What to do in Key West?

[CeeZar]

I'll be going to Key West, arriving Thur 4/25 in the afternoon and leaving the following Sunday morning. That gives us Thursday night and all day Friday and Saturday. First time in the Caribbean.

I think the plan is to spend 1 day at Dry Tortugas checking out the fort and snorkeling and otherwise hanging out on the boat.

I assume we will also be going to Sloppy Joes. Anything else that is a must see? Any restaurants or bars that stand out?

 

[coconut]

I'll be going to Key West, arriving Thur 4/25 in the afternoon and leaving the following Sunday morning. That gives us Thursday night and all day Friday and Saturday. First time in the Caribbean.

I think the plan is to spend 1 day at Dry Tortugas checking out the fort and snorkeling and otherwise hanging out on the boat.

I assume we will also be going to Sloppy Joes. Anything else that is a must see? Any restaurants or bars that stand out?

You have time to look at websites to find the stuff that interests you. The Dry Tortugas is the must do IMO so you have that, assuming you made the reservations already? Lots of bars with restaurants. The old city will be really packed if cruise ships are in port. There are fishing charters but best to get reservations. There's shops for all the usual tourist crap but the cigar shops are outstanding if you are into that. You can tour museum like venues from Hemingway's House to Truman's winter White House to a museum of Key West history(not the name) but near Fort Zachary Taylor which has an interesting history and a beach and a botanical walk with lots of subtropical/tropical trees. Mel Fisher's gold and silver artifacts from diving the spanish wreck Atocha can be viewed and purchased. There's an arboretum on Stock Island (next to Key West towards Miami) with even more tropical plants. Parking is a nightmare at times in the Old City and expensive. The parking garage near the Yankee Freedom usually has spots available but it is expensive, as in the same price as the pay lots nearby. I usually try to stop by the Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island. Great food at good prices (for Key West) but like any place worthwhile can get crowded but at least not effected by the cruise ships. If the weather cooperates you should have a good time.

 

[CeeZar]

You have time to look at websites to find the stuff that interests you. The Dry Tortugas is the must do IMO so you have that, assuming you made the reservations already? Lots of bars with restaurants. The old city will be really packed if cruise ships are in port. There are fishing charters but best to get reservations. There's shops for all the usual tourist crap but the cigar shops are outstanding if you are into that. You can tour museum like venues from Hemingway's House to Truman's winter White House to a museum of Key West history(not the name) but near Fort Zachary Taylor which has an interesting history and a beach and a botanical walk with lots of subtropical/tropical trees. Mel Fisher's gold and silver artifacts from diving the spanish wrech Atocha can be viewed and purchased. There's an arboretum on Stock Island (next to Key West towards Miami) with even more tropical plants. Parking is a nightmare at times in the Old City and expensive. The parking garage near the Yankee Freedom usually has spots available but it is expensive, as in the same price as the pay lots nearby. I usually try to stop by the Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island. Great food at good prices (for Key West) but like any place worthwhile can get crowded but at least not effected by the cruise ships. If the weather cooperates you should have a good time.

Thanks. We'll be docked at Margaritaville so it looks like a bunch of the things you mentioned will be really close. Not sure we'll make it to Hogfish, maybe on the way out of town on Sunday. Mel Fisher's sounds pretty cool but I don't think I'll be buying anything based on what I see on the website.

 

[LesBaker]

It's like going to New Orleans, specifically The French Quarter. It's all eating and drinking and some shopping.

Unless you are going to really do some serious fishing. In which case it's fantastic by all accounts.

Hemingway's house is worth the 20-30 minutes, but walk through on your own not with the tour group. The butterfly exhibit is OK.

It's really a party destination for the most part, so enjoy that. Lots of bars of all sorts.

I've lived in FL for about 10 years. I'm in Naples, so not that far away, it's a pretty easy drive. Went to Key West once, and haven't been back and probably won't ever go back again. There are plenty of places in FL that are more interesting and more fun than Key West.

 

[Selassie I]

I'll be going to Key West, arriving Thur 4/25 in the afternoon and leaving the following Sunday morning. That gives us Thursday night and all day Friday and Saturday. First time in the Caribbean.

I think the plan is to spend 1 day at Dry Tortugas checking out the fort and snorkeling and otherwise hanging out on the boat.

I assume we will also be going to Sloppy Joes. Anything else that is a must see? Any restaurants or bars that stand out?

