The Gratts Cruise the Caribbean Day 3: Key West

We were up at 7:00 am and the boys went down to the gym.  I have in my notes that we went to the Lido for breakfast—all I have written down is a sad face so it must not have been very memorable.

I was excited that we were arriving to Key West late enough that we would be able to see the ship dock in port.  We went up to the pool deck to watch.

 

Once we were off the ship, our first stop was the Hemmingway House.  Then we were going to make our way down to the Southernmost point, see the Key West Butterfly Conservatory, then head up the famous Duval Street on our way back to the ship, having lunch somewhere along the way.

It was a beautiful day, very warm.  We loved all the stops we made and we made a few other stops into galleries, etc., and the boys both bought T-shirts.  We didn’t end up hitting many of the bars on my list though.  By the time we were up Duval, all of the famous ones were packed and the music was blaring.  That’s not really our scene.  And oh man, the St. Patty’s day getups I saw were really hilarious.

We saw some chickens on the way to the Hemingway House—Ben loves chickens so this was a highlight for him.

The Hemingway House was very interesting and although it was crowded we enjoyed it.  I loved seeing all the old, original furnishings.  And of course the famous six-toed cats!

It was really cool seeing Hemingway’s old studio which even still has his old typewriter. 

 

The Butterfly Conservatory was a must do for me but even the boys ended up enjoying it.  There were butterflies literally everywhere and it had a pair of flamingos too.

If a butterfly lands on you, it brings good luck!

 

Next we walked to what is the southern most point in the U.S.  Everyone wants to take their picture here but we didn't want to wait in line so we improvised.

We ended up having lunch at a place called Louie’s Backyard because Ben had heard a bartender recommend it.  The service was pretty bad and the food was just OK.  I got fish tacos and Ben got a shrimp salad.

I also got key lime pie at Kermit’s—I’m actually not a big key lime pie fan but hey, when in Rome!

 

We walked up Duval Street on our way back to the ship.


 

We loved Key West but I feel like we didn’t really even get to scratch the surface.  We got back to the ship around 5:30 and watched sail away from our window. 

We also had a great sunset view—I was sad we couldn’t see it clearly out the window.

 

Ben and I had 7:30 reservations at the steakhouse. 

I got a Caesar salad, a crab cake, the surf& turf, which was a 4 oz. filet and lobster tail, and Ben got the 9 oz filet, a salad and lobster bisque. 

It was a lot of food.  For dessert I got the chocolate sampler (again, not good at all—what is up with all the bad dessert?!) and Ben got ice cream. It was all ok, definitely the best meal we have had so far. 

After dinner, we were pooped so once again we were in bed early.  We are probably the most boring cruisers ever!

Tomorrow we will wake up in the Bahamas!