Three years ago I flew to the southernmost point of the United States to spend Thanksgiving Day and the weekend at the Double Tree Grand Key Resort. (Double Tree is famous for its chocolate chip cookies. Each guest gets a warm complementary cookie at check-in.)
The scenery was breathtaking and the weather was perfect for celebrating the end of the hurricane season and the beginning of the annual pirate festival. (Keep reading, pirates below deck.)
I couldn’t wait to visit the Hemingway house and see the mitten paw cats (they are really called polydactyl – having one or two extra toes on their paws). My grandma had one, my mom had one, and I have one.
Sloppy Joe’s had the best live entertainment.
At Captain Tony’s, the decor was the entertainment.
The artwork in The Bull was impressive. The nudes in The Garden of Eden bar on the rooftop NOT.
The Historic Seaport has The Conch Republic Seafood Company Restaurant and Conch Bar, Schooner Wharf Bar, the Fastcat to Dry Tortugas National Park (didn’t have enough time to take this tour; another reason I have to go back) and, according to our personal tour guide, Jimmy Buffet’s recording studio that tourists pass by without notice.
I love old lighthouses. At the top of Key West Lighthouse you can literally see the entire key. I could also see the Sand Key Lighthouse off in the distance but it was too far away for me to get a decent photo.
I seriously am tempted to quit my job, sell everything, buy a one-way ticket to Key West, and become a homeless person on the beach near Louie’s Backyard (where Jimmy Buffet is rumored to frequent) or a pirate.
This guy is no Jack Sparrow but his shipmates and the crew of the Jolly Rover II (below) had very colorful personalities.
I suddenly have a craving for a warm chocolate chip cookie and a Johnny Depp movie. That’ll have to do until my next ship sets sail for Key West.
Sheila T Illustrated© 
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