March 23, 2018 Spring Break Cruise, Part 4: Key West

 
We woke up with our boat already docked in beautiful Key West.  We have previously been to Key West once before on our 4-Night Bahamian Cruise on Disney Wonder.  This was our most anticipated stop of the trip and we had a lot of places to visit.
 
Docked in Key West
Docked in Key West
Disney Magic in Key West
Disney Magic in Key West

We had three main goals for the day (according to my younger daughter).  She wanted to see a chicken, visit with a six-toed cat, and drink from a coconut.  With those goals in mind, we headed out.  Our first stop was going to be the Earnest Hemingway House.  It is open to the public for tours (for a fee).  We left the ship and used Google Maps to guide us.  As we turned the corner out of a nearby neighborhood, we spotted this fellow:

Key West Chicken
Key West Chicken
Mission Number 1 was accomplished.  As we continued on our walk, we passed the Little White House.  This was one of Harry Truman’s favorite places to stay.  We didn’t take the tour, but stopped for some quick photos.  It was really close to the dock, so you can definitely walk over here and do this excursion on your own. 
 
Historical Sign for The Little White House
Historical Sign for The Little White House
The Little White House
The Little White House
The Little White House
The Little White House
We soon reached the Ernest Hemingway Home.  Luckily, we had cash on hand because they don’t take credit cards for admission.  There are lots of ATMs within walking distance though, so I’m sure you could go and grab some cash if you needed to.
 
Ernest Hemingway Home
Ernest Hemingway Home

They collect the entrance fee right at the entrance (the house is surrounded by a brick wall).  We were told we could wait by the front steps for the next tour to begin.  We really didn’t want to wait for a tour, since the main attraction for us was the six toed (polydactyl) cats.

Admission Booth
Admission Booth

We made our way into the house via the front door.  There was a tour that was setup in the front room to the left. We waited a little bit in the hallway until the tour group left the room, then we followed behind them.  We could easily hear the tour guide in the next room describe the contents as information about of the significance of the items to the house or that particular room.

Entryway
Entryway

The front right room was a parlor that contained a number of photographs and paintings from Hemingway’s life.

Parlor
Parlor
The house has a gift shop that operates near the pool, but they also have some display spots inside the house.
 
Cat Bowls
Cat Bowls

The next room we saw was the kitchen.  It was blocked off from visitors, but you could easily see inside.

Kitchen
Kitchen
After moving through the dining room, we headed back into the entry hall.  There were lots of movie posters adorning the walls.
 
Entryway
Entryway
We then headed upstairs to checkout the main bedroom.
 
Bedroom
Bedroom

After we checked out the bedroom, we checked out the bathroom.  The bathroom was also blocked off (like the kitchen) but it was easy to photograph.

Bathroom
Bathroom
We headed back to the bedroom and went outside onto the fantastic wrap-around porch.
 
Wrap Around Porch
Wrap Around Porch
We waited for the tour group to go through the bedroom and then we headed back inside.  We found this guy snuggled up on the bed.
 
Snuggled on the Bed
Snuggled on the Bed
He came out for a stretch and we got a good look at his feet.  This accomplished goal number two for the day!
 
Six Toes
Six Toes

We headed back downstairs and towards Hemingway’s writing studio.  We found the rest of the cats outside, there must have been around twenty of them outside.  Here are a few of the ones we saw on the way to the writing studio (which is about 30 feet from the main house).

Orange Cat
Orange Cat
Spotted Cat
Spotted Cat
Gutter Cat
Gutter Cat
Here is the writing studio.  There used to be a walkway from the house to the writing studio but it was destroyed at some point.  The writing studio is also blocked off from visitors, but it is easy to see inside.
 
Writing Studio
Writing Studio 
We sat down outside and one of the cats jumped up to visit us.  A guide told us his name was Tennessee Williams.   You aren’t allowed to pick the cats up, but this one sat down on me, so I didn’t think it was a problem. 
 
Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
We also checked out the pool, which according to the sign was very expensive to build.  The gift shop is the building behind the pool.  We found some nice shirts there for the girls, then we headed out. 
 
