Key West (Part 1)

Zachary Taylor State Park Beach – Key West Florida

Back in Mid-April, Jason and I took a 5 day trip to Key West by ourselves.  We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and rented a car to drive down through the tip of southern Florida and its Keys to arrive at the Southernmost city in the continental US – Key West.

Jason surprised me by having reserved a convertible for the drive.

 

The ride was very enjoyable.  The scenery was just beautiful, but perhaps not for those who have any serious fear of bridges.  Or water.  Namely oceans.  The longest bridge was just short of 7 miles.  The main thing that was discomforting while on that bridge was the defunct bridge next to us… and how it would just have sections cut out.  It would play with your mind.  Did the bridge we were on have sections cut out, and if so well…  But of course our bridge was complete, the mind just plays tricks on you.

During our first full day on the island, we drove around town a bit, ate a local restaurant “The Rusty Anchor” and tried to find something on the menu that wasn’t breaded and fried.  We ordered grilled fish sandwiches and it was our first introduction to the ever popular (at least in the Keys and I’m sure in Cuba) Cuban bread. (yum)  Cuba is just 90 miles south of Key West.

Later we headed to a beach at Zachary Taylor State Park, where we continued to fry our skin (not intentionally as we both used SPF 30 sunscreen) and enjoy the scenery.  Though the water here was too cold to enjoy.

 

We explored the historic Fort Zachary Taylor.  For detailed history, click on the link.

 

That evening we had an enjoyable dinner at Hot Tin Roof which overlooks the famous “Mallory Square” which is the place to be to watch the sun set at night.  As you can see, our table had a really nice view, and you can see our really nice burns from being in the convertible with our sunscreen still packed away in our bag in the back seat.  We returned a few other nights to Mallory Square to catch the sunset and related activities such as street performers, bands and even weddings.

The delicious meal at Hot Tin Roof.

I really got a kick out of the stray chickens all over the island.  If you didn’t see one, you were sure to hear a rooster crow.  I wondered why they were all out roaming around.  More on that later.

 

Zachary Taylor State Park Beach – Key West Florida