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Free Stuff to do at Key West

kramonas

By kramonas,
in Key West

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SusieCruises

SusieCruises

Posted
Posted

I loved reading all these suggestions. We are going to be in Key West in January on the Freedom. Hoping for pleasant weather. I was there a few years ago in late May and Oh My Goodness! ....the heat and humidity was really something! Had to cut my walking trip short. I really hope that it will be better in January. :p

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duchess748

duchess748

Posted
Posted

We will be driving down for a day from Islamorada. I understand this is more of a walking town, any recommendations on where to park for free perhaps? I think we will end the day with dinner at Latitude Westin Resort if that helps.

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plattwear

plattwear

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thank you OP and the others for all of your suggestions for Key West. I did add one of them to our to-do list for Sept 3rd while we are in Key West on the Conquest. We are going to Fort Zachary Beach. Will we able to catch a cab fairly easy to get there? I am not interested in walking that far. ty vm :cool:

Edited by plattwear
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Aquahound

Aquahound

Posted
Posted (edited)
Where does DCL dock? Mallory or elsewhere?

 

Only very small ships can dock at Mallory. DCL does not dock there. According to the calendar, Magic will be on Pier B on Jan 4, 2014. That is the Westin Pier next to Mallory.

Edited by Aquahound
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keywester33

keywester33

Posted
Posted
This is meant to be WALKED not driven, not too many places to rent cars at the port, and im sure most cruise passengers wouldn't rent a car for the 4-5 hours that the ship is there...

 

there are sidewalks on BOTH sides of Fleming, so its perfectly safe to walk the short block to whitehead.

 

There is a big difference between a "Safe" area and an area that is "PERCEIVED" as not safe.

 

I am sure most areas west of whitehead are "safe", but it is far from "Perceived" as safe for tourists.

 

Im sure if you live there, your perspective is different, but for a visitor, Key west has ALOT of work to do to make their "PERCEIVED" image west of whitehead better.

 

Please tell us what drives this "perception"? Bahama Village is one of the few residential areas in Old Town still full of locals and families, many who have been there for generations. I find your reference to it as a "slum" offensive. I also can't believe you recommend eating cheap hot dogs at a Circle K, rather then digging in your pocket for an extra couple dollars and having a Cuban Mix or some peel and eat Key West Pinks. You know, things you don't find at home or in every 7-11 and rest area in America. To each his own...

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G-Luvs2cruise

G-Luvs2cruise

Posted
Posted
Since we live in Florida, we drive to Key West a couple times a year. We will be on the Oasis on 5/4 which stops there, first time i'll be there by boat.

 

So for everyone stopping there, here are a few *FREE* things to do, that will pretty much take up the whole time you are there, its all walkable, i've done them many times myself and with my family.

 

First a few things about Key West.

 

There are 2 main streets, Duval and Whitehead. you don't want to venture further east than Whitehead. Not that it isn't safe, but you want to avoid it, thats the border of the "slum" area, but Whitehead is ok, a lot of tourist stuff is there. Duval is the main tourist street. (they run parallel to each other).

 

If you get tired of walking, you will see these "Pedi-cabs" all over, they will try to charge you by the minute.. rip off… but you can negotiate.. offer $10-$20 or so to take you to a fixed place (depending where you are on duval), they can negotiate and many will, otherwise walk it. I suggest walking, its only about a 20-30 min walk from one end of duval to the other.

 

The boat will dock just outside of Mallory Square. Unfortunately, we won't be there at night which is too bad, mallory square at night is the main reason to go to Key West, the street performers are awesome.

 

But here is some free stuff i suggest doing, and how to get there, I'm going in order of whats closest to the ship area, so you want to go in this order. Google search the places, and do a maps on them to see where they are.

 

1) Key West Sculpture Garden at Mallory Square - Free

This is a little area with all statues of famous key west people, easy to blow an hour here, very interesting and historical. Same area as the ship.

 

2) Florida Keys Eco Center - Free

This is an indoor museum near the ship of all the sea life and stuff.. Air Conditioned and they show a movie every 1/2 hour or so that is really interesting. Definately worth a stop.

 

3) The Start of US 1 - Free.

This is another famous landmark for those of us that are from the east coast.. the start of Route 1. To get here, go down Duval St, and turn right on Fleming St to Whitehead. That Intersection is it.. one side is "The End" (south), and the other is "The Start", there is a pole there, take pics… This is hard to find if you don't know where it is.

 

4) Walk all the way to the end of Whitehead. you are at the "Southernmost Point of the US". Take Pictures.

 

5) Go west back to Duval, you are at "South Beach"

Great restaurant on the beach, the beach faces south, so there are usually very few waves, and the water temperature is pretty high, and its really shallow.. great for kids.. you walk 200 yards out and you might be up to your waist. Water temp probably close to 90 degrees. Lots of seaweed.. (you don't go to key west for the beaches).

