This was my third trip to Key West and the first one for Marge. It is always fun to show a newbie around. I will try to keep this short and non-boring. Somebody complained once before that I ran a whole report together with no paragraphs. Well, I try to write as I think. At my age I do the best I can. So...

Marge is not a flier so it was a hand holding trip most of the way. I say most as some part of it she was in la la land because of two Dramamine. They were purposely bought to be the drowsy type. They pretty much worked. We stayed at the Pilot House Guest House. While I can’t really give any negative comments, I would have preferred Marrero’s Guest Mansion. Pilot House does have a clothing optional pool area, as does Marrero’s, but they are fussy about one walking around. In other words, go from your lounger to the pool and back. If you want to walk around the pool to see your buddy, wrap your towel. Not really a problem. Marrero’s has an honor bar and that came in handy. Pilot House does not. PH also does not have a free breakfast or happy hour like Marrero’s. Again, not a big deal. Marge isn’t a breakfast person so going out for a coffee was all she needed for a jump start. PH room had a mini refrigerator which was more than adequate. There was a coffee maker, microwave, sink, dishes and utensils. No stove. This worked just fine for us. We had our own little porch overlooking the street. Quite nice, actually.

Despite what I said about Marge not wanting breakfast, I meant first thing. We walked down to the harbor to a place called Schooner Wharf. Happy hour is from 7AM to noon. We each passed on the alcohol and had the local coffee called Baby’s. We each had a Schooner Omelet. A three egg omelet with gulf shrimp, feta cheese, tomatoes, and spinach. We did this one twice! Hog’s Breath Saloon found us downing two dozen oysters with a few beers. This was late morning of a different day. We didn’t really hit any fancy places for food. A couple of times we had conch fritters from street vendors. We ate at Willie T’s and enjoyed our sandwiches but forgot what kind. One night we ate at a fairly new place called Salsa Loca. We had heard of it from another travel board and we were not disappointed. We had an early dinner at El Meson de Pepe and enjoyed the Cuban food immensely. We ate early so that we could catch the sunset at Mallory Square, as well as the entertainment. Though the top of the hotel LaConcha has no entertainment, it does supply the best view of the sunset as this building, at seven stories, is a Key West skyscraper. We rounded out our food with snacks from the local market, Fausto’s, only a block away.

The Conch Train Tour is a must. First timers will get a rich history of the island and repeat customers will be further enriched. I’ve taken this tour three times and will do so next trip. The Hemingway House and Museum will help one to understand both the writer, Ernest Hemingway, as well as some more history of the island. We rounded out our history lesson with the Shipwreck Museum and the Mel Fisher Museum. At one time Key West had the highest per capita income in the country. That’s because almost everybody participated to some extent in all of the islands economic endeavors over the decades. There was the shipwreck industry, the sponge harvesting, the sea turtle canning, and the cigar making. Cigar making is one industry that was totally decimated virtually overnight with the Cuban embargo of 1961 which is still in existence today.

Folks always ask about the Garden of Eden above the Bull and Whistle. It is a clothing optional bar on a roof top with a lot of trees and plants. Marge decided to avail herself of the wonderful Key West sunshine and there was no problem whatsoever. She happened to be the only woman doing so and there were three men who also were enjoying the sun. She felt very comfortable. She also felt quite in her element at the clothing optional pool at the Pilot House. There were four other couples and one single man for a total of eleven of us not wearing clothing and all felt at ease with the situation. This was Marge’s initial foray into social nudism and she loves it. We also hit the typical bars such as Sloppy Joe’s, Capt. Tony’s, etc. Marge wanted to remove and leave her bra on the ceiling with the hundreds more that were there but the crowd just didn’t seem right that night. All in all we had a great time with food, drink, and people watching. Will certainly do it again.

WayneH <><
(and Marge, aka mrose)