Key West Jan. 25-26

Dawn and I had been planning this little overnight to Key West since December, when the Key West Express was offering round trip travel vouchers for $99 apiece, almost $50 off the full ticket price. So now it is time to cash in!

Monday Jan. 25

We arrived at the dock by Fort Myers Beach a little after 7:30 a.m., and there was already a line of passengers waiting to board. We exchanged our vouchers for tickets, and got in line. The ferry's inside seating will hold up to 400 passengers, and every seat was sold out. We secured a couple of seats at a table of six, sharing with four other people, which allowed us to play cards and have a place to set down snacks and drinks. We departed promptly at 8:30, and once we cleared the harbor sped through the water at an amazing 40 mph. The wake that this ship throws up is amazing! We got some pretzels, and I had a Bloody Mary from the bar. We played gin rummy, read, and watched the ocean.

We pulled into Key West port about noon, but by the time we tied up and all passengers left via the single gangway, it was 12:30. The first thing we did was rid ourselves of our luggage at the hotel, which was just 0.2 miles from the dock ... an easy walk up Grinnel Street, then right on Eaton St. for a block, to the Westwinds. Our room had been cleaned so it was ready for occupancy. We went up the stairs to our second-story room, and deposited our bags.

We were hungry for lunch, so I attempted for the first time to use the "Uber" app on my phone for a driver to take us to "Le Creperie," but to no avail. After plugging in all the information, the phone returned with a reply that stated "No drivers available, try later." Screw that, so we had the front desk call us a regular cab which got us to our destination in about 10 minutes.

Le Creperie is highly rated by TripAdvisor, and we were not disappointed. I started with a warmed-up croissant with butter and strawberry jam. We shared a gallete for the savory course, and a crepe for dessert. The concept is the same, but a gallete is a savory batter, while crepe batter is sweet. Our gallete was filled with bacon, apple, Brie, and sliced turkey breast. Our crepe was banana/strawberry, covered in a chocolate sauce. We each had a cup of their delicious French roast coffee. I'm glad we got there when we did (1:30 p.m.) because this is one of those places open for just breakfast and lunch, and closes at 3:00 p.m.

From there, we went back to our hotel, and decided to walk it (0.9 miles) and in fact did most of our traversing by foot after that, with the exception of our circle island tour aboard one of the trolleys. On the way back, we chanced upon a place on Eaton Street called Glazed Donuts, and popped in right before their closing at 3 p.m. We picked up a couple of classic glazed and ate them on the way back to the hotel. Oh my God, they were good, and I'm noting this in the blog to remind me to visit them again should we return to KW.

Back at the hotel, we further unpacked and took a look around the property (very nice!) and at about 4 p.m. decided to head down to Mallory Square for street performers, sunset, and dinner.

We really wanted to see the performing cats, and found out he had moved from Mallory Square to adjacent Westin Pier. I took a photo of him with Dawn:

His name is Dominique La Fort and he has been doing his cat show since 1981. He has four cats, but he only brings out two at a time, and does two shows, each with a different pair of cats. The guy seemed fairly normal while he was setting up the show ... taking pictures with people, selling T-shirts, etc. But when the show starts, he kind of turns into a maniac, prancing around the stage, trying to tell jokes in a heavy French accent which no one can understand. His background includes study of mime and dance, so at times he's doing mime like Marcel Marceau on speed, and then all of sudden he'll shout something in French, startling the little children who have gathered in the front, sitting on the pavement. When he brings out the two cats, the real show begins, and it was great fun to watch their acrobatics and antics:

We didn't stay for the second show because e were hungry. We chose a place called "Blue Fish Red Fish" located just off the Square on Front Street. It was pretty highly rated by Google users. (I couldn't access TripAdvisor because cell reception on the "Boost" network was spotty on the island). We sat on the patio because the temperature was about 70 and just right for us. I had fish and chips (the fish was Grouper) and Dawn had a grilled seafood platter consisting of shrimp and scallops. It was good, but not great. Dawn's food arrived cold, and she had to send it back for reheating which of course is the kiss of death for fresh seafood. My fried Grouper was delicious, but the "chips" (i.e. french fries) were cold. The waitress brought me bleu cheese dressing instead of tarter sauce. The key lime pie was just so-so, being the bastardized version of whipped cream cheese fillling rather than the only true key lime pie made with egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. So while everything was "OK," we didn't feel it was $75 (including tip) worth of OK. Now that we are back in Ft. Myers with reliable Internet, we see that TripAdvisor reviewers give it four out of five stars. Hmmm. Think I'll have to trot on over to TripAdvisor and put in my 2 cent's worth.

We strolled along Duval Street to Eaton Street on our way back to the hotel. There was the usual craziness, a blend of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Bourbon Street, and Mainstreet Magic Kingdom. There's always loud raucous activity at Sloppy Joes, but Hard Rock Cafe was running a close second. Back at the hotel, we were pretty exhausted from all the walking and fresh air, and fell quickly asleep on thick mattresses with plush bedding.

