Let's explore.

We chose to walk around the island a bit the first day to get acclimated. I really enjoyed being so centrally located to all the things I wanted to see. The majority of the sights we wanted to visit were located on the west side of the island. You can also rent bikes for the duration of your stay if you don't want to walk as much - I highly recommend this mode of travel for exploring the island. Walking outside of our hotel, we were greeted by the gorgeous red brick Key West Art & Historical Society Custom House building. It is surrounded by intricate sculptures of people doing various activities. Our entire trip I was constantly fooled into thinking these people were real. It's a great photo op!

We proceeded into Gator Joes on the marina for a quick bagel and coffee. Although it's overpriced, (what isn't on the island?) we enjoyed the convenience and taking in the morning sea air while enjoying breakfast. Then we walked across the street to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum (I told you we were centrally located!!). Although it's a smaller museum, I found it fascinating. Mel Fisher spent his entire career searching for the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Finally, on July 20, 1985 he found the ship on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. The treasure totaled over $400 million dollars - all of which he got to keep...after a long court battle of course. I really enjoyed the museum and the history of his work. I recommend spending the extra $2 for the audio tour.

Next up we continued walking down the street to the Truman Annex but not before stopping to admire a huge banyan tree. The magnitude of these trees never ceases to amaze me. Just down the street is the Truman Annex. The Annex is open for people to walk/bike through until 6pm. Our short walk brought us to the stunningly landscaped annex complete with brick walkways and fountains. The Harry S. Truman Little White House is a situated in the middle of the Annex and is hard to miss. We opted not to take the full tour but instead just walked around the grounds.

We continued our walk to the Ernest Hemingway House. One thing to note about the Hemingway House is they are CASH ONLY. You might want to carry a decent amount of cash as we found some places on the island were cash only. Rich with the history of Ernest Hemingway, the house had a fascinating story of his life, cats, and his many wives. We had the pleasure of touring with the best guide I've ever had. His name was Chris and I would HIGHLY recommend his house tour! He was wonderful and obviously passionate about his job.

The home is probably most famous for the polydactyl cats (6 toes) on the grounds. When we visited there were 57 cats living there. They all stem from Hemingway's first polydactyl cat Snow White. All the cats are named after famous people and they obviously run the show with their full time staff. Just don't pick them up!

How and why the pool was built was by far my favorite part and reminded me badass women rule this world. Long story short, Hemingway's wife built a $20,000 pool to spite him. I'll let your tour guide tell you the rest.

The room shown above was used as Hemingway's writing space. It is in the pool house and overlooks the glistening sparkles of the water. You can see the windows pictured on the top level of the pool house pictured below. Who wouldn't be inspired to be one of the best writers of all time here?

Feeling hot and parched, we headed over to the Cuban Coffee Queen (the downtown location - NOT THE ORIGINAL) roaster for lunch. A short walk away, we found their storefront and roasting operation. I had the Cuban Mix sandwich and it highly satisfied my pallet. Yum! I also totally recommend their Cuban Coffee con Leche. Of course I treated myself to a frozen key lime pie slice on a stick because...vacation. Don't feed the chickens or roosters as they can become aggressive. We headed back to the hotel for some pool time and to relax as it was scorching out.

On the way we stumbled upon an open and gorgeous Episcopalian church and popped our heads in. I laughed out loud (terrible I know) because they had the BEST sign that said "God is watching and so are the cameras."

On our way back we checked out the bike rental company Island Safari Rental and the owner allowed us to go ahead and take the bikes early for the next day. Score! They have tons of different rental options for different equipment and time tables. We spoke to the owner at length about travel and he was wonderful. At the hotel I got a quick run in while my mother took a nice little nap. As it was our first full day, sunset at Mallory Square was a must. For two hours before sunset and two hours after the place comes alive! Live music, shows, food, and much more awaits you before watching the amazing and famous Key West sunsets. I had the privilege of watching five and they all got better with time and were completely different. Grab a cocktail, pineapple drink, or fresh guac and watch the sky catch fire.

We wanted a low key dinner so we walked over to the famous Sloppy Joe's Bar - one of Hemingway's watering holes if you will. It's a Key West tradition so we had to! I also got a Sloppy Ginger and it didn't disappoint. We highly enjoyed the woman singing live. It's must do while in Key West. I got a sloppy joe, obviously, and it was quite good!