Kentucky Photographer in Key West

This August, my family and I took our FIRST family vacation. The only actual vacation otherwise, was 6yrs ago for our honeymoon. This was a long time coming. We spent a week in Florida, most of which with friends on the East Coast, but we drove down to Key West for a night. You might consider this my guide to the best in Key West… or what I like to call “How to do it all in Key West… in a day… without getting killed by your husband.” I’m not going to lie, he did require an adult beverage to make it the many miles we walked. And the kids required an ice cream or two. But, we all survived Key West 2011.

First of all, there are the “typical” places you hear about. The southernmost point in the US is usually #1. There’s also Hemingways house, which we strolled past, but they had closed for the day. I did see an “Alley Cat” at one point which might even be one of Hemingways famous 6toed cats. Then there’s Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville and all the cute little shops on Duval Street. (Which also have hilarious signs…)

Here are some other things you don’t want to miss out on:

The nightly Arts Festival at Mallory Square. The sunsets are beautiful and it’s a really fun time. There are people juggling fire, dogs doing tricks, people camouflaged and popping out to scare you… It’s fun.

There’s a little hammock shop that is pretty self explanatory… it’s nice… typical Key West… “Chill”… and an awesome place to stop on Duval street when your dogs are barking.

A little place called the “Tree Bar” has an AMAZING Key Lime Colada. So amazing, I took a picture. So amazing, I debated on making my sweat drenched husband walk back to get one for himself… but I’m nice and shared… a little.

There’s a beautiful church (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church) on Duval Street… there are no other words than it’s just beautiful, especially with the sunset hitting the steeple.

Now, I’m going to let you in on my personal little secret. I’m very serious. Pay close attention now. There is a restaurant, tucked away on Duval Street called “New York Pizza Cafe” (Or New York Pasta Garden, oddly, I’ve seen both names). You MUST go to it. Seriously. Seriously, Seriously. You can thank me later. Best Italian food I’ve ever had… and I’ve been to Europe. Seriously. I don’t think you’re getting it. My husband got a little taste of this place on our honeymoon, but our meal was cut short since the cruise was about to leave without us. For SIX years, my husband has been talking about going back to this restaurant to “finish” his meal. Funny enough, even when we finally got to sit down and eat, the portions are so large, he literally couldn’t finish his meal. It’s pictured below, and each “half” of the Stromboli is larger than his hand. Moral of the story: This place is ROCKIN’! And don’t even get me started on the staff and atmosphere. This place is a 5star restaurant in my book. One of my favorite things though, aside from the DELISH food, is being able to see parrots up close and personal. The Owners, and even a waiter, will bring in their parrots. Our waiter that day brought his bird in, and let us pet him and my son even got to hold him. So cool for a Kentucky girl like me.

The Butterfly and Nature Conservatory is enchanting. You literally feel like you’re in another world with beautiful delicate butterflies flying around you, landing on you. It’s literally a fairytale and very magical.

Oh yes, and you mustn’t leave before getting a ~~slice of~~ full key lime pie from the Key Lime Pie Factory. Wowzers.

And before I forget… our accommodations for one night… The Truman Hotel. It was beautiful, tranquil, and in a great central location. The pool was the perfect temperature and the included breakfast was good enough to get you pepped up for more walking. (At which point your husband looks at you with daggers for being so peppy in the morning… which I must add, the pictures of our daughter on the lounger, he hadn’t seen until last night because he still in bed sleeping.)