Beating Winter’s Cold in Haunted Key West

I don’t know about where you live, but it’s cold here in Nashville today. Not as cold as a lot of other parts of the country, but darn cold compared to what it should be. Our highs the last couple of days (upper 20s, low 30s) have been what our average lows are for this time of year.  Brrrrrr!

Don’t get me wrong. I relished watching the snow flurries earlier this morning as I sipped my tea. It’s always exciting to wake up to snow, and these were big fat flakes slowly stirring in the winter breeze. Gorgeous winter scenery!

However, I also sat there shivering. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering back to our November Haunt Jaunt to the tropical climes of Key West.

I never did get around to sharing that adventure (mainly because I had to monkey around with getting the film from the waterproof camera developed). I figured today might be a great day to finally do it.

Also, I figured others might appreciate an excursion (virtual though it may be) somewhere warmer to escape winter’s icy grip, too –even if it’s just momentarily.

LITTLE ISLAND, BIG GHOST LORE

As I mentioned in Point 5 of “Lessons Learned from the Key West and Nassau Haunt Jaunt”, there are a lot of haunted places in Key West. And, as I knew thanks to my research prepping for our Haunt Jaunt to the Keys and the Bahamas, there are at least three different ghost tour companies on the island.

The first company I came across when we got there was the Key West Ghost & Mysteries Tour.

I took a pic of the above sign when I saw the kiosk for their tours. Right after I snapped it, a man came to man said kiosk.

I told him who I was and what I do, and then I said, “I”d love to take your tour, but our ship leaves at three. However, is there any info you could pass along that might really interest my readers? For instance, what’s the best ghost story on your tour?”

His eyes lit up and he said, “I don’t know if it’s the best, but it’s my favorite: Robert the Doll.”

That’s all I’m saying about that for now. Robert deserves his own post. (Which is coming later today.)

THE HAUNTED GIFT SHOPPE

I’m really not much of a shopper, but Duval Street (one of Key West’s main tourist drags) was lined with store after store after store. We walked past all of them.

The only one I wanted to browse in was one that caught my eye off the corner of Duval and Fleming Streets: the Haunted Gift Shoppe. (Which is actually at 423 Fleming Street to be exact.)

It’s run by another ghost tour, The Original Key West Ghost Tour. Man, did it look cool! The inside was decorated all haunted castle-ish. But darn my bad luck that they were closed! I took a photo of their sign outside their shoppe as my only memento.

KEY WEST CEMETERY

Wayne: “Great. Just great. I can see it now. ‘What’d you guys do in Key West? Snorkeling? Sailing? Fishing?’ ‘Um, no. My wife wanted to go check out the cemetery.’ The things I do for love…”

This coming from a man grumbling because the cemetery looked closer on the map than it turned out to be. And he was already sore after running his usual daily six-mile run, on top of already having walked a good three miles so we could see the Southernmost Point.

However, the cemetery was kind of neat. Very reminiscent of the above-ground plots found in New Orleans cemeteries.

Again, I was sort of hindered by the film version waterproof camera, but I did manage to get a few interesting shots.

Oh, and something to know if you go: grab one of their complimentary Self-Guided Tour Maps upon entering. I didn’t use it right. (We grabbed one as we were leaving because I didn’t notice it when we entered). I could’ve gotten much better shots of some interesting graves. Oh well, lesson learned…

OTHER KEY WEST HAUNTS

If we had been able to take a ghost tour, two other haunted locations they might have included would be St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and the Audubon House.

As it was, I was only able to snap a quick photo of the church as we hustled past it on our way to catch the trolley to take us back to the ship. Then, while on said trolley, we rolled past the Audubon House. I rammed my hand out of the window and clicked. The resulting photo isn’t great, but it’s not bad for a drive-by!

THE MONSTER IN MALLORY SQUARE

Oh, and we also saw a monster! A sponge beast from Key West’s coral-reefed depths. It was a close call, but I’m happy to report I got away a-okay!