I’m just inside the door at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory at 1316 Duval Street, Key West, my feet rooted to walkway, looking around at astounding beauty – plants, trays of cut up fruit for butterflies, birds singing, incredible colorful butterflies. OMG.
Blue Morpho butterflies swirl all around as I stand transfixed, having an OMG moment.
I feel like my entire life’s journey has somehow led me to be right here, right now.
Those swirling Morphos are just the beginning of a slow meandering walk for me among hundreds of butterflies and birds in a place so splendid I don’t want to leave. Thank goodness they stamp your hand when you pay the entrance fee. This means you can come and go all day.
True confession: I’ve walked by this two-story Key West style frame house in years past and had no idea a large glass conservatory full of butterflies and birds occupies the whole back end of the property.
Sure, there is a sign outside saying Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory but the siren calls of places like Harry S. Truman’s Little White House, Ernest Hemingway’s Home, the Key West Historic Seaport, the nightly sunset celebration on Mallory Square, having a cheeseburger in paradise and the Southernmost Point are pretty loud and I heeded those in the past.
No more. I’ve been to many butterfly gardens/conservatories doing research for travel articles and books. This one blew my socks off. Easy to understand why this place was voted the number one attraction in Key West by People’s Choice Awards, TripAdvisor and Yelp.
My advice: On your next Key West visit stop at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory first. Have Key lime pie later.
Average stay is one and a half hours.
The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory stays open 365 days a year (check website for holiday hours). General admission: $12, children 4-12: $8.50, ages 3 and under free, Seniors 65 plus and military: $9.00, Local (Monroe county): $10.00.
Old Town Key West, a small island famous for being the end of U.S. 1 and the start of margarita time, is also notorious for a shortage of street parking. Horrendous. Dreadful. Atrocious. Just a few polite adjectives used to describe the parking problems even for those with good parking karma.
If arriving by car consider downloading locations of parking garages ($4 an hour) ahead of your visit, being prepared for $3 an hour street parking and using the FREE Duval Loop Bus that goes from Gulf to Atlantic ever 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to midnight.
The Hemingway Home & Museum at 907 Whitehead Street gets its fame from Ernest Hemingway the writer. On their website menu attention is also given to his wives, his children, his boat The Pilar, and of course the six-toed cat named Snow White, given to him by a sea captain. Some of Snow White’s descendants (and other six-toed cats) continue to lounge around the estate. The cats, 40-50 of them, have their own page on the website and they freely roam the home grounds.
This is a cash only attraction. Cost is $14 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-12, under the age of 6 admitted free.
The Truman Little White House, 111 Front Street, located inside the Truman Annex, was a winter White House from 1946 through 1952. This is a grand historical tour, stepping back in time when the Cold War loomed large and Key West weather beckoned to politicians in wintertime. Day prices are $21.45 for adults, $10.75 for youth ages 5-12 and $19.30 for seniors. It is cheaper to buy tickets online.
Checking things off the must-see must-do list makes for hungry campers. Old Town Key West has food of all flavors. Two suggestions: Blue Heaven at 729 Thomas Street, American and Caribbean cuisine anytime, breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, late night and Better Than Sex, (I did not make that up) a chocolate-rimmed drink and in house made dessert restaurant at 926 Simonton St. Check the website for their evening hours.
Ready for round two?
The Key West Cemetery at 701 Passover Lane, Key West, opens every day at 7 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. in the summer and 6 p..m in the winter. Established in 1847 the city’s multi-cultural and colorful heritage brings Cuban cigar makers, rich people, poor people, Bahamian mariners, Spanish American War veterans all together, buried in a 19-acre park-like setting. Guided tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Reservations required Call 305-292-6718, or pick up a self-guided tour map at the front entrance.
Saying the words “inhabitants of Key West” and “being quirky” go together, whether dead or alive. This cemetery has a bit of a reputation for quirky tombstone words. Like the one that reads:
“I told you I was sick.”
Then walk a bit at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, 601 Howard England Way, Key West. Admission is $6.50 per car. Predating the Civil War, local re-enactors do historical demonstrations the third weekend of the month. Check their website for event times.
Of course, being in Key West means getting sand between your toes and Key West’s favorite beach is right here at this state park – picnic, swim, snorkel, paddle and fish.
Ah, are we having fun yet?
Yes, indeed. Pass the salt please.
©2019 Lucy Beebe Tobias. Photos of Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservancy and Blue Morpho butterfly by Lucy Beebe Tobias. Photo of Ernest Hemingway House courtesy the Ernest Hemingway Website.
UPCOMING
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winter Arts and Crafts Show at Venice Community Center, 326 S. Nokomis Avenue, Venice, Florida. Come chat with local authors including Lucy Beebe Tobias. Buy books. Take home a free finger labyrinth!