Key West

Packed extremely efficiently and set off for Key West.  It was a long but direct drive, slow round the outskirts of Miami and then increasingly lovely as we started to cross into the Florida Keys.  The road is a feat of engineering that hops island to island down the archipelago.  At some points a ghost road runs alongside that presumably didn’t stand up to hurricanes.  We were going to stop for lunch at Key Largo but weren’t charmed by the restaurant so went on for 20 minutes to Islamorada where we ate on the beach. I had watermelon salad and it was all very refreshing.  

We drove on and the sea got bluer and the islands smaller until we arrived at Key West which is a mixture of frat boy holiday (drinking dens the length of Duval St) and old world charm with lovely Victorian houses lush greenery and feral chickens everywhere.   And long, long necked egrets stalking the pavements. 

Our B&B is called the Artist’s House and it’s a symphony of chintz and folksy clutter.  We were told the management left sharply at 5pm so we raced to get there before then, but if she was annoyed she didn’t show it.  V had to find street parking and was roasting by the time he got back. 

We had dinner inside a Cuban restaurant, dodging a cruise ship crowd and ate authentic Cuban food (according to V) I had silky bland mince with black beans and plantains.  And a Grand Margarita, or two.