Going to Key West in February
stef...@yahoo.com
West to escape snowy/icy Pennsylvania. Any suggestions for restaurants
and activities?Stephanie
Pjk
Sebago Island T'ing. It costs approx 70.00 / person but you can save
5.00 by booking in advance. They go out from 10:00 to 4:00. They give
you a continental breakfast then go to the reef and you can snorkel for
an hour. (I don't know how warm the water will be in Feb. It was OK
last week). Then they serve lunch, and finally do a kayak tour around a
mangrove island. It is a lot of fun. Second best is a snorkel / sunset
sail combo. eg the Fury. Or you can do a single sunset sail or morning
or afternoon snorkel. For this try the Floridays which goes out of the
Hyatt dock.
You might want to look into going out to the Dry Tortugas and Fort
Jefferson, but this gets expensive.
For breakfasts,
Turtle Kraals on the Key West Bight (best on Mondays)
Pepes on Caroline Street
Blue Heaven on Petronia (they say Thomas but who you gonna believe?)
One block off Duval.
Two Friends cafe on Front Street.
The Banana Cafe way south on Duval.
Brunch at Martins on Applerauth Lane (off Duval) but only on Sunday.
Brunch at the Rooftop Cafe on Front, but only after 10:30
Just for afternoon drinks and maybe a snack...
Kelley's on Whitehead Street. 1.50 micro brews, 2.50 margueritas (best
on the island) and chicken wings. (3.50 and also best)
Crabby Bills (not Crabby Dicks) on Greene Street. 1.99 for a dozen
oysters. That's right...1.99!!
Pepe's for Bloody Marys and they have bar food.
For fun go to B.O.'s Fishwagon on Caroline. Trust me on this. Best
seafood sandwiches on the island and you will miss something if you
don't go to BO's.
Best dinners...
Blue Heaven again. Try the Blackened Grouper platter served Cuban
style.
Santiago's Bodega, one block farther off Duval on Petronia. They serve
tapas - hot/cold. fish/meat/veggie. Get a pitcher of white Sangria to
go with them. (try the trio of humas to start)
Pepes again. Try the special, whatever it is.
Pretty much any of the places on the bight - Half Shell Raw Bar, Turtle
Kraals, Schooner Wharf bar, Conch Republic Seafood Co., A&B Lobster
House. Best bet is to go to one and order two appitizers.
Peel-yer-own-shrimp, and two key West Sunset LAgers. Eat them and move
to your left and do the same at the next place, but have conch fritters
or crab legs.
Phew. You didn't leave enough days.
Pjk
johndoe
the Dry Tortugas. We weren't sure at first because I don't like to fly, but
man, it was the BEST thing we've ever done and I highly recommend it. We
flew with: http://www.seaplanesofkeywest.com/
Pjk
This gives you a compar - o of the three ways to get there...
http://www.bestonkeywest.com/drytortugascompare.htm
Pjk
Diana Daugherty
breakfast. We were down in April 2006 and decided to go to Pepe's for
breakfast. After browsing their menu and waiting for about 10 minutes, we
decided what they had to offer was nothing spectacular and left. We walked
up the street to Harpoon Harry's and were quite surprised at the excellent
selection and extremely reasonable prices. Service was perfect. We will
definitely go back.
"Pjk" <peter_k...@MSN.COM> wrote in message
news:1133293548....@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Pjk
My first impression is that Key West never disappoints me. After having
gone down for twelve or thirteen years, as many as three times in one
year, there are always places that I can go to for a sit-down, a drink,
and a snack and be happy there. There are new places to explore, but
there is never enough days to do everything I want to. It takes me
about a day and a half to stop walking fast, and then I start to relax.
I was scheduled to arrive at 12:35 but my flight from Newark came into
Tampa early enough that I could be bumped to an earlier shuttle and got
in at 12:05 - and extra half-hour in paradise. I stowed my bags and
had a welcome back Key West Sunset Lager at Sloppy Joes. Just sitting
there made me happy to be back. Then check-in at 2:00, swimming until
4:00, margueritas at Kelly's by 4:30.
Secondly, Key West has recovered about 85 % from the last hurricane
season. The Sheraton Suites, for example, has had the exterior repaired
and re-painted, and it looks like new. It looks like all of the
construction at the Hyatt is done and they are now finishing up the
painting there, too. The vegetation has come back, more quickly than I
would have guessed. The Royal Poinciana trees are blooming as are the
hibiscus and various other bushes and plants. There are still a few
dead or dying fronds on the palm trees, but these are slowly being
replaced by new ones. The gardens at the Pier House are growing and all
of the palm trees have survived. The Pier House still strikes ma as a
great value, mainly because of the beach and the location, but it is
critical that you get a good room. This is probably true of every place
to stay.
Thirdly, if you want Key West to yourself, go in May. I didn't have
to wait for anything and there were times when I was one of only a
couple of customers. Talk about good service! Even the Island T'ing
did not fill up...32 vs. 40 people.
