Do you have an all-consuming fear of chickens? You might want to leave Key West off the itinerary of any US tours you do.
This was the first local we met after getting out of the car to explore a bit:
And here he is showing how he and his fellow foul fowl manage to maintain their lazy Key West lifestyle – by conning dumb tourists into parting with food.
He spots a sucker with a bag of food….
Victory! Pictured just after swallowing a big chip.
Occasionally they do need to slum it a little, and actually forage a bit.
But they still have plenty of leisure time to take the family to the beach.
You’d think that many roosters crowing in the morning would eventually inspire a murderous rampage from some of the more sensitive locals, but judging by all the memorabilia you can buy here with pictures of chickens on it, they seem to be accepted as just a part of the identity of the place. My mother would love the putrid things, and I have to admit it is kind of cool seeing them just fitting in. They’re still putrid though.
One of the must-tick-off-the-list touristy things to do in Key west is get a photo next to the southernmost point buoy. You could always stand in the orderly queue in front of the buoy to get your picture, but if you are too lazy to stand in a queue, not fussy about whether you are standing next to it in the pic or not, like sitting, and are a Lazy McLazyface, you can always do what we did and sit on the nearby wall and wait for a short window when the front of the buoy is unoccupied. Boom!
My pedantic companion grumbled a bit that the buoy did not actually seem to really represent the southernmost point from looking at a map, and he was right, it is one of the southernmost point tourists can access, and not even the most southern of them (that is on a nearby beach). The actual southernmost point is on a private island, and there are points on the mainland that are more southern than the buoy, including US Navy property, which surprisingly they won’t allow tourists to tramp through. There are a few businesses proudly proclaiming to be the “southernmost café” “southernmost deli” “southernmost artist” etc. There is probably a southernmost plumber.
The area has a relaxed, slightly hippy-ish feel to it, and lots pretty cool art for sale. We stayed on Sugarloaf Key, in much more pleasant accommodation than we had in Miami.
And it may be away from the big smoke, but all the essentials are there. If you need a mace or a set of knuckle dusters during your trip, you can buy those too.
Because of course you can.
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I am an Aussie currently enjoying my time as a non-resident legal alien in the US. You can find me on Facebook and I have also just started lurking around Twitter and Instagram. Come lurk with me!
Yes, Key West is a unique spot. it seems idyllic but it was interesting to talk to a local and hear that it is a common story for people to move there for the lifestyle only to move away a year or so later when they realise they are living in a small apartment, making very little while paying a lot and in a spot that has very little to do. Great for people who love boats and fishing but less so for beach goers which was a surprise to me.