The colder weather brings manatees into the canals of Key West.  They come in packs, but sometimes send a scout up the canal first to see if it’s worth it for everyone to come down.  Almost all of them will have prop scars, which means a boat has hit them at some point.  Some of the bigger manatees have barnacles on them.  Their breath is horrendous, and their skin is like thick leather.

;When the manatees come up the canal, one thing they like is fresh water.  But you’re not supposed to let them drink from your hose because it will encourage them to think of boats and humans as friendly.  We want them to be afraid of boats so they keep clear and don’t get hit.  But while we were flushing our engine after a day of Key West spearfishing, a manatee popped up from the canal, rolled onto his back, and started drinking. He used his flipper to steady himself on the prop for resulting maximum cuteness displayed in the picture above. They sure are cute, but don’t feed the manatees either. For same reasons outlined above, don’t feed them. It’s for their own good.

New Dive Shop in Key West! They have Rabitechs in stock, only place in town that does. They have have shafts and are getting more. They will sell guns on consignment and judging by the pages and pages of people on spearboard trying to sell spearguns these days, that’s a welcome service for locals. Awesomely cool open cell wetsuits in the window, and Salt Life apparel on the shelves. Salt Life stuff has pictures of fish on it. They have spearfishing DVDs playing in there, which get you excited to get out there. Friendly staff, willing to order anything you want. They have spearo club going, and it’s all geared toward locals, even though they’re located on Duval Street.

Go almost all they way to the southern end of Duval (that’s the quiet end for you visitors), two doors down from La Te Da. Since we haven’t been able to get out on the water spearing for at least a week, this is the next best thing.

Once a year we head to the Key West Winery and get all our Christmas shopping done.  This is going to sound like paid advertisement, but I assure you it’s not.  We choose fruity wines and have them sent right from the store to people back home in NY state.  It’s easy and people LOVE receiving this wine! 

My family loved the Orange Sunset wine, semi sweet version.  This year we also sent bottles of the Hot Sun wine, which has tomato and peppers in it.  And of course how can you resist sending someone a bottle of Key Lime wine?  We try and choose bottles that have pictures of the Florida Keys on them, too.  

I sampled the Cocoa Beach, which has one of the best flavor combinations ever invented: orange and chocoloate.  But it was too sweet, like drinking syrup so I didn’t buy it.  Instead I bought Coco Polada, which has Pina Colada flavors in it.  There’s also a watermelon wine, which I also couldn’t resist.  I tended to choose the sweeter-sounding wines because they seemed tropical and festive, perfect gifts.  They also have dry wines and champagne, too.  

The Key West Winery storefront is at 103 Simonton St, almost completely at the end of the street by the waterfront.  There’s parking in back, just for Key West Winery customers.  That’s totally unusual!  The actual store is delightful, with a skylight over the wine showroom, so light bounces all around.  They’ve decorated with stained glass too, so just standing in the showroom is a treat.  They will give you samples of any wine you want, and usually there are samples of their dips with chips as well.  The other end of the store has their other items, like local books, salsas, candies, and endless jars of gourmet foods.  Locals get a 10% discount all year long.  Have Fun!

For more on Key West shopping, click to our shopping page.

 

Smathers Beach in Key West has kiteboarding, which is totally fun to watch. There are rock jetties to step out onto, for great views back to the beach. This is a typical scene at one of our Key West beaches.