Key West trip thoughts?

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Is a trip to Key West worth it?

Wifey has a conference there and is thinking of going. Old Evil is willing to tag along.
However, flights are running $450 a person round trip and average 5-8 hours, depending on the layovers.
The conference is a swanky hotel (Casa Marina) in Old Town. I could care less about the resort, I'm more interested in the stuff around it. In Old Town. Anything really, REALLY cool?

I have been a Fla a few times and it's OK.
I'm not the kind of guy who likes to lay in the sand and sun for eight hours a day drinking foo-foo crap and reading. I like to explore. And drink.
Would Key West be worth a four (full)-day trip?
Thoughts?

 

[Ace]

I think Key West is one of those places that you should go if you get the chance and you can swing it.

It's an original. I've stayed at the Casa Marina it's a grand old hotel.

If you like to drink, it's a no brainer.

 

[BDC99]

I have been a Fla a few times and it's OK.
I'm not the kind of guy who likes to lay in the sand and sun for eight hours a day drinking foo-foo crap and reading. I like to explore. And drink.

Highly, highly recommend a trip to Key West. There are few better place to explore. And drink. Be sure to go to Blue Heaven and Schooner Wharf and spend some time watching them feed the tarpon off the marina. Also do the snorkeling/sunset cruise, where you spend a few hours checking out the reef, then drink beer/wine and watch the sun set. I would go to Key West once a year if I could. Not sure I could afford/survive 4 days there, and I'd never want to live there, but it's one of the best vacation spots I have found.

 

[podunk press]

I wasn't enamored. But I'm also not much of a drinker.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

GO!

Nothing like beer and conch fritters for breakfast. Hit all the usual spots: Sloppy Joes, Capt. Tony's, southern most point, mile marker 0, Hemingway house, Mallory Square, Buffett's.

 

[Ace]

I have been a Fla a few times and it's OK.
I'm not the kind of guy who likes to lay in the sand and sun for eight hours a day drinking foo-foo crap and reading. I like to explore. And drink.

Highly, highly recommend a trip to Key West. There are few better place to explore. And drink. Be sure to go to Blue Heaven and Schooner Wharf and spend some time watching them feed the tarpon off the marina. Also do the snorkeling/sunset cruise, where you spend a few hours checking out the reef, then drink beer/wine and watch the sun set. I would go to Key West once a year if I could. Not sure I could afford/survive 4 days there, and I'd never want to live there, but it's one of the best vacation spots I have found.

Yeah, the snorkeling/sunset cruise is great. Not many places in the U.S. with snorkeling as great.

The beaches suck though. Don't plan to hang on the beaches. The reef keeps the waves from coming in so the water kind of sits there and in the summer gets boiling hot.

 

[YGBFKM]

I'm not the kind of guy who likes to lay in the sand and sun for eight hours a day drinking foo-foo crap and reading.

Then Key West is the perfect place. Drop your wife off at her conference, go to the Green Parrot and pick her up on the way to the airport for your departure. Whatever you remember in-between will be worth it.

 

[waterytart]

Is a trip to Key West worth it?

Wifey has a conference there and is thinking of going. Old Evil is willing to tag along.
However, flights are running $450 a person round trip and average 5-8 hours, depending on the layovers.

Don't fly to Key West. Fly to Miami and drive to Key West. Each additional bridge is a signal to your brain that life is getting better.

 

[SixToe]

Go and have a good time.

Rent a kayak and paddle around. Take a fishing trip to the Marquesas for tarpon or barracuda. See some of the sights in town.

 

[BDC99]

Yeah, the beaches are almost non-existent. Totally different from the rest of Florida. Snorekling the reef was one of the coolest things I've done. And if you can afford to take a charter fishing trip for tarpon I would do that in a heartbeat. Can I come? Driving the bridges is awesome, so I would recommend flying into Miami too.

 

[YGBFKM]

Is a trip to Key West worth it?

Wifey has a conference there and is thinking of going. Old Evil is willing to tag along.
However, flights are running $450 a person round trip and average 5-8 hours, depending on the layovers.

Don't fly to Key West. Fly to Miami and drive to Key West. Each additional bridge is a signal to your brain that life is getting better.

Ugh, I hated that drive. Both ways.

 

[SixToe]

Tarpon are fun, but opt for barracudas and sharks. Hire a guide. It's worth it.

 

[BDC99]

To me, it doesn't get any better than tarpon. Coolest fish in the sea as far as I'm concerned. Unless you're looking to eat what you catch. Saw a barracuda while I was snorkeling and it scared the **** out of me.

 

[waterytart]

To me, it doesn't get any better than tarpon. Coolest fish in the sea as far as I'm concerned. Unless you're looking to eat what you catch. Saw a barracuda while I was snorkeling and it scared the **** out of me.

As it should have. When I was growing up in South Florida, the tourists got out of the water for shark warnings. The natives got out for barracudas.

 

[waterytart]

Don't fly to Key West. Fly to Miami and drive to Key West. Each additional bridge is a signal to your brain that life is getting better.

Ugh, I hated that drive. Both ways.

Why?

I could see that for a Type A "I could be spending this time taking over IBM" type. You're no "Let's just mellow" hippie, but you're not the other guy, either.

I don't think.

 

[BDC99]

I don't understand fear of bridges. It's just a road to me. But I grew up around them. Not like you'regoing to flip over the side and drown. Well, more than likely.

 

[SixToe]

Tarpon are wonderful, especially if you get multiple shots in a day.

 

[YGBFKM]

Don't fly to Key West. Fly to Miami and drive to Key West. Each additional bridge is a signal to your brain that life is getting better.

Ugh, I hated that drive. Both ways.

Why?

I could see that for a Type A "I could be spending this time taking over IBM" type. You're no "Let's just mellow" hippie, but you're not the other guy, either.

I don't think.

Well, when I'm driving somewhere, I just want to get there. I'm not an "enjoy the drive" guy. Also, the last time I left Key West was a terrible experience. To make a bad story relatively short, I didn't get any sleep the night before because things that involved my brother falling through a glass table happened, I wasn't allowed to sleep on the chairs at the airport while waiting for my rental car, when I got the car I slept for an hour in it and woke up drenched in sweat because it was about 120 in the car (I forgot to roll down a window), when I finally got to Fort Myers where I had left my car to boat over, I realized it was on the other side of the city and the cab ride cost me $50, then I had to drive two hours to the office and work an entire shift.

 

[Magic In The Night]

Key West, like most places, not as good as it used to be. But it's still pretty good although I haven't been in a few years. I'd advise a drive from Miami unless you don't have the time. I still think it's one of those, you need to go there places. Especially for those who fancy themselves as Hemingways.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I haven't been there in so long, damn near 20 years now. But I have read that it's possible to find the classic Key West, only you have to look for it in Islamorada.

The Hemingway house is pretty cool, though, as tours go. If you can handle cats.