A Typical Day in Key West

After a rough night of wind buffeting the tent, strange noises piercing the dark, we set out at the crack of noon for breakfast at Harpoon Harry's. We? Oh yeah, let me introduce you to my current traveling companion, Stephen. He fanagled a trip down here with me over his semester break from college. Not a problem, because he's a great guy and has been excellent company. However, soon after arriving here, he took one look and decided to take the whole spring semester off. Who needs school anyway, mon?

After a late morning of walking about town, we drove to Smather's Beach on the ocean side of the island to hang out and take in a late gourmet lunch...

With the sun setting roughly at 6:00 PM daily, there's not much time in between the conventional start time of Happy Hour and the onset of darkness, so we headed back downtown...

Our goal is to make it to the daily Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square. There's bound to be a whole new crop of tourists to gawk at. On any day, there's at least one cruise ship moored at dockside...



The trek down Duval Street to the Square is wrought with many distractions, like beer, of course, and French girls asking to have their picture taken by an exaggerated sculpture of Matisse's "Dancers"...

And, of course, a quick detour to the top of the La Concha Hotel is always in order. Walking around at the top of Key West's tallest building provides a 360 degree breathtaking view...

But, we were on a quest! So, exercising a little discipline, we hustled down to Mallory Square just in time to catch the sunset along with the hundreds of tourists.

Back at the campsite, we stepped cautiously from the bus through the darkness to our tent. Key West may be chock full of new adventures and experiences, but stepping on an iguana, is NOT one either of us wants to have!

~GJ Duerrschmidt