Tuesday Jan. 26

Woke about 7 a.m. and had the continental breakfast included with our room. The usual fare, but we did have fresh watermelon and cantaloupe which was a nice. touch. We walked down Grinnel Street to the pier because I wanted to tour the Henry Flager museum, one of the few free attractions on the island. To my disappointment, it was closed due to street construction. Damn. Henry Flager is one of my favorite, eccentric robber barons of the gilded age. He started out working for John D. Rockefeller, but eventually left to make his own mark on history. He basically brought civilization to the eastern coast of Florida, including railroads and luxury hotels, starting in St. Augustine and working his way down. He is considered by many to be the father of Miami and Miami Beach. His most ambitious project was to build an overseas railroad from Miami to Key West. The project at one time involved 4,000 workers, and ultimately cost him $50 million. It was completed in 1912, and he had but one opportunity to ride the rail in his private club car before he died the next year in 1913. The rail line remained in operation until the great Labor Day category 5 hurricane of 1935 that killed over 400 people and destroyed great sections of the railroad bed. Too expensive to repair, the entire rail line was sold to the state of Florida, and much of Highway 1 connecting Key West to Miami is built upon the foundation and piers of Flagler's railroad.  Pretty amazing. I encourage you to check it out on Wikipedia or other source. Very interesting man.

Undaunted, we forged ahead. We stopped at Kermit's on Greene Street for a slice of their key lime pie, which is the absolute best. Lots of lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk, all baked into a graham cracker crust. We washed it down with cafe con leche from a Cuban restaurant right around the corner. Absolutely delicious. If you're ever in Key West, you MUST stop at Kermits for a slice of their key lime pie. There's two locations, one on Duval Street and the other on Elizabeth Street near Mallory Square.

Next, we bought tickets on the City Trolley Line. This is the underdog of the city's hop-on-hop-off trolley lines, behind the famous "Conch Train" and "Orange and Green" trolley lines. It's $8 less than either of the other two, at just $21 for the all-day pass. And somebody on the trolley from one of the cruise ships gave me an extra voucher for no charge, so we only had to buy a ticket for Dawn. Sweet. We made the complete circle tour of the island, stopping at the south end to visit the butterfly conservatory.

The butterfly place was awesome. In addition to butterflies everywhere, there were birds (including two pink flamingos), koi fish, and a very interesting insect display, and of course gift shop and gallery of more expensive works. I highly recommend this place if you ever get to KW.

We hopped back on a trolley, and got off at Conch Republic for lunch. This restaurant was a reunion of sorts for us, since we had eaten there while on shore during one of our Bahama cruises. We got a 2-for-1 drink coupon from our trolley drivers, so we each had a rum drink. I had a crabcake appetizer as my main course, and Dawn ordered a Cuban sandwich which consists of ham, pulled pork, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles, all on Cuban flatbread, which is then grilled like a panini. All was delicious.

From there, we went to the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum, paid our $15 admission and had a look around. I have been there before, but this was the first time for Dawn. Sadly, one of their most famous exhibits -- a five pound gold ingot worth $500,000 housed in a plexiglass case that you could reach in and touch and lift -- was no longer there. Somebody stole it in a "smash and grab" robbery back in 2010. The bar has never been recovered. The rest of the museum was very interesting, as usual, and we got to see some of the treasures for sale in the gallery, some items priced as high as $115,000.

Our time at KW was coming to an end, so walked back to our hotel and picked up our bags, then walked the 0.2 miles to the ferry terminal to basically hurry up and wait. We got in with the first group of a couple hundred to board, and so had an easy time of it finding a seat. The second group of 200 or so to board had a little more difficult time finding seats, as they are not assigned. The boat left promptly at 5:30 p.m., and the ride back was pleasant, putting us back in Fort Myers at about 9:30 p.m. by the time we got off the boat.

Overall impressions:

Fun, but expensive. Here's a rundown on our expenses:

Round trip ferry: $198 (special preseason purchase; normally $300);
Parking at ferry terminal, Fort Myers: $24
Hotel Key West, one night: $298
Meals, tour trolley, attractions, tips: $300

total: $820, or $410 apiece. Had we paid full price for the ferry tickets, it would be been $51 apiece more. That's a pretty expensive overnight trip in my book. Granted it was a nice time, and we certainly did a lot in those 1.5 days we were there, but I think it will be a while before I would do this again. I think it would be fun at some point to drive there on Highway 1, but I would definitely do this during the "shoulder" season, perhaps in Nov. or early Dec.

A few words about the Key West Express, especially since I know they use a metasearch tool to scour the Internet for mentions of their business. We both thought the boat ride was pleasant and comfortable. A great alternative way to get to Key West and back and avoid the traffic and the hassle of having an automobile on the island. It would be nice if they could keep the price at $99 all the time. I think $154 for full price ticket (some discounting is given for advance, no-refund tickets) is high, but then it is what it is, and the company seems to have no problem filling seats. So if you are able to take advantage of the preseason sale that begins in early December (and assuming the company still offers it), definitely take advantage of it. My other comment is that the company needs find a better way of loading and offloading passengers. Trying to get 400 passengers (and luggage) loaded onto a ship 30 minutes prior to departure via a single gangway is kind of crazy. It would be one thing if everyone remained calm and civil, but as we all know from travel or attending most any kind of public event, this is hardly ever the case. So the whole pre-departure process is kind of like pressing into a New York subway during rush hour. Yes, somehow it works, but the whole process tends to bring out the worst in people. If you decide to use the Key West Express, come early, be prepared to stand in line, and be prepared to deal with douchebags who cut in line, who "save" seats on the ship only to abandon them as they jockey around the ship looking for "better" seats, and so forth. If you think it's bad, just try driving the 159 miles from Miami to Key West via Highway 1!

But all in all, a very fun trip, There is no place quite like Key West, and if you've never been there, it's certainly worth putting on your bucket list.

Bruce