Trolleys and Treats in Key West
We commenced our first full day on Key West with a well-appointed breakfast served on the sprawling front porch of our Bed and Breakfast. An assortment of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, breads, lemon poppyseed cake, granola, yogurt, deli plates, and bowls of fresh fruit provided an ample selection that left us more than a little stuffed!
A short walk around the corner, we picked up the Old Town Trolley at the Southernmost stop for a hop-on-hop-off tour of the island. Fascinating bits of history were provided by an engaging bus driver as we made our way along the route.
From a lucrative wrecking industry to the world’s largest producer of Cuban cigars, Key West has seen a colorful past. At one time it was the richest city per capita in the United States. But after advancements in navigation put an end to the wrecking industry and a fire burned up the cigar industry, the island quickly became poverty stricken. The intervention of the U.S. government in the 1930s, which consisted in part of constructing a hotel and the aquarium, inaugurated the tourist industry that keeps the island alive today.
After the 90-minute history lesson, we were ready for some lunch! Thankfully, there are hundreds of eating establishments to choose from! We opted for Duetto Pizza and Gelato. Yum! Great flavor and reasonable prices.
After an afternoon siesta, we donned our walking shoes and hit the streets again – this time for dinner and a bit of shopping.
New York Pasta Garden had a lovely ambience in their candlelit courtyard and welcomed us warmly for an Italian meal. We split a chicken piccata entree and were delighted to also receive a basket of mouth-watering garlic rolls as a complimentary appetizer before the food arrived. We find that eating out is so much more affordable when we split a meal, and we both agree that we’ve never been disappointed we opted to go that route as opposed to each ordering a full meal. There is always plenty of food!
The other perk is that it often means we have room for dessert later, too. We were practically chased out of one fudge store (Kilwins) for not having our masks covering our noses when we entered, so we gladly took our business elsewhere. The reception at Mattheesson’s was completely the opposite – welcoming in every regard and genuinely friendly. Their assortment of homemade cookies, brownies, fudge, and ice cream made for a difficult choice! But we finally settled on a double scoop of ice cream: Cookie Monster (featuring their own chocolate chip cookies crumbled in a creamy vanilla), and Turtle: another vanilla base with fudge and pecans woven in. Wow. So scrumptious! I think we’ll be back for more before our trip is over!
