I had been slowly making my way down Florida to the Keys, and had finally made it! There was one long, straight road that ran all the way down through connecting all the islands with bridges. It was about a two hour drive from the tip of the Florida peninsula to Key West.
As I started through the Keys, I came to a place where multiple cars were pulling off. I figured I’d stop and see what the excitement was about. It ended up being a little festival. Maggie and I looked at multiple booths that were set up along a walkway with vendors selling crafts. My favorite was the jewelry made from different crystals and gems.
There was one spot that opened up to a small, sandy beach. A band was playing off to the side. Some folks danced to the music while others relaxed on the beach as they listened to the band. In the center of the beach was a man working on a big sand sculpture of a pirate ship that said: “Florida Keys Island Fest” on it. Maggie and I laid on the beach for a bit and then went out swimming. I carried her out into the warm water with me and just dunked myself underwater while I held her above the surface. When we went back up to where she could touch, she zoomed through the water. Then to my surprise, she went out where she couldn’t touch and started swimming around. Normally Maggie doesn’t like to actually swim, but she appeared to be loving this warm water.
We drove further down into the Keys until I came to Sombrero Beach, which some locals had told me about. It was a cute little free beach. Maggie and I laid out in the sun, and both ended up taking a nap. After we woke up and went for a swim, a guy came over and asked if he could sit with us. His name was Derek. The three of us hung out on the beach for a while, then Derek asked if I wanted a drink. We went to the nearby store and bought White Claws with plans of drinking them on the beach, but when we returned, the gates to the fence surrounding the beach were closed and locked. Derek turned to me and said, “Well, I guess we can’t go to the beach anymore, so what do we do now?” I replied, “We just jump the fence.” He seemed surprised, but went along with it. It was clearly his first time jumping a fence, but we made it just fine. We hung out on the beach and went for a nighttime swim. After that we went over and walked out to the end of a pier looking at the millions of stars in the sky. I even saw a shooting star and got to make a wish.
When it was time to go to bed, we went our separate ways. I figured I would sleep in my car by the beach since it was already late and my car had been unbothered. I slept for maybe two hours before attacking bugs woke me up. I was also hot and felt like I couldn’t breathe with the heavy humidity. I got out of my car to try to escape the heat, but it was just as hot outside, and no matter what, I couldn’t escape those tiny biting bugs. I later learned they are called no-see-ums. I decided to call Mitchell, my friend who was going to be meeting me in the Keys later with his bus. He was about an hour north, but I made the drive in the middle of the night so Maggie and I could find relief from heat and bugs in his air conditioned vehicle.
Mitchell and I slept much of the following day since we had been up most of the night, and spent the rest of the day on the beach. That night we drove over to a closed K-mart parking lot to sleep. We decided to explore the lot when we arrived, and were surprised by hundreds of cats. The entire parking lot was literally crawling with them, along with a few raccoons here and there. And randomly, from the most odd places, we would hear a rooster crow. The whole thing seemed so bizarre.
The next day we drove to Big Pine Key, which was about halfway down the Keys. There was a small hiking trail there that we wanted to check out to get away from all the hustle and bustle of people. The air was so hot and thick with humidity that I decided to hike in my swimsuit; anymore clothing would have been just too much.
Most of the trails were narrow and some ended suddenly. It seemed as if we were following deer trails instead of trails made by humans. Every path was crawling with giant spiders. We ducked under most of them not wanting to disturb their webs. Mitchell also waved a stick in front of him as we walked to catch all the webs we didn’t see so we didn’t catch them with our faces.
We were hoping that the trail would eventually lead to the ocean. Unfortunately it did not. We came to a part where we could see the ocean, but when we tried to make our way over to it we sank deep in mud. We still enjoyed the hike though; I always love being out in nature.
The next day we drove the rest of the way down to Key West. We found a parking lot by a beach, and the first thing we noticed were the chickens and roosters everywhere. They were walking through the parking lot, hiding in the bushes, and even perched in the trees.
Apparently Key West is famous for its chickens. They are descendants of jungle fowl that were brought to the island for food years ago, along with when cock fighting became illegal, residents released their roosters since they no longer had a use for them. Now hundreds roam freely around the island. I know all about feral cats, but had never heard of feral chickens, but they are a very real part of Key West.
