Key West, what to eat and what to buy?
 

Going there for a day from a cruise ship. I have only been to Florida a few times. Just wondering what local things to look for to order at a restaurant. Like conch chowder, ceviche, but what else that is local to the area? Not gator.

And are there any special local things to buy when shopping in Key West? We always look at local art. Just wondering if there were other interesting "gifts" to look for. Thanks all.

Buy Kino Sandals. They are all leather sandals hand stitched by locals. Under $10 a pair and the flip flop ones are my favorite. If you look around, you'll see a lot of the locals in them.

Something fun from Fast Buck Freddies.

A CD by that guy who sings at Louis Backyard every day. Or is it at Louis? Maybe it is at the Wharf. What is his name? Where is he? Someone help me please.

See what happens when you spend too much time in Key West? You drink your brain cells away.

A t-shirt from either Green Parrot or Captain Tony's.

GoTravel - Allow me - Michael McLoud at Schooner's Wharf :)

Heavens - Order dolphin (otherwise known as mahi mahi) - it'll be fresh everywhere you go, and it's NOT flipper, it's dolphin fish. If you walk around to Key West Bight to see Michael McLoud, the Half Shell Raw Bar is practically next door. It's very casual (dogs are welcomed) and their fish is perfectly fresh and cooked to order.

LOL, thank you very much Susan. Of course it is a Michael McLoud CD and he is at Schooners Wharf in the afternoons.

Can you tell where I spend all my money in Key West?

And if one were going for a few days, where should we stay? Looking at DoubleTree Grand Key (says it's fairly new?) and at Wyndham Reach.
Advice, thoughts? And does anyone know if Key West will be full of college students in March? If so, I'm staying home!

The Grand Key is new by Key West standards (several years old), but it's in a terrible location near the airport. The beauty of Key West is that if you stay in Old Town, everything (sunset celebrations, tourist activities, and restaurants) will be within walking distance. Nothing is within walking distance of the Grand Key.

The Reach is more conveniently located, but you might still rather be closer to the Gulf.

As for March and spring breakers, I think you may be surrounded.

Heavens: If looking for local art, I'd suggest checking these three local co-ops. KW Art Center, 301 Front St.; 7 Artists, 604 Duval St.; Guild Hall Gallery, 614 Duval.

You're probably not going to have the time, but if you get a chance, there's a great show at Ft Zachary Taylor. Check out www.sculpturekeywest.com . This was the third year we caught it. It's a great outdoor sculpture event. I took about 60 pictures this year, but I think the web site probably does a better job.

A great place to eat, Café Solé.

Thanks all for your help. Is there more than dolphin to eat and flip flops to buy? How about flounder? Is the conch good? Do I want fritters or chowda? HELP!!!

Kinos are more than flip flops. From my understanding they are hand made by fourth or fifth generation Cubans that escaped Castros mess.

Conch is usually best in the Bahamas because it isn't really harvested in the Keys.

Mahi is a white flaky filet fish that is excellent in season and Susan gave you excellent advice.

Fritters and ChowdA are an imported thing (I mean really, when the outdoor temp is above 80 degrees 9 months out of the year do you really want hot soup??). Fritters are corn meal and conch bits fried into a bread conch blob.

Whatever restaurant you go to, ask what has been caught locally. You would be surprised to find out how much seafood is actually shipped into Key West.

My favorite in Key West is key lime pie on a stick, frozen and dipped in chocolate.

Depending on when you are going, local dolphinfish might not be abundant (while year-round in Keys waters, they are most abundant in april-august, so that's when your best chance of getting locally-caught fresh dolphin is), so I will suggest the REAL Keys seafood is Yellowtail snapper. They Keys is the ONLY place in the US where this fish is caught in commercial quantities. Heck, you can find fresh dolphin in North Carolina in the summer, but the only place you'll get locally-caught yellowtail is the KEYS.

Yum! Just thinking about yellowtail makes me hungry :) I'm sure you'll be swamped with suggestions where to get it, but I think the yellowtail at Alice's is the absolute best! She's at the upper end of Duval; I can't remember the exact block. Sadly, it's on the dinner menu and you haven't told us how long your ship will be in port - not many are there past sundown.

You'll have to get your conch info from someone else. Unfortunately I just hate that stuff!

Conch fritters & stone crab.

-- Spring Breakers --

The time I went to Key West I carefully picked the weekend to fall before Spring Break. And I succeeded, the Spring Breakers were due in the following weekend.

However, Key West is a great day trip for the bikers from the Daytona Bike Week festivities...

The days weren't too bad, but at night, (or early morning), they all left. The B&B we were staying at was just about the distance from the light where they needed to shift. The bikes were usually pretty wound up and loud by the time they hit our corner. Not much sleeping that night...

Thanks again all. Yes, we will be there from 11 a.m. to about 5 p.m. We have a friend checking into the sea plane to Fort Jefferson but not sure the times will work out. So that leaves us touring the town. We will be there April 2, which is a Saturday. Please tell me this is not spring break. Is that usually BEFORE Easter of after? Anyone know?

Go Travel, thanks for the tip on the Kinos. Sounds like my kids would love them. I was just wondering if there were more trinkets and treasures to look for.

Since it looks like we will only be there for lunch, and we must try the dolphin and the snapper, where would be the best place for this? Alice's, I believe, is very expensive. Just want a nice little lunch with some local food. Or Cuban food...

I really like Mangoe's (right on Duval) for lunch. They always have a great variety & good desserts.

If you like jewelry Whitfield Jack, 200 Elizabeth St. Key West Aloe on Greene St. Blue Heaven is one of my favorite dining spots.

I still think you'd love the Half Shell Raw Bar. If you turn left after you disembark and follow the water, you'll ultimately get there! It's really not far and Schooner's Wharf - which is nearby - is great fun too. The Half Shell is inexpensive by Key West standards (where nothing is actually cheap!)

The total seaplane trip is about 4 hours, so I don't think you'll have time for it.

Thanks again. What is served at Blue Heaven. And the jewelry store, is it good for prices of selection? We are going on to Nassau so thought I would do jewelry shopping there. Is that a good idea?