Key West, Florida

---

What weird times that we are currently living in. I hope that everyone is doing well and staying inside where it is safe. These are trying times and we have to remember to have patience with each other and do the best we can to keep each other safe. Currently, I am sitting here under the Florida sun, so I figured what better time than to offer some advice on how to maneuver Key West.

Having grown up in Boston my whole life, my family’s idea of a vacation was visiting my grandparents in the Florida heat. I have been all over Florida for all different reasons, but Key West is where I end up the most. Key West is quite the interesting place; I don’t know what other word to use besides interesting. Key West old town at night is not the place for young children, yet it is what I grew up knowing. There are homeless people, drunk people, naked people, crazy people, and tourists all walking on the same street. The main street in old town, Duval Street, is where all the bars and touristy shops are, and it is the place to be. I have hundreds of stories that I could go on and on about, but I have highlighted some of the best things to do on the island.

Food

• Seven Fish (This is the best restaurant that I have ever eaten at. Ever.) $$$
• Geiger Key
• New York Pasta Kitchen
• Chicos Cantina (must get garlic cilantro sauce)
• Blue Heaven
• Hogfish Bar and Grill
• Schooner Wharf Bar
• El Siboney Restaurant

Things to Do

• Sunset at Malory (have to find the cat man)
• Go snorkeling (sand key is a nice spot)
• Take a boat to Snipe Point
• Go on a boat ride around the island
• Walk Duval street at night
• Go to Mathesons and get a giant cookie
• Bridge Jumping on sugarloaf key (bring water shoes)
• Say hi to a manatee
• Blue Planet sunset kayak tours

Things NOT to do

• Expect to go beaching (we don’t have beaches)
• Visit Robert the creepy doll that will give you nightmares for life
• Go shopping in the tacky t-shirt shops
• Take a stray cat home (been there done that)

While I have the time, I figured I would share at least one story with you all. For this story you need to know that my grandparents house is located in a series of water canals. The past few days I have been borrowing a neighbors paddle board and have been going down the canals collecting trash. There is so much trash just floating along the water, and I have found that for some reason I actually enjoy picking up trash. Anyways, yesterday my mom and I were out picking up trash in this one massive canal. The trash tends to build up in the corners, and I learned that people are really nice when you are picking up trash for them. I also learned that picking up trash is not my mothers thing, for she was always expecting a dead body to be hiding under the sea grass. At one point, I was in one corner of the canal in between two houses and both neighbors came out, were chatting with me, and dumped my bucket of trash out. After moving on from that corner, there was another spot a few houses down that had a lot of trash in front. There was a young girl from New York staying at the house where all the trash was, and of course we started chatting with her. As I am chatting and picking up trash, I see a plastic bag and reach (with my bare hands) to pick it up. I quickly realize that it is not in fact empty. It looked like the bag was full of old meat, but the meat was not the only thing in the bag. As I pulled it up to throw into my bucket, I realized that the expired meat had been taken over by hundreds of maggots, and worst of all there was a hole in the bag as the contents were falling out. As my mother shouted at me to leave the bag, I threw the bag in the bucket and began dry heaving into the water. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I was definitely gagging. I do not know if the sight of the maggots or the stench of decaying meat was worse! After this incident we were pretty much done with trash, and we started making our way home. But as we were paddling back, we saw baby squids which made the whole thing worth it. Maybe not completely worth it because I had the smell of decomposition soaked into my hair and bathing suit. The squids were very cute and half an inch long, and when my mother moved her paddle she freaked them out enough that they inked. We finally made it home and disposed of the maggots, and disinfected the buckets like they were the very things that started COVID-19.

I tell you this story not to make you not come to Key West in fear that you will find floating bags full of maggots, but to hopefully to make you laugh. Key West is a very special place and while I am lucky to be here during my quarantine, I am very much looking forward to going home. Thank you for reading, and I hope that everyone is healthy and staying safe inside.