Mallory Pier in Key West, Florida, is free of crowds in the morning hours.
Mallory Pier in Key West, Florida, is free of crowds in the morning hours.
The former naval depot is now home to shops in Key West, Florida.
A family of chickens nestles at the base of a tree near Mallory Square in Key West, Florida.
Following a brief rain, a rainbow graces the sky off the coast of Key West, Florida.
A kapok tree graces the streets of Key West, Florida.
A gentle mist fell upon me as I exited the former naval depot building onto the sidewalk underneath the sunny Key West sky. Thinking I’d had the misfortune of getting caught in the line of a sprinkling system, I forged ahead, attempting to maneuver out of its range. Only, the further away from the building I stepped, the harder the water seemed to fall.
I wasn’t under a sprinkler, I realized. It was raining. Spying a dry patch on the sidewalk underneath a tree, I moved to get under its protection.
In stopping to evaluate my situation, I looked up to see a cleaning crew busy folding towels in the laundry room of the hotel opposite me. Amused by my predicament, one of the workers offered me a large umbrella. I smiled back and accepted it.
Flicking it open, I remained under the tree until my husband ultimately joined me and the rain subsided. Together, we continued our morning walk.
In the evenings, Key West is everything one might imagine it to be: lively, energetic and colorful. But in the mornings, our favorite time of day, the pace is markedly slower.
The pier was quiet as we walked, quite a departure from the evening before when revelers crowded around street performers and huddled together to celebrate the sunset. We were two of only a few people out to see the few boats traverse the waves and to see a rainbow stretch across the water. At the waterfront hotel restaurants, a few groups dined on breakfast.
When we worked our way back to Duval Street, which bustled with revelers the previous day and especially the previous evening, we spied a street sweeper dusting up the debris left from the evening before.
Delivery drivers took advantage of the yet uncrowded streets and deposited their products outside the closed establishments. Stacks of beer kegs and boxes of produce lined the sidewalks near restaurant doors.
As the morning hours turned into day, activities shifted.
Those wishing to participate in water activities took advantage of the opportunity to boat, to fish or to snorkel. From the marinas, boats departed throughout the day, carrying them out to sea.
History and literary buffs found entertainment in visiting places like President Harry Truman’s Little White House, Ernest Hemingway’s Home, a museum devoted to Tennessee Williams and a gallery and independent book store opened by author Judy Blume and her husband, who both were tending to customers the day we visited.
As the day progressed and eased into the evening hours, the pace transitioned with it. The sun showers and spontaneous generosity may have continued. Not so much the quiet, uncrowded piers and streets.
The lively, energetic and colorful Key West effortlessly returned.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is an English, communications and journalism teacher at Mason County High School and co-founder of the travel blog, Tales from the Trip, which is also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
