Key West, Florida Part 2

Key West is so full of history! Yes, there are a lot of shopping and dining experiences you can have, but we wanted to dig in to the history of the island. 🏝️

A must see was the historic Hemingway House. Ernest Hemingway lived here in the 1930’s and had some pretty cool cats. 😎 His cats had 6 toes! There are still approximately 60 cats with 6 toes still living there. (I would not want to be the one cleaning all of those litter boxes!) 💩 While we did not go on the tour of the home, here is the outside of the grounds:

The next item we needed to check off our list was Mile Marker 0. What’s so cool about Mile Marker 0, you might ask. Well, to most people, probably nothing, lol. However, we thought it was pretty cool to see the actual ending point of U.S. Route 1. 0️⃣

We found some other obscure and fun things to see on our walk through the island. There were some beautiful churches, historic homes, cool chickens, and crazy vans. 🤯

Why did the chicken cross the road? He wouldn’t answer! Check it out in the video here:

We enjoyed going into the oldest schoolhouse (also believed to be the oldest building on Key West) which is now a realtor’s office. The kind people inside let us have a bit of a look around and gave us some great tips on interesting things to see. 🏫

At the Key West Theater we got a kick out of a poster for Fan Halen. (A tribute band to the iconic Van Halen.) 🧑‍🎤

Next to the Studios of Key West was the sought after (by me) bookstore Books & Books @The Studios of Key West. 📚 Our family loves to read–I mean really, really loves to read! There was quite a bit of enthusiasm by the kids to go to Books & Books @The Studios of Key West. I was even more enthusiastic!!! This bookstore is owned by the one and only Judy Blume! “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Blubber,” “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” “Super Fudge,” and there were so many more books by her that I had grown up reading. She’s like my hero! 🦸‍♀️ Obviously we were going to this store! We bought autographed copies of some Judy Blume books for the kids and me, and we found quite a few more books to read on the drive back home. The staff was so kind and helpful. They made fantastic suggestions and even had me leave a note for Ms. Blume. It was amazing! 🤩

Our final stop was the Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea. ⛪ This Catholic church is the home to some pretty fascinating history. A brief bit of history–in 1846 the first Catholic Mass was said in Key West. Saint Mary Star of the Sea was built and in 1852 the church was dedicated. However, in 1901 that church was burned down (suspected arson). 😞 Most of the objects were lost in the fire, and according to their website, “Although many valuable objects were rescued from the Church before the fire forced the men out, much was lost. From the debris of the fire were salvaged a few candlesticks and Stations of the Cross, all badly burned. One exception was a crudely painted plaque depicting the Virgin Mary as Star of the Sea with the following inscription:

“Since it first shed its light in Key West, it has like a star of the sea to the wandering mariner, been a star of hope and comfort in times of despair and sorrow, and a star of joy to those who have lived in its teachings.””

In 1905, the new church was completed. Although there have been many storms on Key West, also according to https://stmarykeywest.com/history-of-the-parish/, “Tradition tells us that Sister Louis Gabriel is said to have remarked that day, that as long as the Grotto stood, “Key West would never experience the full brunt of a hurricane.”” We thought the basilica was absolutely beautiful and enjoyed the history we learned that day. ✝️

All good things must come to an end, so we walked back to the car and drove back to Tropical Cottages on Marathon Key. 🦩 We had another delicious dinner at the taco truck and enjoyed a margarita at the tiki hut. 🍸

Then we started planning our next adventure… 😉

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Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps!

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