 

6) Walk all the way back to ship on Duval. There is a Circle K (a convenience store like 7-11) on the right, you can get soda for $1-2, hotdogs etc.. just like 7-11, cheap junk food, but load up there, every other place is overpriced. While coming back, you will find stores that sell shirts and stuff for like $5.. buy them there.

 

7) If you still have time, investigate around Mallory Square, lots of neat stuff there too.

 

Follow these steps, and by the time you're done, the ship will be ready to leave.

 

Thanks for all the great info! You touched on everyplace we wanted to go. How long does it take to walk to the Southern most point marker from the ship? This is our first time to go to KW.

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FLG8RGRL

FLG8RGRL

Posted
Posted
Since we live in Florida, we drive to Key West a couple times a year. We will be on the Imagination on 5/20 which stops there, first time i'll be there by boat.

 

So for everyone stopping there, here are a few *FREE* things to do, that will pretty much take up the whole time you are there, its all walkable, i've done them many times myself and with my family.

 

First a few things about Key West.

 

There are 2 main streets, Duval and Whitehead. you don't want to venture further east than Whitehead. Not that it isn't safe, but you want to avoid it, thats the border of the "slum" area, but Whitehead is ok, a lot of tourist stuff is there. Duval is the main tourist street. (they run parallel to each other).

 

If you get tired of walking, you will see these "Pedi-cabs" all over, they will try to charge you by the minute.. rip off… but you can negotiate.. offer $10-$20 or so to take you to a fixed place (depending where you are on duval), they can negotiate and many will, otherwise walk it. I suggest walking, its only about a 20-30 min walk from one end of duval to the other.

 

The boat will dock just outside of Mallory Square. Unfortunately, we won't be there at night which is too bad, mallory square at night is the main reason to go to Key West, the street performers are awesome.

 

But here is some free stuff i suggest doing, and how to get there, I'm going in order of whats closest to the ship area, so you want to go in this order. Google search the places, and do a maps on them to see where they are.

 

Stuff to Do

========

 

1) Key West Sculpture Garden at Mallory Square - Free

This is a little area with all statues of famous key west people, easy to blow an hour here, very interesting and historical. Same area as the ship.

 

2) Florida Keys Eco Center - Free

This is an indoor museum near the ship of all the sea life and stuff.. Air Conditioned and they show a movie every 1/2 hour or so that is really interesting. Definately worth a stop.

 

3) The Start of US 1 - Free.

This is another famous landmark for those of us that are from the east coast.. the start of Route 1. To get here, go down Duval St, and turn right on Fleming St to Whitehead. That Intersection is it.. one side is "The End" (south), and the other is "The Start", there is a pole there, take pics… This is hard to find if you don't know where it is.

 

4) Walk all the way to the end of Whitehead. you are at the "Southernmost Point of the US". Take Pictures.

 

5) Go west back to Duval, you are at "South Beach"

Great restaurant on the beach, the beach faces south, so there are usually very few waves, and the water temperature is pretty high, and its really shallow.. great for kids.. you walk 200 yards out and you might be up to your waist. Water temp probably close to 90 degrees. Lots of seaweed.. (you don't go to key west for the beaches).

 

6) Walk all the way back to ship on Duval. There is a Circle K (a convenience store like 7-11) on the right, you can get soda for $1-2, hotdogs etc.. just like 7-11, cheap junk food, but load up there, every other place is overpriced. While coming back, you will find stores that sell shirts and stuff for like $5.. buy them there.

 

7) If you still have time, investigate around Mallory Square, lots of neat stuff there too.

 

Follow these steps, and by the time you're done, the ship will be ready to leave.

 

Thanks for this information it was and will be very helpful for our cruise in Dec. I was wondering if you could actually walk all of Key West sounds like you can!!!

Again Thanks

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d4nigirl

d4nigirl

Posted
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There are booths all over the place, just ask them!

 

There's a lovely webcam right outside Sloppy Joe's bar that you can have your loved ones view to see you and be jealous of while you're vacationing and they're not.

 

Walking around Old Town is just lovely in itself since there's so much to see, it's great for people watching. We did this a lot on our visit down last week for our honeymoon. It was definitely a highlight of our trip!

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bhopal21

bhopal21

Posted
Posted (edited)
Tell me more about this!! DH is a hot sauce fanatic and we will be in Key West this January.

 

Peppers of Key West is located on Green Street just down from Kermit's Key Lime Pie. They have free tastings of most all their sauces.

 

http://www.peppersofkeywest.com

 

Mike:)

Edited by bhopal21
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