Anniversary in Key West
Happy 1 year anniversary!
This past year went by so fast. And who knew a cake could last in a freezer, then a cooler, then a fridge? It really didn’t taste bad either. Wait, let me rewind. We woke up on anniversary morning and ate our wedding cake for breakfast. I guess that wasn’t much to recap. We cut into the cake and remembered it was vanilla - I had no idea what we were in for.
After our breakfast we got ready for a day in Key West. The plan was to get down there for lunch and my goal was to eat seafood, key lime pie, and drink a pina colada. James didn’t know I was mostly in it for the food but, let’s face it, I’m usually in it for the food.
On the way there we heard a song called Anniversary on the radio.
We found free parking about a half mile from Duval Street which is where most things are in Key West. James says it wasn’t the best part of town but I think it was fine. We were right next to this hill with old run down buildings that looked like a military base of some sort which I wanted to explore. We didn’t - it was fenced off and I don’t think you were supposed to go there.
Immediately, I found a restaurant a short walk away and off we went. On the way we passed a bunch of chickens running free. This is a thing down here where there are chickens and roosters everywhere. They run free and yell a lot but people and animals leave each other alone which is nice. It seems they used to be eaten and used in cockfights but I don’t think either thing happens legally anymore. Well, you can eat chicken but I’m not sure you can just pick up a street chicken and cook it up.
Anyway, we were getting close to the restaurant and I saw a big line. I didn’t know what it was for and hoped it wasn’t the place I wanted to eat. James let me know it was actually for everyone to pose with the Key West southern most point marker. We did not wait. I suggested we stand there for a while photobombing everyone that had waited but didn’t want to stop and miss out on lunch.
Our first stop was Seaside Cafe at the Mansion. When I looked this up I thought there was food James would eat but when we got there it was all seafood. We decided to just have drinks and some fries here and move on to the next spot. One thing down, I had my pina colada.
Moving along down the main drag we hit a few stores and galleries. The butterfly conservatory was pretty cool. We didn’t see the live butterflies but they had a bunch of beautiful ones in cases on the walls. We, of course, grabbed some souvenirs along the way.
The next big feature was Keylum. We found a place with seafood tacos (shrimp to be exact) and went on in. We each got a mojito which was so fresh and the food was amazing. The tacos came with rice on the side and I love my rice. I had never thought to do this but it had black beans and feta mixed with the rice and wow. James had a…drum roll…. burger. He said it was good.
I couldn’t believe this but while we were waiting for our food the song I walked down the isle came on their radio. I checked the time and it was 2:10pm. Funny enough that was the same time 1 year before I was walking down the isle. So I sat there and sang it with a big goofy smile on my face the whole time.
Continuing down Duval Street we went into a few more shops on our way to Sloppy Joe’s Bar. I loved the atmosphere here, it felt a little like New Orleans. They had live music playing and 3 different bars going. The singer was from OCMD. And last thing on the list - Key Lime Pie. We sat at the bar, James ordered a rum runner and I ordered my pie. We sat for a while and each had a rum runner before heading back toward the car.
On the way back we walked down this beautiful street which turned out to be where the little white house was located. Apparently Truman spent a lot of time down here and now they have a little white house. This area was so much more peaceful then the main road full of shops and restaurants.
I decided I wanted to drive back across all the bridges so after we stopped for gas I took the wheel and got to make the 7 mile bridge drive (well among others). Right on the Marathon side of the 7 mile bridge is a restaurant called Sunset Grill & Raw Bar. I had wanted to go there for dinner but after our tour of food in Key West, I was feeling rather full. It is about an hour drive from where we parked back up to Marathon so I had a little time to digest and we decided to stop by Sunset Grill and at least grab a drink. We pull in and had the idea to get take out so we could come back home and get comfy for dinner. It was a nice place and I’m so glad we decided not to eat there, I heard the host telling someone it was an hour and a half wait for a table. We went up to the bar, grabbed a drink and ordered some food to bring home. After the food came out we wondered around the place for a minute. They have a pool and dock area, you can see the sunset from the pool. It was a nice place and I can see why it was so busy.
We got back home and cleaned up before dinner. Walking around in 85* weather all day makes you sleepy. So we ate our food and took another look at the sky with the binoculars. Again, that UFO from yesterday was not there tonight. We thought a storm was coming in tonight but I haven’t heard any rain yet.
For our last day in town tomorrow we have another adventurous day planned with jet skis and snorkeling.
