posted by admin on May 8
Mallory Square
Key West’s Mallory Square is bursting with activity and acts as the main plaza of Key West. It’s here at Mallory Square that we celebrate the sunset every evening, with live music, performers, artists and a rowdy cheer as the sun goes down. In fact, the sunset celebration at Mallory Square is on our Top Ten Things to do in Key West. Why? Where else do you get to see the sun set over the water, in the eastern part of the United States? The shimmering colors over the water and the brilliant sky reflecting its pink and orange hues, well, you’ll want to celebrate too, once you get here!
Mallory Square is on the waterfront, facing Key West harbor. From Mallory Square you can see Sunset Key, which is a private resort island, you can see boats coming and going, and you can see several small islands that surround Key West. It’s a beautiful place to gaze out and think about how good life is!
In the evening, the street performers set up and do amazing and entertaining things for visitors. There are tightrope acts, juggling, magic, and well it changes from time to time so it’s never the same twice. The mood down at Mallory Square is joyous and slightly exciting, as another night is about to start, on Duval Street. Everyone is in a great mood, and what a great place to be!
During the day, it’s still nice because it’s a wide open space, so different from the tiny lanes and streets of Old Town. You can see Tarpon sometimes, off the pier, and usually at least several types of fish hanging around. Mallory Square is a nice place to catch your breath, chill out, and regroup for the next Key West activity.
posted by admin on May 5
Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas is one of the most beautiful attractions in Key West. This National Park is on our list of Top Ten Things to do in Key West, and it’s definitely worth spending a full day of your vacation traveling out to this remote park and back. For that’s what it takes, since it’s located 70 or 80 miles west of Key West, accessible by two ferry services that run trips out to
Dry Tortugas.
Travel out to this remote brick fort built in the Civil War era, and listen to a very informative talk about Fort Jefferson, which is the name of the actual fort. Your guide will also be educated in local wildlife, including nesting birds at Dry Tortugas and marine life you will see on the ride out to the Park.
The Fort at Dry Tortugas is surrounded by a moat, filled with water and then surrounded by flats on all sides. The flats (another name for shallow salt water in this area) are brilliant turquoise blue, sea green water and simply gorgeous viewed from the top of the wall surrounding the fort.
Snorkeling is great here, and you can explore the area in the afternoon, after lunch. Usual itinerary is:
- breakfast on the boat, around 8:30 as you travel out
- trip out is around 2 hours
- guided tour of Dry Tortugas, with nature specialist
- lunch on the boat
- a couple hours for exploring snorkeling, bird watching etc
- back on the boat for the ride home, back at the dock by 5:30pm
posted by admin on May 4
The Front Gate at Hemingway House
Hemingway House is an historical attraction in Key West. The grand home of Ernest Hemingway has been preserved, along with much of the furniture and artifacts from his life, including pictures of him with past wives.
Hemingway House also is home to many many descendants of Hemingway’s famous six-toed cats. They lounge around the gardens hardly noticing the tours passing through, totally ignoring almost everyone.
The tour of the house is lovingly filled with tidbits of Hemingway’s life while he lived in Key West in the 1930s. There’s a cute story about his grand swimming pool, and you get a sense of the swarthy character that he was. He supposedly loved to sit in Key West bars drinking and writing. He also loved to fish, which is perhaps the reason he lived here. Key West FL fishing is of course, famous.
Hemingway House is associated with a few other museums in Key West, so if you’re interested in these, make sure to ask about a combined ticket to save money. Other options are Truman’s Little White House, Mel Fisher’s Museum, and Audubon House. Hemingway House is located on Whitehead Street, close to the waterfront area of Duval Street.
