Got a good night’s sleep… with the air conditioner and fans running.
Spent the day in Key West. We were here about ten years ago for an anniversary. We spent a week and loved it. Today, it’s a little cooler. Only about seventy degrees. Key West has changed somewhat. Ten years ago, people that had been coming here for years probably bemoaned how busy it was compared to how it used to be. Today, we did the same.
Key West has always been famous for it’s sunsets. Mallory Square at the end of Duvall Street is the scene of an impromptu gathering every night to honor and applaud the sunset. We attended every night for a week on our previous trip. Local artisans set up. Street performers entertain. People gather and visit. It was a delight.
Key West is now a cruise ship destination. Cruise ship docks have been built up all around the old town section we were so familiar with. Mallory square has been improved and expanded. An entire new “Key West” village of souvenir shops has been built up to accommodate the cruise passengers. We even saw a sign announcing the official starting time of the sunset celebration. There were three giant cruise ships in port. There were two more anchored offshore. It was very crowded. We didn’t recognize much. It didn’t feel the same. The cruise ships were actually lined up directly between Mallory Square and the point in the sea where the sun disappears. Could you have a sunset celebration, and all gather to watch the sun sink and disappear behind the cruise ship? Would that generate a spontaneous round of applause? We decided not to hang around until dark to find out.
For years, we’ve recalled fondly our favorite food vendor in Key West. It’s an old bar/restaurant here called Turtle Kraals. It’s built in the remains of the old Dutch turtle processing sheds about a half-mile down the waterfront from Mallory Square. They really did have a turtle harvesting industry here once. In all these years, it never occurred to me that I might not be able to have lunch at the Turtle Kraals the next time we came. We continued to wander and look for things familiar. Lunch time arrived. We got hungry. We headed to where Turtle Kraals used to be… And it was there. It was a little cleaner and a little nicer, but it was still there. Right there overlooking the dingy parking and all the people coming and going. We had our fish and chips. Life was good.
Then we went to see if the guy in the big ocean-going trimaran sailboat, that we spent so much time with ten years ago was still there by any chance. The last time here, we had been wandering the docks, and found him sitting in the cockpit of his boat, having a beer, with a handmade sign advertising “Tours”. It was a pretty casual business. He took us out for a sunset tour. The next day he took us out to some islands and paddled out in the kayak to bring us drinks of fresh water while we were out snorkeling. His name was A.D.
We found him! Well we found the boat. It is an unmistakable forty-five foot gray racing trimaran. But this time, it’s owned by some company advertising eco-tours. He didn’t seem very ambitions ten years ago. He wasn’t committed to Key West. He hadn’t been there for very long, and wasn’t sure how long he was going to stay. We hung around the boat for a little while, admiring it and remembering, and someone emerged. We talked with her awhile, and it turns out she is the driving force behind the “eco-tours” movement. Her husband, A.D. still drives the boat. She explained that they’re just a little more professional in how they operate their business now. It was a fun visit. We got to recall lots of little details that took her back to their first year of operation ten years ago.
We went back to Duvall Street after lunch. The crowds had thinned. It felt better. The open-air bars and restaurants were loud, but they are loud from live music. It’s more than I can take to go inside, but from out on the sidewalk, it sounds just perfect. Judy bought me an ice-cream cone. We walked and lingered and enjoyed.
Here at the KOA, they always answer the phone with: “It’s a beautiful day on Sugarloaf Key”, and they’re right. We got here at seventy-one degrees. We arrived in T-shirts and shorts. The people here were wearing sweaters and long pants, and apologizing for how cold it was. We marveled at their wear, they marveled at ours. We haven’t been here long enough to acclimate yet.
Here's a picture of Annie trying to relax.
Zero miles on the motorhome. No new birds. May have to get more serious about the birds tomorrow. Surely, at the bottom of Florida, this is an opportunity to see some birds we haven’t seen before.