Pool and Gift Shop
Pool and Gift Shop
We walked down towards the Southernmost Point Buoy.  I had thoughts of getting another picture of us with it, but the line was really long.  We settled for a quick photo.
 
Southernmost Point
Southernmost Point
Right next to the buoy is our coconut guy!  He sells them out of a truck.  We grabbed one and drank it to complete the quest for the day. 
 
Coconut
Coconut

After our refreshing drink, we started walking back in the direction of the ship.  We went over to Duval Street to look for someplace for lunch.  Duval Street is rather interesting, with a variety of unique shops and “establishments”.  I wouldn’t necessarily advise taking younger children on Duval Street unless you are willing to explain the ways of the world to them.

Duval Street
Duval Street

We eventually settled on Caroline’s Cafe as our lunch place.  It was an open air restaurant that could seat a large number of people.  We sat down and got some drinks.

Caroline's Cafe
Caroline’s Cafe

I don’t recall what we each ordered, but I do remember that the food was good.  We would definitely go back here if we found ourselves on Duval Street.

Menu for Caroline's Cafe
Menu for Caroline’s Cafe
My younger daughter and I headed back to the ship while Nancy and our older daughter explored some more.  They headed down towards Mallory Square while we took a short cut back to the ship.
 
Headed Back to the Ship
Headed Back to the Ship
Mallory Square
Mallory Square
Magic Docked in Key West
Magic Docked in Key West
We got back on the ship and headed up to the top deck to get a nice view of Key West.
 
Looking over Key West
Looking over Key West
The pool deck was very crowded at this point, so we ended up getting some ice cream and heading back to the room for a while.
 
Crowded Pool Deck
Crowded Pool Deck
Once the others got back on the boat, the kids went off to find their friends.  Nancy and I went to the adult section for the rest of the afternoon to read and rest.  I also managed to try some of the Pineapple Cider I bought at Total Wine before we boarded.  As the ship started to head out, we went to the outdoor seating area for Cabanas, which is located on the back of Deck 9.  We got some great pictures of sail away from the Key West, including a few selfies.
 
Selfies at Key West
Selfies at Key West
Leaving Key West
Leaving Key West
We headed back to the room to change out of our swimwear.  Tonight was The Snuggly Duckling night takeover of O’Gills that we didn’t want to miss.  Here are few of the things that were done to “transform” the Snuggly Duckling.
 
The Snuggly Duckling
The Snuggly Duckling
Snuggly Duckling Banners
Snuggly Duckling Banners
Thug Bartender
Thug Bartender
Tonight’s activity was an exciting game of Thugo, which is basically Bingo with various Thugs in the squares.
 
Thugo Board
Thugo Board
The Thugo game was run by two Thugs who also led the crowd in a few songs and jokes.
 
Thugs
Thugs

Unfortunately, Nancy and I didn’t win any of the multiple games of Thugo, but we had a great time.  We then headed off to watch Tangled in the Walt Disney World Theater.  This was one of the best shows we have seen on board any of the ships.

Tangled
Tangled
After the show, we stopped by the Vacation Planning Desk to get a placeholder cruise reserved.  We put ourselves in the queue and got a notification in the Disney Cruise Line App.  This saved us some time from having to wait around.
 
Disney Cruise Line App Notification
Disney Cruise Line App Notification

After we got our placeholder, we started making our way towards dinner at Animator’s Palate.  We ran into Mickey and Pluto playing near Shutters.

Mickey and Pluto
Mickey and Pluto
We got pictures of the menu and all the appetizers, but didn’t take any pictures of the entrees or dessert. 
 
Animator's Palate Menu
Animator’s Palate Menu

Dinner was fantastic, as always, since we love the items on the menu.  We stayed late to talk with our server team and the kids ran off the clubs before the finale that occurs in Animator Palate.  Nancy and I were tired from walking around Key West, so we headed back to the room to find our latest towel animal creation.

Towel Snail
Towel Snail
Tomorrow we would be headed to Nassau!
 
If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!
 
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