We had originally planned to visit the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, but with the weather hovering in the 40s, another trip to the beach didn’t make sense. We then thought that maybe we could just bike around the island, as the southeastern side of the island has a great bike trail on it. But a wind blowing in from the north at about 20 mph, combined with the chilly temperature, convinced us that we would probably just freeze to death. Knowing that we had tons to do back home to get ready for school, we opted, instead, to just drive around that portion of the island then head home.
However, we did have an issue with our hotel: we had booked another night. We weren’t sure if they would let us out of our last night, but we were holding an ace in our hand – dissatisfaction with our room. Our room was, of course, non-smoking. It wasn’t the greatest room ever, but it was tolerable the first two nights despite the musty smell. However, on the night of the 9th, cigarette smoke started making its way into our room. If it was just a hint of it, we probably would not have said anything. But it was really, really terrible. It was thick enough to make us cough. It seemed to be coming through the ceiling in the bathroom. We tried closing the door, but that just concentrated it in there and slowed its spread through the rest of the room. It got bad enough that Debi went to the front desk to complain. They sent a maid and a maintenance worker, who both admitted that the smell was really bad. They also claimed that all the rooms around us were non-smoking, so they didn’t know why it was getting into our room. But all they did was spray some scent around the room and leave. So, Debi improvised – she cracked open our door, despite the cold, and turned our heater all the way up. We weren’t very green, but at least Toren wouldn’t be breathing second hand smoke all night. It really was quite miserable.
I sent Debi to the front desk in the morning to let them know that we wanted to check out. They didn’t seem to have a problem with us checking out a day early, but when they asked why we wanted to, Debi told them it was a combination of the cigarette smoke and the cold. They were actually nice enough to knock $50 off our hotel bill for the previous night. Problem solved.
We spent the day driving home, arriving back in Tampa around 6:30. And so ends our Key West trip.
Summary: Bahia Honda – awesome. Hemingway Home and Museum – not awesome. Butterfly Conservatory – awesome. Days Inn – smoky but nice about it on our bill. Key West and the keys – way over-priced, but fun to see.
