Key West: Day 4 - The Sunset Festival!

I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a loner. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the lust and vigor of a crowded night on Duval Street. There’s something about the early morning quiet of places normally so loud. Duval Street before 9 a.m. played well into my need to go exploring before the heat and sun tainted the day.

Not being a drinker I find Sloppy Joe’s joyously vacant and slid in to channel old Ernest’s soul. This was Hemingway’s favorite watering holes and I absorbed the place with a Virgin Mary for company. But I never linger long. More t-shirts and a couple of coasters later I’m off again.

I meandered down to Mallory Square, the stage for every evening’s Sunset Festival. Blank as a white canvas, the bricked plaza was toggled with Victorian era light posts. A slew of shops beckoned from the peripheries of the Square, some being open for early business. Granted they were tourist traps but their trinkets were fairly priced and the quality good. More souvenir shopping completed. Key Lime Soap and Mile 0 shot glasses for all!

Leaving Mallory Square I ended up at the Little White House, Harry S. Truman’s summer home. The house is now a museum and boasts a proud history of former presidential guests. A host of other dignitaries varying from other former presidents and staff also stayed here (Colin Powell utilized the house during the first gulf war) but I didn’t opt for the tour. The walk up and down Duval to Mallory Square even in the quiet a.m. drained me and another shower was needed. Humidity is a killer and the sun only enables it.

The sun. Bold, bright, and brutal. No wonder Key West celebrates its descent with the daily Sunset Festival.

The action takes place in Mallory Square, the back drop is the harbor and that insistent sun making its slow dawdle back to the sea.

Street vendors set up shop wheedling wares of all kind. That’s not to say all are merry. A few assumed if we were perusing their product we were going to buy something. Their sunny dispositions disappeared when we didn’t. It kind of put me off; a lot of window shopping was being done. But these folks were few and far between.

Then the bazaar segues into a circus atmosphere. Suddenly there are tight rope walkers, fire-wielding jugglers and drum beaters. Men hoist themselves on tenuous ladders, hooting and hollering for attention and dimes. With 50 or more spectators who can kick in a buck or two, a 20 minute performance can be quite profitable. They make a bit of a living and my stay becomes more memorable... click here for more pics from Day 4...
Us girls sipped some daiquiris on the deck of a floating bar and wished the sun a good night…our time was coming to a close but there was still much more to do here in Key West!