The Authors Guesthouse has proven a fine place to relax in Key West. It’s close enough to town that everything is an easy bike or cab ride. But it’s far enough away that we are not disturbed by the hustle and bustle on the street, and we don’t hear any traffic noise. Both of us sleep well, and awaken to our first morning in Key West eager to explore the town.
This being a bed and breakfast, we had planned on breakfast at the Guesthouse. They did give us breakfast – but one look their offering made us reconsider. The ‘sumptuous’ breakfast buffet consists of Frozen Lender’s Bagels, watery orange juice and bananas. If you are a nice white kid from Omaha, a Lender’s Bagel might be OK. But not if you grew up in the ethnic neighborhoods of the NYC suburbs. For us, Lenders can barely be called a bagel, and we definitely were not hungry enough to try to eat one. So we decided that we would try our luck with breakfast someplace in town later in the morning.
The first order of business for us this morning was laundry. We have been on the road for 4 days. We packed a minimum of clothing with us to keep our loads relatively light. And we have packed the previous day’s sweaty bike cloths into our pack each morning. Clearly, our number one priority this morning is laundry.
We get the address of a nearby laundry from the guesthouse manager, and we head out on the trikes to check it out. It took us a while to find the place, riding up and down Truman Street a couple of times, but eventually we find the place. Nancy discovers that they will wash, dry and fold our cloths for us and have them ready to pick up at then end of the day. All for $8! How great is this? Laundry done, and we still have the rest of the day to play.
Next up is breakfast. We ride around town for a bit looking at different places, but we seem to have trouble making up our minds. No place is really catching our attention. Finally, we recognize our old friend from last night – the La Te Da Hotel Bar. They serve breakfast, so we stop and get some fresh bacon and eggs to fuel our day.
Since we are in Key West, it is essentially mandatory that we go to visit the monument that marks the southernmost point in the U.S. The marker is found at the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street. We settle onto the bikes and head on over.
Key West is a small island, and automobile parking is a huge problem. Getting around on bike is actually much more convenient. There are bike lanes or good wide sidewalks on most of the main roads, and there are sharrows and ‘Cyclists May Use Full Lane’ signs on smaller roads. The speed limit is 25 MPH on most streets, and traffic is often moving slower than that. We had no trouble finding routes through town and to all the places we wanted to visit, without riding on any large streets. And there were easy places to park our trikes wherever we stopped.
At the southernmost point monument, there is a line of people waiting in line to take photos. We dutifully wait in line, then take the necessary photos.
After all that effort, it turns out the whole thing is just a lie used to give tourists something to do. The southernmost point was originally just marked with a sign, which was often stolen. In response to this, the city of Key West erected the now famous concrete buoy in 1983. The concrete buoy is actually an old sewer junction that was dug up in the area and found too heavy and large to move, so it was painted up to look like a buoy.
It turns out that Florida’s official southernmost point is Ballast Key, a privately owned island south and west of Key West. Signs on that island strictly prohibit unauthorized visitors. The marker is not even the southernmost point of Key West Island. The private yard directly to the southeast of the buoy is obviously farther south. Land on the Truman Annex property just west-southwest of the buoy is the true southernmost point on the island, (about 900 feet farther south), but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy property and cannot be entered by civilian tourists. The southernmost part of Key West Island accessible to civilians is the beach area of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park about 500 feet farther south than the marker. The claim on the buoy stating “90 miles to Cuba” is a is wrong also, since Cuba, at its closest point is 94 miles due south. Still, it is fun to see, and seems an essential part of any Key West tourist visit.
We found this monument to the southernmost rusty bike. It is probably more accurate
In an earlier post, I talked about how all the addresses along US route 1 are reduced to mile markers. The most famous mile marker of all lies right in the heart of Key West, and we set off to find it. Located at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead streets, mile marker 0 is the southern terminus of US Route 1. It’s actually kind of cool if you think about it. Route 1 runs all the way up the east coast to Fort Kent, Maine, near the Canadian border. That’s 2,390 miles. It’s the longest north-south road in the U.S. And it all ends (or starts) right here in Key West!
I’m hoping to ride up the east coast someday. Perhaps one day soon I’ll be able to post a companion photo to this one at the other end of the road!
