Where We Stayed, Ate, and Played in Key West
Like many New Jerseyans, we regularly travel to visit our family that has migrated to South Florida. Each year we also like to take a little vacation (from our vacation!) and explore a different area of Florida as well. Having done the theme parks, we decided to adventure down to the gorgeous Florida Keys with our kids this Spring
Drive:
It’s about the journey…
The drive to Key West from the Palm Beach area was incredible. While you can fly directly to/from Newark to Key West, we loved the drive there and had a nice stop planned for lunch along the way which made for a great first day. The famous Seven Mile Bridge was definitely a highlight and a reason to drive during the daytime. It is just turquoise water, as far as you can see, on either side of the road for miles between each of the Florida Keys.
Break:
For a lunch stop along the way, we stopped at the gorgeous and delicious Islamorada FIsh Company. A perfect half-way point for us to stop, stretch and start our vacation. We enjoyed the burgers, fish tacos, and of course the incredible views. All of the seating is waterfront on the pier and you can view some amazing fish, boats and gorgeous turquoise water while you enjoy lunch.
Stay:
At the end of our scenic drive we reached the southernmost Florida Key, Key West. We booked our stay at the Parrot Key Hotel which was the perfect choice for our family. The resort is set up as a neighborhood of stand alone villas/hotel rooms all surrounding the pools and backing up to the waterfront. Each room has an entrance via a front porch and easy access to the pools and gardens, as well as a back porch with beachfront seating and quiet views of the water. We enjoyed all of the pools at the hotel throughout the stay as well as the complimentary Sun Bum sunscreen and L’Occitane products!
Explore:
We booked Sunset Watersports’ Kayak and Sandbar tour and it was the highlight of our trip. This day-trip is for a variety of ages and abilities. We were excited to get out on the gorgeous turquoise waters of Key West, but there were certainly people on the boat interested in just the open bar and the views! Something for everyone! We were able to kayak through a set of naturally grown mangroves growing in the beautiful clear waters off of Key West. Then had a light lunch and drinks on the larger boat as we relocated to a gorgeous white sandbar in the middle of the ocean. The crew took out lots of toys and we just enjoyed the rest of the day in the shallow ocean in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
Duval Street:
The main street of Key West is Duval Street and also has a wide range of restaurants, bars, stores, hotels and historic sites. It is interesting to walk during the day and see Hemingway’s Home, some quaint shops and restaurants and take a picture at the buoy marking the Southernmost Point of the Continental U.S.. At night a whole different scene emerges with live music, bars, and revelry.
Mallory Square:
Mallory Square is known to be the best place on the island to catch the sunset. We grabbed a drink nearby and enjoyed some of the street performers as we waited for sunset. It was a fun gathering for an hour or so before dinner - and a gorgeous sunset over the reflective Key West waters.
Eat:
Key West has many coffee shops featuring Cuban specialties and Cuban coffee beans. Our favorite was Keys Coffee Co - a reliable morning stop also featuring our NJ/NY taste-approved bagels fresh-baked daily by the local Goldman’s Deli. The iced latte featuring Key’s Coffee Cuban Blend beans may have been the best iced latte I’ve ever enjoyed.
For a fun start to your night, Fogarty’s on Duval is a very casual easy dinner stop. With outside seating, a long list of drinks and casual food favorites, you can take in the buzzing ambiance of Duval Street from their outdoor tables.
Boat House on the Key West Marina was a great, scenic lunch stop right on the water overlooking the marina for us after a big day of walking. Great seafood and burgers, and a long list of flavored lemonades. My daughter voted their fresh strawberry lemonade the best lemonade she ever had.
We love sushi, so when we saw the cutely named Miso Happy from the window of Key’s Coffee one morning we decided to head there for dinner one night. The portions are gigantic. One roll is enough for an entire dinner for one person - oops we each ordered two or three! We were stuffed but it was delicious. There are many Thai favorites on the menu as well.
On our quest for the best key lime pie on the island, we were recommended to try Moondog Cafe. Great outdoor seating, fun drinks, dinner items and an amazing offering of desserts. I think this was my favorite key lime pie on our trip, but so hard to choose. They also had the perfect vegan chocolate sprinkle cupcake for our dairy-free birthday girl!
Mattheessens was another contender in the search for delicious key lime pie and lemonade. Another solid contender for both! Just a local dessert stop with locations by the Marina and on Duval. Great for a mid-afternoon sweet treat.
Next Time:
We were too late in our planning to book the day-trip to Dry Tortuga’s National Park, but we have heard amazing things. Accessible only by (2 hour long) ferry or sea plane, the beach is supposed to be gorgeous and the tour of the historic fort very interesting. Something to look forward to for our next trip!
See you again soon Key West!!