Because I was alone I got into a routine of going running in the
morning, and then having breakfast, and again all of the old faithfuls
didn't disappoint; Turtle Kraals on Monday for the huevos rancheros
special, Two Friends on Tuesday for an omelet, Pepes on Wednesday for
another omelet, The Rooftop Café on Thursday for the Eggs Benedict
with a crab cake on both, two eggs over easy on pancakes at the Secret
Place on Saturday, and martins for brunch on Sunday. I never made it to
Sarabeth's. Then I would spend most of the day reading and swimming
at the Pier House beach, sneaking down one bottle of beer. (Only caught
once but there was a new towel boy the first few days, and the regular,
Nate, doesn't usually hassle me).
Then I would go out for a drink and maybe a snack. Afterwards, I would
walk for a while, then go back to the Pier House and read or snooze a
little, then have dinner. I had more real dinners this trip than any
other. Various items. Big Daddy Conchs does not have the 1.99 / dozen
oysters, but at 10.00, it's still not a bad place to go. I still like
the peel-your-own-shrimp with a Sunset Ale at the Half-Shell Raw Bar
and oysters and a Sunset Ale at the Conch Republic. But the best deal
now is Alonzo's. You bring your See Key West magazine with the free
drink coupon on page 36 and order half-price oysters or clams or
whatever, and end up spending maybe $6.00. You could do this every
night And Kellys for margueritas and chicken wings. Again it comes to
$6.00. IMO the best Bloody Marys are at the Pier House (thanks Markd)
but for pleasant surroundings, go up to the Rooftop Café and have one.
They are very good, cost $8.25, but the location is great -
overlooking Front Street at about the level of the tower at the
Wreckers Museum. The Duval Beach club is a good place to sit and have a
Sunset Ale and overlook the ocean. I never actually went into Island
Dogs or the Rum Barrel, but the thing to do on a Saturday night seems
to be to get a bottle of beer at the former, then stand on the sidewalk
and listen to the band form the latter. (The latter is going to get
wise and call the cops, which would be a shame). And the Iguana Café
(across from Capt'n Tony's?) has been demolished and is going to be
re-built. Croissants de France is still not done and I'm getting
worried.
Dinners were great. Without too much detail...grilled shrimp with a
kind of Key Lime chutney sauce and rice and beans at Turtle Kraals. A
Cuban dinner of beef and pork with plantains, rice and beans and a
glass of Spanish red wine at El Meson de Pepe. Finished with a café
con leche which was better than D*mn Good Food Co. Blackened grouper
with rice and beans (do we see a trend here?) at Blue Heaven with a
Kalik. And two dinners of fish and chips and a Corona at B.O.'s
Fishwagon, still my favorite place. I meant to have a dinner of Black
(not blackened) grouper at the Rooftop, but never got around to it.
And in terms of activities, the Sebago Island T'ing is still the best
IMO. And for a change I went out on the Caribbean Spirit for the
snorkel, sunset sail. This is a little more expensive than the others,
the Fury, e.g., but if they go to Sand Key, this is the best spot
I've found for snorkeling. There are "fingers" of coral reef
which you swim through and where all of the fish hang out. The only
place I've found a coupon (2.00 off per person) is on their web page,
but if they go to Sand Key it's worth the extra money. Ask when you
book. For deals, try Janet Masilgill at booth # 1 on Duval and Front,
or Captain David Brown just before you come to the end of Front Street,
on the right.
I always need some diet soda and orange juice for the room, and might
need film or whatever. There is a coupon for $3.00 off a $10.00
purchase at the Walgreens in the See Key West magazine on page 51. Not
usable for beer 8-(. I bought myself a nice tank top at Summer Salt on
Front, and, finally, a new pair of patch-pocket shorts at the Saltwater
Angler off the Mallory Docks. These are great for a vacation - wallet
in one patch, digital camera in the other, and See Key West Magazine
stuffed over one cheek in the back.
And!!! I left my initials somewhere at one of the places mentioned
above. (Not at Sand Key) I'll buy drinks for the first person who
spots them.
Pjk
island girl
on hotels are lower and the chance of good weather is high. Plus, if
you are looking to go charter fishing you have much better
opportunities in June because May is hectic on the water and it is near
impossible to get a good charter captain last minute during May. For
activities, try the Island Party watersports package...more activities
than Sebago's Island Thing and try the 4-Pack Adventure private
charters Dream Catchers offers...you can snorkel, fish, see dolphins,
sightsee, and beachcomb all on the same charter! There are lots of new
restaurants now to try out too, like Sarabeths on Simonton and Big
Daddy Conchs on Greene. But we still have our reliables like Chico's
Cantina and El Siboney. Check out www.gotothekeys.com for a bunch of
activites. Oh, and going to the Dry Tortugas for the day on the ferry
is so much nicer in the summer because the waters are typically so much
calmer that you'll have a better ride...it is very pretty out there.