trip report 9/9 to 9/12

Thanks to the hotels that stayed open!

We planned my 40th birthday trip to start in Orlando on Sept 5th and ending on Sept 13th with stays in Universal (2 nights), Cocoa Beach, Hollywood, Key West (2 nights) Little Torch, and ending in Vero Beach.

As the experts kept telling us that IKE will hit the Keys, we stayed to our plan only to have to make a few last minute changes.

Sept 8th

We arrived in Hollywood on Monday the 8th knowing that our hotels in the Keys were closed, 2 nights at The Gardens Hotel on the 9th and 10th along with our night on Little Palm Island on the 11th. To our surprised we got word that the “premature evacuation” as the locals were calling it, was lifted!!!!!! I was ecstatic that there was still hope we would be in KW on my birthday.

Sept 9th

Knowing no fear, for completely stupid, we started to drive to KW on Tuesday the 9th with no hotel reservations or knowing what if anything was open. This trip was very surreal, almost movie like with no cars on US 1.

We had lunch at Key Largo Conch house to have fish tacos and blackened Mai-Mai – this was just wonderful. This stop was part of our original plan, so things are good. We continued down US 1 as we stated to realize – while the evacuation orders were canceled, that did not mean business would just open there doors. Key after Key we only saw boarded up hotels and restaurants and the only other traffic were the Sheriff’s squad cars.

As we traveled through Islamorada, we saw that the Hampton Inn looked open, some cars and the front door was not boarded up – so we saw that as our back up hotel for the night. We continued down to Marathon Key, we started to rethink our decision to not just stop at the Hampton Inn. We made it the bridge leaving Marathon Key and I said no more! Is was not raining hard, but the wind was probably now about 40 to 50 mph and I know that 7 mile bridge was going to come up rather soon, so we went back to the Hampton Inn.

This was a very nice choice (we had no choice anyway). We had snacks, beer and a computer so I was set as we watch the storm pass. I decided to post in TA if any hotels were open and some posters were very helpful in letting us know that La Concha was open and Eden House were open. At that time I should have written down the addresses or phone numbers.

Sept 10th

The next morning we woke early to get on our way to KW as we had some hope for a place to stay. As we traveled down on the 9th, we hit more traffic, but not much more and finally reached our original hotel the Garden House – the grounds crew were starting the clean up (not much from what could see) but still not taking any guests. At this time I realized that I had forgot to bring the phone numbers for La Concha or Eden house. Well we still had a brochure with us with hotel information and we started to make calls. We called Ocean Key Resort and they were open and taking guests. We got a great rate as they were desperate to get guests back, and we were the first guest to come back!!!

We un-packed, I grabbed a beer and we started to walk around.

I have never seen a city “wake up” but that is the only way to describe what we saw. We watched workers at the shops and bars pulling off the plywood that shows that Hurricane history, Ike, Gustov, Fay, Rita, Dennis etc. My first beer and souvenirs were at Margaretville. We continued to Hogs Breath and looked for Kelly’s but they were still closed (even on Friday). We ate Luch at Pepe’s as they are to have some of the best burgers and they did not fail me! We also spent time at Conch Republic Sea Food and had some more beer and fried Conch another good choice. We ventured back to our hotel for a swim and relaxation.

You can tell the locals were really cooped up as we met a group of 20 somethings driving to bars in a pick-up, with the truck bed filled with ice and beer. They were also dressed as if they were on the slopes, why no clue. We did our make shift Duval Crawl which included Hogs Breath, Captain Tonys, Cowboy bill, the Bull and Flat Jacks. Over all a great night.

Sept 11th

We woke and went to the Blue Heaven for breakfast but they are closed but not due to the hurricane – until October, so we walked back to Pepe’s for breakfast. We did notice that there really are not many places for breakfast in KW. More walking and shopping, I would guess a bit over ½ the stores were open, along with the first cruise ship after the storm. We ended up at El Siboney for lunch and this was by far the best food I had in the KEYS. We then ventured to see the southern most point, and it was still flooded and lots of crashing wave – but we still got the pictures even though it was covered up in plastic. Then we went to Louie’s Backyard and they were closed, again not due to the Hurricane. We still would have been able to go back deck as they were still cleaning up so back to the hotel for more swimming and drinks in the pool. For dinner we ate at Half Shell. Now it could have been do to the storm, but this was not good at all. I would not recommend this place.

Sept 12th

Woke up early as we had a long trip up to Vero Beach. It was hard to say goodbye, but we did decide to come back again, and not take 10 years.

Thank you to all the locals who made us feel so welcome!

trip report 9/9 to 9/12

Thank you for taking the chance and coming on down! Your visit was especially appreciated being so close to the storms end. Glad you had a good time and your report gives other a little insight into the nature of the people here in the Keys. The clean up went very well and the next time you return, you%26#39;ll see the whole deal!

trip report 9/9 to 9/12

Thank you for posting your interesting trip. Believe it or not, KW is a breakfast-heavy town in normal climes--there are dozens of places to eat, starting around 7am or so.

Whoa!

We did notice that there really are not many places for breakfast in KW.

tripadvisor.com/Travel-g34345-c3693/Key-West…

Pjk