Key West advice

[phylodog]

I'll be taking the wife to Key West with some friends of ours in the not too distant future. We've never been before so I'm interested in hearing from those who have about what to do, see, where to eat, etc. I have about as much use for a beach as I do a 300lb fork so I'll be needing to find something to keep me entertained while my wife lays in the sun doing nothing. I'd like to do a fishing charter but other than that I'm clueless. I'm pretty good at drinking so that'll be my fall-back if I can't come up with something more productive to do.

 

[Scuba591]

Head down to the end of Duval street and get a hand rolled cigar from the small Cuban man.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

I found Key Largo to be more accomidating to my relaxation. Key West is very pricey.

 

[printcraft]

Head down to the end of Duval street and get a hand rolled cigar from the small Cuban man.

Is that a double entendre?

 

[Ballstater98]

Key lime pie at Kermit's (my wife liked it, I'm not a key lime guy) Welcome to Kermit?s Key West Key Lime Shoppe

Conch fritters basically anywhere (when in Rome...)

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville - Key West : Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Restaurant in Key West is right next to his recording studio (just a plain white building).

Tons of bars.

Long walk through residential housing, Southern Most Point in the US. You basically just go there to say you've been. Southernmost point buoy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is very touristy. Cruise boats dock there, so you can imagine the tours and crowds.

 

[hornadylnl]

Jet Ski tour around the island

Biplane ride

Sunsets at Mallory Square with the side shows

Ferry ride out to the Dry Tortugas - Small set of islands west of Key West. Only way out there is by ferry ride. Ft Jefferson is an old fort on the main island. You can also see a pile of home made boats the Cubans ride to get to the US.

Hop on/Hop off bus tour

Butterfly House - Pretty cool as you go into a green house with butterflies everywhere.

 

[Ballstater98]

There is also a hot sauce store (don't remember the name) that does tasting samples. Huge selection if you like that.
I would definitely do the deep sea fishing!

 

[Cldedhnds]

Red Fish Blue Fish restaurant was good. Gotta hit the Garden of Eden rooftop/clothing optional bar for nothing more than the experience. Don't expect beautiful people! Furycat.com does excursions and has booths along Duvall st. We had a great time on the Rum & Reggae snorkel/sunset catamaran tour. The reef is a once in a lifetime sight. If you had a car (parking is a PITA on KW) the Bahia Honda state park beaches are beautiful. Non house lined beach and a shallow sandy beach that has great snorkeling from the beach. 50 minutes up the Keys. Sunset at the pier is the main gathering spot for Everyone! Street Performers etc. plenty of food and drink choices everywhere.

 

[littletommy]

I was never really a beach guy either, til I spent 8 days, from sun up to sundown, on a beach in Jamaica.....I didn't want to ever leave and come back to the real world. We literally did nothing for eight straight days but lay on the beach. Oh yea, there was a little shack that had beer and jerk chicken 25 feet away from our spot on the beach, it was amazing.

 

[gregkl]

Kayak the Mangroves. Fun with plenty of opportunities to view sea life up close.

Find the out of way places the locals frequent. They are more fun and usually better than the tourist destinations. Rent a bicycle and ride around the island exploring. Go through the cemetery. It's kind neat in a creepy way since everyone is buried above ground. (reminded me of the cemetery scene in the movie Easy Riders, only I wasn't tripping on acid.)

And there is always people watching!

 

[esrice]

*paging VUPDblue*

 

[drop45]

They also have sunset dinner cruises that are pretty cool. Dinner, band, drinks......aahhhh, what could be better.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

You might check out the tripadvisor web site and app. We always use it on vacation and have found some great restaurants and attractions with the app by just seeing what's near us that's highly rated.

 

[VUPDblue]

Kayak the mangroves on the top of the island. Go snorkeling. Take a 1/2 day fishing charter. Wade the shallow water of Smathers beach. Go to Irish Kevin's bar on Duvall St. Take the wife to the dessert restaurant "better than sex" (it's not, but damn close). Eat breakfast at the Blue Heaven. People watch on Duvall Street at night.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I have never been to Key West, but with everyone recommending kayaks, I feel compelled to chime in. Kayaks are awesome. If you do the kayak thing, do not get a two person kayak. They are called "divorce boats" for a reason.

 

[T755]

Mallory Square is worth checking out

 

[femurphy77]

Take the TIME to drive the full keys if you can and stop frequently there are all kinds of kitschy tourist traps along the way you won't see anywhere else. This is a good place to start: Florida Keys & Key West vacation planning starts here with the Official Florida Keys Tourism Council It's not Key West-centric so a lot of good info. Bahia Honda Beach is the best beach in the keys for those in the group that needs some beach time. The African Queen, yes the REAL African Queen is docked in Islamorada I believe and they do a dinner cruise or a mangrove cruise. I haven't been in awhile so can't recommend any restaurants but Captain Tonys, The Bull, and the Monster if it's still open are KW staples, if you feel like letting "it all hang out" the top floor of the Bull is clothing optional. Oh and the Monster is/was a gay bar if you're uptight about that kind of thing. There's a lot of cool touristy things to do there, the Mel Fischer museum, the Shell Factory, Mallory Square at sunset is a hoot for the characters not to mention the beautiful view if the weather is good. Who knows, you might even join the short list of people that see the green glint as the sun sets. Almost forgot the Turtle Kraals, several good raw bars down there so slurp a few at each and see if it's true!

Key West used to be very laid back but it really went commercial some time ago so hopefully the atmosphere hasn't gotten to "Hollywood".

Have fun, I'm jealous having lived down there for several years.


Almost forgot, Alabama Jacks in Key Largo has GREAT conch fritters!

 

[vitamink]

I used to live/work there... Give me a call.

if you're diving or snorkeling, the reefs off of keylargo are better. If you want to look at sharks or get raped by a bunch of giant stingrays then KW is the place to be. The best and cheapest outfit in KL is Amy Slates Amoray dive resort. I used to teach there as a part time job to pay the bills. Don't stay there though.

drinks: if you want to go to a bar where everyone gets nude, look up Eden. If nude and attractive are both required then go somewhere else lol. the shock value is awesome when bringing unsuspecting friends. Duvall street is nice and most bars are great. For low key go to the Lorelei right before sunset. It's a tradition and every sunset is a celebration. The most fun bar is probably the Tiki bar in marathon, I was also younger and the focus was fornication. We used to fly over the sand bar that all the boats motor to just S of the bar when we had to work late.

Food: anywhere with seafood is awesome. I can't really think of a bad place to get food. If you like Thai, there is a place in KL across the main road right at shoreland dr. It's vietnamese and thai. The thom kah gai is the best anywhere.

Pointers: always **** before going on 7 mile bridge. It's 2 lanes and often some idiot wrecks on it. If you get stuck it can be an hour or 2 before you reach land.

Pay at attention at night in KW as they have "key deer" which are puppy sized white tail deer. I think if you hit one the locals will string you up.

Don't plan on anything happening when the sign on the door or website says it'll happen. If the place opens at 6 it may not open until 8:13. It can be annoying.

 

[17 squirrel]

Pepe's Steak House.
806 Caroline Street, Key West, FL 33040

Go there for breakfast,, don't look the building or the atmosphere... Go in sit down and order the most awesome breakfast you have ever eaten.

 

[Lectric102002]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Hemmingway's house hemingwayhome.com | Home

Check it out then have a drink at his old hangout https://sloppyjoes.com/