Pumpkin and Spice

Our Monday morning started in Marathon. We woke up and had breakfast, and then visited a pretty, quiet little beach (thanks to a tip from a friend). It was a beautiful morning- sunny and cool, with just a bit of a breeze. Mom looked for seashells (and was very sucessful- there were a lot, along with pieces of coral). I just walked along the beach, enjoying the weather and the sound of the ocean.

After the beach, we loaded up the car and headed on down to Key West. We checked into our inn, then headed down to Old Town to have lunch. Duvall is the main street in Old Town, and is where most of the bars are located. There are also restaurants and shops ranging from a Coach boutique to tacky touristy t-shirt shops. We stopped to eat lunch at Croissants de France, a French-style bistro and bakery. We got a table that faced the street so we could watch the passerbys (though Duvall doesn't start getting interesting until sunset). I wasn't in the mood for anything too heavy, so I ordered a cup of French onion soup and a Salade Nicoise.

The soup was not as rich and deeply onion-y as some I have had. The broth was light, but tasty. The "crouton" was a yummy toasted chunk of brioche, and it was topped with a very generous layer of bubbly, melty cheese. All in all, quite satisfying.

The salad was the perfect size (though a little pricy, considering it didn't come with the traditional tuna- that was extra). The lettuce was crisp, frech romaine, topped with green beans, tomato, onion, hard cooked eggs and anchovy filets. Personally, I like slices of cold boiled potato on my Nicoise salads, but that's not always standard. It was a good salad, though not the best Nicoise I've ever had.

Mom got a crepe filled with fresh fruit that looked delicious and light, and Kyle had a big bowl of cool, slightly spicy and very refreshing gazpacho.
It was a nice lunch spot, and had I been hungrier, I might have tried some of their fresh baked goods, which all looked picture-perfect and yummy. The service did leave something to be desired- we had to hunt down our waitress to get the bill, and then she disappeared and never came to take the credit card. We finally gave up, and Kyle paid with cash so we could just leave. I am always baffled by servers who disappear when it's time to pay... you'd really think as far as they were concerned, that's the most important interaction of the meal... Oh, well.

After lunch, we walked to Ernest Hemingway's house. Admission included a very interesting and entertaining tour that gave a lot of personal information about Hemingway's life and the time he spent in Key West. One of the most famous features of the house are Hemingway's cats- there are 49 cats on the property, all decended from Hemingway's six-toed cat, Snowball. Yeah, six toes. While all the cats carry the genes for the sixth toe, only about half actually have six. It was easy to tell which did, because their paws were oddly large (due to the extra toe.) The guide said the cats aren't permitted in the house, but as we toured the house, one had snuck in for a nap on Hemingway's bed.

Our next stop was south- waaay south. We walked (we walked everywhere in Key West- it's a small island with almost no parking!) to the Southernmost Point in the continental United States. From the Southernmost point, you are 90 miles from Cuba and over 120 miles from Miami. After taking some pictures, we walked back to the inn for a little nap and some relaxation. At about 4:30, we headed to Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration. Every night in Mallory Square (which sits on the western shore of the island) they have the Sunset Celebration. There are food vendors, artists and street performers, and everyone lines up along the docks to watch the sun set into the Gulf. It's a huge crowd, all trying to get the best view of the sunset, and when the last little sliver of reddish-gold light sinks into the water, everyone claps and cheers. And then they hit the bars. Just kidding. Actually... no, that's pretty accurate.

After the sun set, we went to dinner at El Mason de Pepe, a Cuban restaurant near Mallory Square. Mom had never had Cuban food before (there aren't many Cuban restaurants in Kansas), so we were excited to share the experience with her. It was gorgeous out- not too hot, not too cool, so we got a table on the patio. I was in a mojito kind of mood, so I started with a very yummy, sweet-tart classic mojito. Everything on the menu sounded so good, I couldn't decide what to order- in fact, I still wasn't ready when Kyle and Mom told the waiter we were ready, so I picked the first thing I looked at when it was my turn.

I ordered the Empanizado- breaded and fried shrimp with a mustard garlic sauce. Since I've been trying to eat a little healthier, I might not have picked this if I'd had more time. That's not to say it wasn't delicious, though! I shared the shrimp with Mom and Kyle, so I only ate about four of them. It came with plantains, yellow rice and black beans. Like I said, I ate about four shrimp, the plantains, and a few bites of rice and beans. It was all sooo good, and I would have liked to eat more rice, but I was stuffed!

Kyle ordered the Filete de Cerdo Encebollado- a tender porkchop grilled with lots of onions and garlic. It was so super-tender, you didn't need a knife to cut it.

Mom got the Ropa Vieja, which was tender and richly spiced. Mom loved it!

With full bellies, we headed down Duvall to the Crown Plaza Hotel for a lantern-led Ghost Tour of Old Key West. Our creepily costumed guide Jay, led us on a walking tour to several haunted locations, telling us ghost stories from Key West's past. Our guide was energetic and engaging, and the tour was a lot of fun. This picture is of the Artist House, a bed and breakfast in a historical home. Evidentally, the family that lived in this home had hired a Bahamian nanny to care for their son. Unfortunatly for them, they beat and abused her, so she gave their son a large doll that he named Robert. He loved the doll, and they were inseperable, well into his adulthood. As if his bizarre fascination with the doll wasn't unsettling enough, whenever someone would mistreat him or the doll, bad things would happen. Even after his death, things would happen around the doll... There's much more to the story, of course. If you're interested, the whole story is at the link above.

By the time tour was over, it was quite late, and we had an early morning, so we headed back to the inn and collapsed into bed.

Tomorrow I'll post about Tuesday's activities! See you all then!