The Dry Tortugas trip will be killer. That whole place is a fish sanctuary now so you'll see some awesome sea life of all kinds... you won't be able to kill anything though. We used to go over there back in the day and load up with the spears. It's kinda bitter sweet that you can't even fish anywhere near it anymore... but that whole area now acts as a nursery for the Keys so it's very beneficial.

The Fort isn't really that cool to me... you'll soak that in in just a few minutes. There's nothing served there food wise so you probably know to bring everything you want to eat and drink on the boat.

As far as Key West goes... it's really just a tourist trap now. The thing to do there is called The Duval Crawl. That means you get shit faced while you stop into all the bars up and down Duval Street. Night time is best. There's a nude bar on top of the Red Bull where lots of peeps leave their clothes at the door... you won't see anything there that is hot though so be warned. We always stop into Irish Kevin's and I usually end up singing on stage with the real entertainment. I recommend hitting all the bars though and judge for yourself... there's a big variety.

I always enjoy the sunset at Key West if I'm down there that early. Head down to the southern most point and watch it go down. There will be vendors down there and they make a celebration out of it every night. There's a bar right there that has a salsa band outside usually that we go dance to after the sun goes down. Make sure and try a Papa's Pilar (the dark one... it's rum) while you're there.

 

[LesBaker]

There's a nude bar on top of the Red Bull where lots of peeps leave their clothes at the door... you won't see anything there that is hot though so be warned.

@CeeZar he is NOT kidding. Don't go to Garden of Eden. If you walk by the sign don't say to yourself "hey let's check this place out".

There will be vendors down there and they make a celebration out of it every night.

I had forgotten about that. I bought a woven basket from a guy there. It took a long time to turn from all green to all brown. The guy that makes them by hand is cleaning up. He looks like a scruffy bum but he shows up every day with 20 or so in two different sizes and sells them for 25 bucks and 30 bucks IIRC. Cash. Then he folds up his table and disappears. So he's clearing $500 plus per day. It didn't take long for him to sell out, in fact I bought the last one on the table one night. I think they are made from coconut palm leaves.

There are a lot of quality vendors there with really nice art and jewelry.

There are a couple of boats that do Sunset Cruises but honestly most aren't worth the money IMO. Bad booze, dirty bathrooms and a band.

One exception..........

There is a company called Furycat https://www.furycat.com/ that offers some fun excursions like snorkeling and jetskis. We did their trip called The Ultimate Adventure which was decent. Worth the money and the food wasn't too bad. The downside was on the day we had selected the water was very, very rough and a lot of people got seasick. So the snorkeling got cut short to go closer in and ride jetskis. Out of the 25 or so people on the boat only a few of us went snorkeling. It also included parasailing which was great. The water was too rough to use the giant inflatable slides and platforms too. Check it out, it's pretty neat but we didn't get to try any of them.

https://www.furycat.com/key-west/watersports-attractions

Book it online before you go and they give you a discount. It's about a 6 or so hour trip. I know some people that go to the Keys once a year and a few mentioned this company so we did their Sunset Cruise and it was fine too. I've heard more than a couple of people complain that they spent money and were on a shitty boat with the aforementioned bad food, booze and dirty bathrooms.

 

[CeeZar]

Thanks for the advice guys, especially to avoid the nudist bar... This is a boys weekend, so eating and drinking too much is the primary goal. So I think we are in the right place.

As far as accommodations and food while out on the water, we have that covered. There will be 4 or 5 of us on my friend's boat. Fully crewed and stocked with top notch booze and food. Here it is last year docked at Hilton Head.
[GALLERY=media, 344]MyWay_HiltonHead by CeeZar posted Apr 8, 2019 at 8:28 AM[/GALLERY]

 

[LesBaker]

Thanks for the advice guys, especially to avoid the nudist bar... This is a boys weekend, so eating and drinking too much is the primary goal. So I think we are in the right place.

As far as accommodations and food while out on the water, we have that covered. There will be 4 or 5 of us on my friend's boat. Fully crewed and stocked with top notch booze and food. Here it is last year docked at Hilton Head.
[GALLERY=media, 344]MyWay_HiltonHead by CeeZar posted Apr 8, 2019 at 8:28 AM[/GALLERY]

I'm getting an error message when I click the link.

If this is an eating and drinking weekend Key West is bested only by The French Quarter in the SE USA for that.

 

[Selassie I]

Thanks for the advice guys, especially to avoid the nudist bar... This is a boys weekend, so eating and drinking too much is the primary goal. So I think we are in the right place.

