Miami Trip Part 4: On to Key West

Check out the previous articles in the series:

The nightlife in Miami is bustling. Ocean Dr was crowded. The clubs had beautiful lights and décor, and the people were all full of life. We were finally at the part of the city that never sleeps with clubs open till 5 AM. Some places to explore at Ocean Dr include:

The seafood restaurants
The clubs
Open mics
Museums
The hotels (they throw pool parties on reservation, and you can also take photos)
The historic Colony hotel (Colon Hotel in GTA Vice City)

We then returned to our AirBNB. The rest of the night was not as happening. We got ready for bed, chatted late into the night and fell asleep.

We had planned Key West for Christmas but the rainy weather threw mud at our plans. We ended up spending Christmas in Miami and started for Key West the next day.

There is only one road that connects Miami with the Keys, meaning that all vehicles traveling there must take the same road. This also means that in the case of an accident, the road can get pretty irritating, because nobody would be moving. Facing such an incident on a 4-hour drive can be horrible, and we found that out the hard way.

We checked out of our AirBNB and started for the Keys at 9 AM. By 10, we were already on the connecting road to Key West. This road cuts through the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico on either side and ends at the Keys. The weather forecast showed a rise in temperature, so we had high hopes. To our ill luck, the day had been foggy, and we could not enjoy the scenery on either side. Being in a car that has nowhere to go, progresses slowly, and you have nothing to look at is not a very welcoming experience. We stopped midway at an inn, a little outside Islamorada which is about a quarter of the distance from Miami and also a tourist attraction. We revelled at the sight of the aesthetic houses and spent some time at the private dockyard inside the inn. There were boats and fishes and quite a few people. We blew off some steam and got back on the road.

We finally reached Key West at 4:30 PM!

The time for sunset was 5:30 on that day. We scurried for a parking spot and found one at Duval St for $15 to park till 8 PM. Then we got on the road and started running.

Our mishaps weren’t over yet, because we soon found out that we were at the wrong place, and this wasn’t the parking for the right place. We rushed back to our car. We went to Mallory Square. We got parking. But this one cost $24 for two hours! It was already 5:15 PM and we did not have much time. We took it and rushed.

Mallory Square hosts a “Sunset Festival” when the skies are clear. Mallory Square is not a beach, but a marketplace. It sits over a stream from the Gulf of Mexico. On the shore, at least half a thousand people had gathered with their cameras. One man stood on top of a pole! This did not feel safe at all.

Figure 13: The view of the sunset at Mallory Square. Photo credit: Jafrul Islam Rajon.

Immediately after the sun had gone down, the entire place came to life. The man jumped down from the pole and directed the people around him. He introduced himself as a gymnastics performer. He comes from a family of gymnasts and has grown up in the Keys. He started a performance with javelins which the crowd enjoyed a lot. Besides, there was a man making a cartoonish sketch of a lady under a small shade with crayons. Besides, there were carts that were selling beach-themed t-shirts, and food like popcorn, guacamole, and fresh sea-fish. The interesting thing about the food here is that the payment here is based on an honor system. You pay whatever you feel it is worth. And all the carts had long queues with them. The place reminded us of Cox’s Bazar, and our tummies turned for a plate of Fuchka. We got popcorn for $5. We then roamed around the marketplace.

We were astonished to find a rickshaw, albeit motor-run in the market. Nobody knew what it was apart from us and a few other brown people. The market was buzzing. It had exotic items like shark teeth, oyster shells and snail shells, regular items like t-shirts, bags and even luggage, and other items like ornaments, posters, and sporting goods as well. One of us asked for the price of the shark tooth. The smallest one went for $500!

Figure 15: A tri-wheel locomotive that somewhat resembled a rickshaw at Mallory Square. Just like in Bangladesh, people use the empty spaces on the body for advertising purposes.

The streets lit up and people seemed to be returning. These streets held the same Miami aesthetic, and needless to say that we loved it. We went back to our car at 7. Our next destination was Southernmost Pointe. The streets were crowded. All Key West streets are one-way traffic only, and so if you miss a turn, you’d need to travel a long way to come back. However, given how crowded the streets are, you’d probably not even be doing 20 miles. So, you’d probably not miss a turn.

We got on to Duval St. To our surprise, many parking spots were open, including our initial one. We had paid for it already through our parking app, and our minutes still showed. We parked our car at the same point, got our IDs and stepped out.

We found a long queue at Southernmost Pointe. The queue ended at a reddish-white landmark, that the locals called zero point. This marked the southernmost point of the United States. We did not stand in line, instead went behind the landmark. We wanted to actually touch the southernmost point. We touched the furthest brick and then were finally satisfied.

From there we walked to the Emma Carrero Cates Pier. It was a full moon, and the moon shone on top of the hotels surrounded by palm trees and also the water.

The beach had gentle waves, and also beach chairs. The scenery was beautiful.

We sat on a beach chair for some time, taking in the scenery. We also walked the pier. There were a handful of tourists there. We then went out for dinner.

Figure 16: The moon atop Emma Carrero Cates beach. Photo credit: Joydhriti Chowdhury.

We found a place that looked like a castle and advertised shrimp pizzas. We wanted to grab some of them. But as we went in, we found out that the restaurant services were only for people staying at their hotel. We needed a change of clothes, so we started walking towards our car. On the road, we found a Subway. We each grabbed footlongs. Mine cost close to $11 with tax. I was not too hungry. I ate half the foot there and took the remaining half with me. We got beverages from a CVS nearby and then set for Clarence S Higgs Memorial Beach.

It was 8:30 PM and parking was available. We first walked the pier. The pier had stairs leading down into the water for fishing boats. The waves at Higgs were wild. Water would constantly rumble down on the stairs, and from time to time, we would see large fishes jumping on to the pier stairs before falling back into the water. The perfect moon shone on the heavily lit open restaurants beside the beach.

The Higgs beach is huge, and we could not walk the entirety of it. The sand was slippery and wet, and we saw someone slip right behind us. The water was dammed off, and we walked on the very thin brick wall to scale the beach. As we walked, we soon reached a shaded area for foot-walkers and then an area reserved for fishermen. The place had boats, rods, nets and even some people fishing. We passed the jolly fishermen and walked for 5/10 minutes and then finally reached the key attraction.