Day 17 - January 15 Key West

We arrived in port about 8 AM and had to go through customs on the ship because we are returning to the US from foreign countries. Docked next to our ship was a multi-million dollar yacht. We saw about 10 crew members working to clean it. It never left port the whole time we were in Key West.

Bob and I came to Key West 33 years ago when we lived in Miami, but it sure has changed. There is lots of new construction. It no longer looks as quaint as it did back then. It looks like a nice area to vacation in the winter, however, especially since it’s almost always warm and sunny here.

As soon as we got off the ship, we took a trolley ride around the city to “get the lay of the land”. Our tickets are good all day, so we hope we can use the trolley to go back to some of the areas we saw on the tour. Once we had gone on the whole tour we got off and walked to Kermit’s Key Lime Pie shop which is supposed to be the best on the island. The pie was delicious and so was the key limeade that we had with it.

Then we decided to hop back on the trolley to go to the local park where the Seafood Festival is taking place. That was easier said than done, however, as we didn’t catch the trolley and ended up walking to the festival. We thought we’d catch the trolley on the way back, but it was so crowded that no one was allowed to board, so we ended up walking all the way back to the area around the ship. Walking was good for us after all the eating we’ve done in the last two weeks, but Skip’s knees are bad, so it’s hard on him.

The seafood festival was interesting, and we saw lots of craft booths, heard some good music, and ate some conch fritters and crab legs.

Just before we had to get back on the ship to head to Miami, we met up with Nancy’s cousin’s son, Scott Ward, who is a deputy sheriff in the county where Key West is located. He works at night so had been sleeping during most of the time we were in the city, but he was able to spend about 15 minutes with us, and it was good to see him. He’s lived here for 4 or 5 years and absolutely loves it.

Click on the slide show to see bigger versions of the photos.

Day 18 – January 16 - Miami and home