As far as accommodations and food while out on the water, we have that covered. There will be 4 or 5 of us on my friend's boat. Fully crewed and stocked with top notch booze and food. Here it is last year docked at Hilton Head.
[GALLERY=media, 344]MyWay_HiltonHead by CeeZar posted Apr 8, 2019 at 8:28 AM[/GALLERY]

You have the most important ingredient for visiting the Keys... a boat. The water is what it's all about. Spend as much time as possible out there in it.

My favorite thing about the Keys is eating my catch the same day that I catch it. It's never better. If none of you are any good in the kitchen... you can find plenty of places to cook your fresh catch for you down there. Make sure to make some fresh ceviche out of some snapper... it is the perfect food down there in the humid heat. I can give you the key ingredients if you don't already know.

Enjoy!

 

[fearsomefour]

You have the most important ingredient for visiting the Keys... a boat. The water is what it's all about. Spend as much time as possible out there in it.

My favorite thing about the Keys is eating my catch the same day that I catch it. It's never better. If none of you are any good in the kitchen... you can find plenty of places to cook your fresh catch for you down there. Make sure to make some fresh ceviche out of some snapper... it is the perfect food down there in the humid heat. I can give you the key ingredients if you don't already know.

Enjoy!

Fresh ceviche with fresh catch with some ice cold brews of choice....seriously, does not get better than that.

 

[Selassie I]

Fresh ceviche with fresh catch with some ice cold brews of choice....seriously, does not get better than that.

It's one of my favorite things in life... it's really THAT good. My whole family looks forward to that after a successful day out on the water. I use all fresh ingredients... and I hand squeeze my own citrus juices (that's key). I use oranges, limes, and lemons every time for the base.

Nothing tastes so fresh as that. I'm dreaming about it now.

Snapper is my favorite fish to use in it, but you can use all kinds. When I'm in the Bahamas we make conch ceviche every single day fresh. It's my favorite food period... but you can't kill/harvest conch in the Keys anymore. I also tend to make my ceviche on the spicy side.


Now eating fish caught the same day you catch it is certainly excellent prepared other ways too. When we are down in the Keys we have multiple options for cooking the fish depending on the species... so we make sure to do it up several different ways. When we're too lazy to cook in the evening we'll just take our fresh catch down to our favorite restaurants and have them cook it up for us 4 or 5 different ways.

We're gonna be down there this August for almost 4 weeks... during lobster season. My whole crew is counting the days now.

 

[coconut]

Thanks. We'll be docked at Margaritaville so it looks like a bunch of the things you mentioned will be really close. Not sure we'll make it to Hogfish, maybe on the way out of town on Sunday. Mel Fisher's sounds pretty cool but I don't think I'll be buying anything based on what I see on the website.

I didn't catch earlier that you were on a boat. If you get bored walking around Fort Jefferson or the crowd from the Yankee Freedom is too much since a good part of Bush Key will likely be off limits this time of year due to nesting birds you should go over to Loggerhead Key to see the lighthouse and walk on the beaches and go snorkeling. The snorkeling is much better than Garden Key.

 

[Loyal]

Have fun until the next hurricane?

 

[CeeZar]

You guys are really selling me on the ceviche. We won't be doing any fishing or our own cooking. But the boat has a chef, so I'll be sure to request it.

 

[LesBaker]

You guys are really selling me on the ceviche. We won't be doing any fishing or our own cooking. But the boat has a chef, so I'll be sure to request it.

Ceviche is one of the best food inventions ever.

 

[Loyal]

Ceviche is one of the best food inventions ever.

As long as the fish is cooked!

 

[LesBaker]

Thanks for the advice guys, especially to avoid the nudist bar... This is a boys weekend, so eating and drinking too much is the primary goal. So I think we are in the right place.

As far as accommodations and food while out on the water, we have that covered. There will be 4 or 5 of us on my friend's boat. Fully crewed and stocked with top notch booze and food. Here it is last year docked at Hilton Head.
[GALLERY=media, 344]MyWay_HiltonHead by CeeZar posted Apr 8, 2019 at 8:28 AM[/GALLERY]

Ummm, that's NOT a boat.

 

[LesBaker]

As long as the fish is cooked!

Do you eat sushi

 

[Loyal]

Do you eat sushi

only the cooked prawns kind!

 

[CeeZar]

Ummm, that's NOT a boat.

Yeah... Not a bad way to travel, basically a 5 star hotel. The chef and stewardess are outstanding. I'm hoping to be on it again late summer up in New England.