Fire in the Hole!

We made it to Key West for sunset both last night and tonight. Last night we went to Mallory Square. According to the guides, Mallory Square is the place to be at sunset. They have a nightly sunset festival with street vendors and performers. It was quite honestly underwhelming. It was very crowded, four people deep facing towards the West. There were three food vendors selling snacks and a couple of buskers. We left as the sun went down and decided that we needed a better way to see the sunset. That would come later. First, we decided to go to the end of the road, or more accurately the end of the continent. There is a marker that is a tourist destination: the Southernmost Point in the Continental US. We were 90 miles from Cuba, according to the marker.

Once we finished there we needed to find something for dinner. Amy wanted fish, so we found a restaurant that had a special of Black Grouper, a local specialty. They served it with a mango salsa, just our speed. The waiter asked if we wanted dessert and that the creme brûlée was the house favorite, but we had other ideas.

We went on a hunt for key lime pie, of course! Even Amy who isn’t a pie fan was interested. We saw a shop called Kermit’s Key Lime Pies, and you know we had to try it! But on the way we passed Limes and Pies, so we had to stop and do a proper comparison. Greg ordered a slice while Amy tried the key lime pie ice cream. The pie was delicious. The ice cream was a vanilla base with pie as a mix in. The lime flavor was diluted and it has a lot of crust. The pie was clearly the winner. We continued our walk to Kermit’s and ordered a slice to share. The name was wonderful but the pie wasn’t as good. Limes and Pies was the clear winner.

We are really enjoying the amenities of our campsite. The tiki hut is incredibly comfortable. It is one of the best appointed huts in the campground. So we spent a good part of the warmth of the day hanging out there. The high ceilings and ceiling fans make it really comfortable, typically cooler than the RV.

But first thing this morning we took our kayaks out. There is a kayak launch right by our unit with the easiest launch we have ever had. We kayaked around the complex, under the original bridge which was destroyed in a hurricane, under the new bridge which is currently being used and into an area with mangroves. After about 5k of paddling, Amy returned to enjoy the tiki while Greg continued exploring the area by kayak.

We decided that we needed a better sunset experience, so we booked a sailing on the Jolly Rover 2.

Greg asked what happened to the original Jolly Rover, and we were told that they don’t talk about it, something about it being a ghost ship now. The Jolly Rover is a sailboat with a pirate theme to it. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but it definitely exceeded our expectations. The wind blew enough that we were able to sail with wind power for most of the time. Whenever they passed another sailboat, they would declare war, first taunting the neighboring ship ("your mother has wooden teeth!"). Next, the first mate would yell out: “Cover your ears! Cover your ears!! Fire in the Hole!!!” Finally, he fired the cannon! There were two cannons: a small handheld one and a larger one that they fired at the US Coast Guard at the end of the sailing. It was so much fun being on the ship. You could tell that the passengers on the other ships had just as much fun. It was a great way to spend our evening. And a better sunset experience.