Saturday, June 14, 2025

Bucket List Item #1 Checked

Today was one of my favorite days of 2025.  We started early before it got too hot and the lines were too long getting a picture at the “Southernmost Point in the Continental USA.”  Cameron couldn’t stop talking about the stupidity of it being an actual tourist stop “as the Keys were islands and not part of the continental USA plus it wasn’t even the southernmost point as that one was on private property. “ Either way we got a picture and “waved to Cuba” as Aunt Jan suggested. 








Next on our agenda was the butterfly museum with a live butterfly forest.  We weren’t sure that it would live up to the one in Gainesville, but it definitely did.  There were beautiful butterflies everywhere and even a few flamingos and other birds as well as a few turtles.  It was a wonderful way to spend the morning.










Our next stop was my entire reason for wanting to visit Key West, Ernest Hemingway’s home.  I had put it at the top of my bucket list since I read nine of his biographies when I was pregnant with Cal.  Touring his home with the child that I carried twenty-eight years ago made it all the more special.  Although I did not learn quite as much as the boys, I absolutely loved the entire tour.  Seeing the writing studio where he wrote the majority of his books was the pentacle of the trip for me especially since it still housed his World War I backpack and his original typewriter.  Cal and Cameron’s favorite part was all of the six-toed cats that were descendent of Hemingway’s beloved feline.
















After the tour, the four of us walked to the original Margaritaville for lunch.  Although not technically “parrot heads” we were extremely excited to eat at the Jimmy Buffet restaurant.  It was a lot different than any of the other Margaritaville’s that we had eaten at, and we all enjoyed the atmosphere.  The food and drinks were delicious.  We thought about buying a souvenir on our way out, but they were all a lot more expenses than we thought they would be.  Thus, I really appreciated the photo that we had taken at our table, especially since all four of us were in it.




It was extremely hot today, so we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the US Open and swimming in the pool.  It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.  Afterward, we walked back to Duval Street to eat dinner at Hog’s Breath Inn, another famed Key West bar.  It was fantastic and we were even visited by one of the islands free range roosters.  Before heading back to the resort for a late night game of Bocce ball, we stopped at a few bars for drinks and did a little souvenir shopping as well.  I was absolutely exhausted but extremely thankful for our wonderful second day in Key West.  









It was extremely hot today, so we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the US Open and swimming in the pool.  It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.  Afterward, we walked back to Duval Street to eat dinner at Hog’s Breath Inn, another famed Key West bar.  It was fantastic and we were even visited by one of the islands free range roosters.  Before heading back to the resort for a late night game of Bocce ball, we stopped at a few bars for drinks and did a little souvenir shopping as well.  I was absolutely exhausted but extremely thankful for our wonderful second day in Key West.  


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