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Avoiding Spring Break in Key West
April 28th, 2009 | Stephen Bailey
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Mallory Square is where the famed sunset celebrations happen each night. In and of itself, this is not a bad place. It has a lot of the elements that I find fascinating. Wild street performers, music, food. Unfortunately, it has become so popular that any real attempts to enjoy those things becomes a major hassle. Thousands (and I do mean thousands) of people cram themselves into this small area.
Hidden amid the throngs of gawking eyes can be found a respite in the most unlikely of places. Tucked inside one of the most upscale hotels just off this mayhem is The Chart Room. To find it, walk into The Pier House, walk past reception, around the elevator and out the back doors. Then turn to your right and there is this tiny haven of conversation, laughter, peanut shells on the floor and free hot dogs.
I can't imagine this place fitting more than twenty or so people, and that's just fine. I was told that a lot of the tourists that find this place are usually scared away by its apparent exclusivity.
One thing I started to notice was this ironic tendency for locals to hang out at hotel bars. The Chart Room at The Pier House was one of those, as was the tiki bar at The Inn at Key West. And, for whatever reason, tourists seem to avoid the hotel bars.
Therefore, if you don't know where to go when you're in a new place, start out at your hotel bar. More than likely, the person behind the bar is a local and can steer you in the right direction for other places to go. If that fails then ask a cabby or someone on a bus or in a restaurant. It worked for me.
I know that I only scratched the surface and the more I talked to the locals, the more I wished I could stay longer to make more discoveries. This short trip opened my eyes to the real Key West and saved me from unfairly judging the whole place based on a couple of city blocks on Duval Street.
PS – If you wonder why I didn't like the Duval St. scene. The drunk frat boys pissing between the cars on my PATH ride home from the airport should be a hint.
Related Topics: florida, key west, travel, vacation
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Stephen Bailey | Comments Off
Avoiding Spring Break in Key West
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
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