in the NW (from the main entrance) part of the cemetery, in front of the Jewish Section. There are other interesting graves and headstones. (Do your homework prior to the cruise....go to http://www.keywest.com/attractions/cemetery.htm.) We found the stones on the Jewish graves interesting (a custom we understand to say the grave had been visited by friends/family) and one grave (not Jewish) had pennies placed heads up all around the grave site and grave itself. Very interesting, but not sure of the significance. Take some pictures and call the cab to pick you up at the entrance. ($2.50 each)

 

From the cemetery, have the cab take you to the Audubon House for the tour. ($10. or so) When you are finished, about 45 minutes, walk up the street a block or so to the Little White House, President Truman's vacation home. If you have time, take the tour. If not, they have a little museum in the house which is free. I bought the book for $14.95 written by the curator who happened to be there that day. (Had we taken the cab to the cemetery, we probably would have had the time to do the tour.)

 

The Little White House is only a few blocks from the ship and the shopping area. We did some shopping (my husband had to get the Key West Conch Republic Flag - 1982 and I had to get my lime juice) and then walked down to the the Key Lime Pie Factory (629 Duval Street) where we got our pie to go. (They also have the frozen pie on sticks.) From there we headed back to the ship with about 10 minutes to spare. We were tired, but felt we had seen everything on our list plus had walked off some calories! I'm sure there are other ways to do Key West, but this worked for us and was actually less money than taking a pre-arranged tour.

Lindalee

[texancruzer]

Sounds like you did some "interesting" things in Key West. After living on the East Coast of Florida for 8 years and visiting Key West many many times here are a few more suggestions:

THE OBVIOUS: Mel Fishers Museum - treasure from 1615 fleet "Atocha" ship, Hemingway House (lots of cats with extra toes), the 90 mile marker (southernmost point in US)

THE NOT-SO-OBVIOUS: The Keno factory - handmade adorable and long lasting sandal factory near dock (I have some I have worn for 10+ year) they are cheap cheap cheap also !!!!, the batik place (factory where they make fabric -have tours), also neat place for art: Haitian Art museum/store. We also always go to the fudge place in the old customs house..... yum... There are so many stores and neat places on Duval..... just walk up one side and down the other. You will have fun just people watching....

NOT TO MISS: If you can experience sunset at Mallory just once - do it. Also scooters are a blast.... cheaper than you think and very easy to ride (if I can do it - anyone can!) there are special parking places just for scooters so no problem with the parking issue.

[star of county down]

Hey there...we were on the Grandeur that just returned on Sunday, too. I made a list and we did what we planned with the exception of two things. Here is what we did...

 

Walked straight down Duvall Street to the southernmost point. We had so much fun looking at all the stores and people. We'd been there before but our kids hadn't. It sprinkled a little bit but it felt refreshing. We stood in the small line to take pics and had some old Conch coot try to pick me up -- he reminded me of that perv on The Family Guy tee hee hee. He ended up bothering the wrong person (some big guy off of the ship) and almost got his face rearranged. It was so funny and crazy. Then, we walked down to Truman where we had planned on going to a sushi bar called Ambrosia. I asked a native on the street exactly which cross street to turn down because my map wasn't that great, and he told me that Ambrosia was closed at lunch but told us to keep walking and that we would find another one on the left. We did and it was great -- nice fans over our heads and fresh conch. We wanted to see the cemetery but didn't realize we had already passed the side street for that 4 blocks earlier and our feet were pretty tired and time was running out, so, we didn't do it. But we didn't feel bad about it. We had shopping to do and went into a really cool place called Earthbound. I started dancing to the music, a clerk joined me, and another one started playing the bongos. I ended up getting the Key Lime Pie on a stick. It was AWESOME. I had had the pie many times but never this thing on a stick. Well...let me tell ya, it was so good. Thick rich chocolate coated the whole thing. And it wasn't frozen like ice cream. I was able to eat it and it wasn't dripping at all. God it was good.

 

The things we missed besides the cemetery: Hemingway House and The Half Shell - a restaurant we went to in 1983 that is still there. It was a very rustic place with a good raw bar and delicious local lobster, and the price was right. We want to go back.