The beach wasn’t anything fancy but it was still nice to lay out. The water felt like bath water, which was delightful. As we walked back to the bus, we noticed a free botanical garden. We decided to go in and explore. The first part of the garden was inside a cute little brick building. Each room was full of different kinds of plants and flowers.
When we stepped outside, the first thing I noticed were the orchids. They were absolutely beautiful. Instead of growing from pots, their roots were growing into a tree and they cascaded down from it.
The gardens were small, but beautiful. There were all sorts of huge cacti and other cool plants. One of the trees had spikes on it. And right in the middle there was a labyrinth, which of course I had to try out.
We took Maggie to a nearby dog park afterwards. We took her there a few different times while we were in Key West, and for the most part it was the same people and the same dogs. Maggie mostly liked to slowly walk around. Some of the people and dogs tried to play with her, with little success. I enjoyed playing with all the dogs more than she did.
That night Mitchel, Maggie, and I went to check out Duval Street because we had been told it was the busy street with everything going on. There were lots of cute little shops, restaurants and bars around. We mainly just stuck to the streets though, enjoying each other’s company and the random stuff going on. At the very end of the night we found a little beach to hang out on where we could see all the stars.
The next evening we went to Mallory Square, and right as we showed up, folks were starting to set up booths selling art and jewelry. As we walked around looking at all the things, we saw a man with a huge crowd around him. I was excited to discover he was a magician! We sat and watched him do card tricks, and he even pulled some kid’s card out of the center of an orange! As he finished his act, we heard a whistle blow. We followed the noise to another street performer. This guy juggled while balancing on top of different boards and cylinders that were stacked together.
Once he was done, another whistle blew, and it went on like that. Every time one act ended, another would start up elsewhere. There was a man juggling fire, and later a man doing backflips and different acrobatics.
The next day we decided to check out Fort Taylor. It’s an old fort that predates the civil war, built in 1845. It’s named after the 12th president, Zachary Taylor.
We walked around and inside the fort. The cannons that were used were on display and they were huge. I really enjoyed walking around the fort and reading all the plaques.
After the fort we hiked the nearby trails in the surrounding woods. We ran into a giant iguana while on the trail. I never realized how big they could get until I came to Florida.
One of the best parts about the fort was the beach it had. It was the only beach we had found in Key West that had clear water. It was a rock beach too, which is my favorite because I love collecting rocks.
We went out to swim, bringing our goggles. We swam far out to where there were big rock piles in the water. We put on the goggles and were not disappointed. There were all kinds of coral and different plants. But the best part was the fish! There were so many fish swimming all around the rocks, and many of them were bright yellows and blues. When there were schools of fish I could swim along with them; the whole experience was incredible. We had thought about paying to go snorkeling, but didn’t need to anymore. There was no way it could get better than this.
During the last few days we were there, Mitchell took the time to put a crate on the back of his motorcycle. He put it there so he could do food deliveries, but it also worked perfectly as a seat for Maggie. I used her harness and leash to make sure she couldn’t fall or jump out, and then she was able to ride around anywhere with us! She seemed to enjoy riding around with us in the open air.
I spent the last few days hanging out on the beach. I also made friends with our neighbors who we could hear most nights in the woods surrounding us. They ended up being two homeless couples living out there. They were really nice folks and one of them even gave me a little necklace.
We were lawbreakers the entire time we stayed in the keys. No overnight camping is allowed, with penalties up to 28 days in jail. We found a spot surrounded by trees to hide out in. We were eventually discovered, and the last two nights we were there, the police came banging on the bus door early in the morning. We discovered if we kept quiet and ignored them, they eventually went away. We decided we had pushed the limits enough, and after the second morning decided it was time to leave the island before nightfall.
All in all, Key West wasn’t one of my favorite places during my travels. It was okay, but I don’t get why it is supposed to be a big deal. The few beaches they do have aren’t very nice, although the water was warm. In most places the ocean water was not clear or pretty, except at the fort. The weather was also too hot and humid for my liking! I am grateful that I got to go there and experience it all, but I have no desire to return. I was happy to be heading back to the mainland and set off on new adventures.
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