Not far from mile 0 , on Whitehead Street, we stop to check out the old lighthouse and keeper’s quarters. In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that the Navy has been in Key West since 1823. Almost immediately after the Navy built that first base in Key West, the need for a lighthouse became clear. Erecting a lighthouse was essential in assuring the safe arrival of vessels navigating the shallow, reef-laden waters off the Florida Keys. The current lighthouse opened in 1848 with a woman as its Keeper; nearly unheard of during the 19th century. In 1969, the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the Key West Lighthouse since there was no longer a need for a full-time Keeper. Today, it stands as a museum dedicated to “Key West’s maritime heritage and to the men and women who bravely kept the light burning through the threats of war and weather”.
We thought it made a good photo-op.
We continue to ride around in Key West. We pass by some of the more famous landmarks – the bars. Key West is justly famous for carousing nightlife and the boozy bar scene. I visited here once when I was in college – maybe 40 years ago. Nancy visited more recently – maybe 25 years ago. We both remember spending some late nights in the local bars and taverns. This time around – not so much. But we at least looked at the places and recalled some fond memories.
The bars might be the only things in Key West that look pretty much the same as they did on our previous visits. We both commented to each other multiple times about how little any of what we saw looked like what we remember.
But we both know one thing that will never change about Key West………The Chickens. You don’t have to work hard to spot Key West chickens — you hear them crowing and see them strutting everywhere. The colorful roosters and the mother hens followed by lines of tiny chicks weave in and out of traffic and through outdoor cafes all over town.
Key West residents call them “gypsy” chickens. We heard several stories about how the chickens got loose on the island. Supposedly when people stopped the laborious process of turning live chickens into Sunday dinner many decades ago, some backyard chickens gained their freedom. Roosters may have been released when cock-fighting became illegal. One popular theory is that they got loose when the many hurricanes broke open their cages. Whatever their origin, I kind of like them. For me, they are part of the Key West experience – historic, colorful, sort of wild, a little noisy and occasionally annoying.
Next up on our day’s adventure was Mallory Square and the Truman Waterfront. This is the cruise ship port. This is where the cruise ships arrive and disgorge their loads of cash laden tourists. The docks have been beautifully renovated and are home to hundreds of trendy boutique shops and galleries, each one hoping to lure us inside. There was certainly nothing like this here when we visited previously!
We do stop in a couple of places, including the Key Lime Pie Company. 
We dropped in here to try a sample, and it was really good. Delicious. Amazing. Can I try another little bit please?
It was so good, in fact, that we decided to send a whole pie to one of our friends who lives in New York. Sadly, she reported the pie she received was just awful. So our advice is, if you go – eat the pie there. But don’t send one to anybody because the shipping doesn’t work out well.
Right near the cruise ship port is the Key West Art & Historical Society Museum. We didn’t go inside, but just looking around the outside we could tell that this place is worth a visit in the future.
The museum is housed in one of the oldest and grandest building on Key West – the Custom House. This four-story architectural marvel was built in 1891 out of bricks shipped from New York.The new building housed Key West’s Customs Offices, District Court, and Post Office. In the 1930s, the Customs Offices, the District Court, and the Post Office all moved into new facilities. The Navy moved some of its people into the building, converting it into office space. They abandoned the building in 1976. It fell into disrepair for a while, but was ultimately granted to the Key West Art and Historical Society. In the 1990’s they spent $9M renovating the place and it now houses a public museum and offices.
It is an impressive building. And there are lots of outdoor sculptures and statues surrounding it. They make for great photo opportunities, as well as providing a bit of culture for the visiting tourists.
It’s been a pretty full day for us, so we pedal our bikes back to the Authors Guest House. There is a quick stop to pick up our laundry – not nicely washed, dried, fluffed and folded. $8!
We take a quick, relaxing dip in the pool to cool off, then shower and prepare for dinner.
Yesterday, I told you about our friend Cindy. She lives here in Key West, and we have not seen her for about 20 years. We have plans to get together tonight for dinner. We are both eagerly anticipating catching up with her and learning more about what has happened to her since we last saw each other in Raleigh. All of our lives have changed a lot since those days, and it’s fun to reflect on the changes that have brought us back together in this magical place.
The place Cindy recommends is Louie’s Backyard. And who are we to second guess the recommendation of a local? The place is fantastic. Nancy provides a more in-depth review, but I will summarize by saying the food is really good, the water view is perfect, the wine list is outstanding and the service top-notch. All of that comes at a serious price however. If you are seeking a budget meal in Key West, steer away from Louie’s.
Tomorrow we have plans to spend the day off the bikes. We will be taking kayaks out into the mangroves to check out the island from the water. Stay tuned….