We both slept amazingly well in the Fairfield king-sized bed in the cool, air-conditioned room.  Our room at the Havana Melia Cohiba was spacious but consistently damp and the air-conditioner struggled to provide even a tiny bit of cool air.

We met Rob and DeeAnn at 8AM for breakfast, schmoozed a while and then had to say adios.  They are flying home to Tucson later today and are renting a car and heading south to Key West.

Checked out of the Fairfield at 9:30AM and took the hotel shuttle to the airport where we discovered we had to take another shuttle to the Fox Rental Car office.  Our personable driver regaled us with his successful attempts to overcome his stuttering problem.  His enunciation and articulation were impeccable – he could have easily been a radio or TV announcer.

We picked up our Jeep Cherokee and headed south, passing through the myriad lush Florida Keys until we finally hit Key West and located our delightful B&B, the Avalon.  Our concierge, Lynn, welcomed us, checked us in and gave us a quick orientation.  The Avalon has a quite interesting history dating back to the 1800s. Our king-sized bed is by far the most comfortable bed we have yet slept in during this trip.

We settled in to our clean, cool, spacious room and then decided to check out the environs.  It is incredibly hot and humid in the Keys, so we took along our umbrellas to shade ourselves from the relentless sun.

We first walked two blocks to the southernmost point in the United States.  Cuba is a mere 90 miles away.  In fact, we are closer to Havana than we are to Miami. 

We then walked to Duvall Street and strolled west, window-shopping among the many art galleries and souvenir shops until we decided to stop at Mangoes for a lunch of conch chowder, mahi-mahi and onion sandwich, fries and mojitos – all delicious.

After lunch we continued west along Duvall Street past countless t-shirt and schlock shops until we arrived at Mallory Square, which we felt was quite a disappointment.  It seems that Key West has deteriorated into a morass of low-rent souvenir shops, one after another, each selling the same schlock made in China.  When we came across a drunk puking in the bushes, it was time to retreat to the Avalon B&B to regroup.  It was extremely hot by now so we hired a pedicab pedaled by a personable young Serbian named Nemo, who slowly wandered east down Duvall Street to the Avalon.  Nemo was a wonderful character and the cool, shady ride was worth the $21. 

After showering and resting for an hour we walked east a few blocks and found “the southernmost café in the US” for a dinner of coconut shrimp, compressed watermelon, wine and martinis.  The food, drinks and the waitress from Philadelphia made for a very enjoyable experience.

At 9PM we walk west, past our B&B, and crossed Duvall Street to the Cork and Stogie where we spent an enjoyable two hours schmoozing with the owner, Leslie, and her close friend Rita, both from Ohio.  They filled us in on the realities of Key West as we enjoyed cigars and wine.

All too soon it was time to head back to the Avalon, so we bid farewell to our new friends and fell sound asleep in our large, soft, comfortable bed.