Seems only right that my first blog post is about a place that has become very near and dear to my heart. I visited Key West for the first time during a day trip on a cruise, but I really didn’t get to experience the island. In 2019, I was able to make a trip back with my then boyfriend and his family for a week of fishing, crabbing, snorkeling and fun on the island. I fell in love with the island even before Zach proposed at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. We were finally able to make it back to Key West recently to celebrate our one year anniversary.
One of the things I struggle the most with when traveling, is visiting the same place more than once because there are some many different places that I want to visit. But Key West is one of those places that I could visit again and again. I think it is because the island is so unique and there are so many different things to do. When Zach and I went back for our anniversary, that was really our focus; find things to do that we haven’t done on previous trips. So I will highlight those for you and hopefully you will be able to check them out on your next trip to Key West.
Places to Visit
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Our main goal of visiting the park was to test out our snorkel gear and cameras that we hadn’t been able to use in quite awhile before we went to Dry Tortugas/Fort Jefferson. We took an Uber to the park and had the driver drop us off before the park gates, so we only had to pay the walk in fee. I will say that the beach is not the sandy version that you would hope for, so if you visit, plan on packing water shoes. There are multiple picnic tables in the shade, if being directly in the sun is a worry. The water wasn’t perfectly clear, but still far more clear than any lake water near us in the Carolinas. There are rock formations that are great to swim around and we saw some great fish and stingrays. When we were ready to leave, we were able to rinse off with the outdoor showers, which was refreshing before we went on with the rest of our day.
Truman Annex
After leaving Fort Zachary Taylor, we decided to walk to the Historic Seaport section of Key West. GPS took us through the Truman Annex area to get there and it was a lovely, unexpected walking tour. There is a military installation there and the now residential area used to be part of Naval Station Key West. There are quite a few historical markers and gorgeous buildings on the 1.5 mile walk.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Visiting Dry Tortugas National Park has been on my list for quite awhile. The National Park is 70 miles west of Key West and you can only get there by seaplane or boat. We took the Dry Tortugas National Park Ferry and it makes for a long day since it is a 2.5 hour ferry ride to the park, but we both enjoyed ourselves. The snorkeling is great with clear water and all sorts of marine life. Fort Jefferson is an impressive sight. I will share more about our day trip to Dry Tortugas in a later post.
Key West Lighthouse
Before we left, I wanted to visit the Key West Lighthouse and take in the great view from the top. So we climbed the 88 steps to see the island from above. The spiral staircase got my nerves worked up a bit, but it was worth it. After the lighthouse, you can walk through the caretakers house that has been turned into a museum. They also have a small gift shop onsite that has some really unique gifts that we hadn’t seen in other
Stick around for more posts from this trip including our day trip to Dry Tortugas and maybe my most favorite part, the food!
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