Let’s go straight to dessert. Even if you have no other reason to come to Key West, travel on down for the astounding key lime pie at Kermit’s Key West Lime Shoppe. It’s limey and silky with a great graham cracker crust. Forget that place in Greenpoint; this is the real stuff. The only thing that beats a slice of the pie is the chocolate-covered key lime pie on a stick. The semi-sweet chocolate is the perfect foil for the creamy, tart filling.

If you need something before dessert, head straight for Bo’s Fish Wagon. I’m not sure if the food or the atmosphere is superior. A wooden shack perched at the edge of a parking lot on the corner of Caroline and William, the place has an open kitchen where the women behind the counter grill great blackened mahi-mahi accompanied by hand-cut fries. While you’re waiting for your food, cast your eyes around the place: there’s a gold-painted pickup truck, manned by a bead-bedecked mannequin, buried in the floor. From the ceiling hang buoys, liquor bottles and other Key West ephemera.

For more traditional sit-down dinners, try Michael’s for excellent steaks and Pisces, for perfectly done, locally caught yellow-tail snapper and a fabulous collection of Andy Warhol silk screens. If you have a hankering for Japanese, Ambrosia has good tempura and sashimi. Stay away from the bland grilled eggplant and the very tough muscles.

After dinner, park your schlock-o-meter and cruise Duval Street, where open-air bars let you hang around outside and sample the music before plunking down dollars for a beer. It’s a lot of Beatles covers and occasionally some decent country or jazz.

What to do when you’re done eating and drinking? There’s the cemetery, reminiscent of burial grounds in New Orleans, with above-ground mausoleums and lots of local lore. Don’t miss Nancy Foster’s secret garden, a breathtaking assemblage of palms and other tropical foliage that’s threatened by development. Also, stop by the Curry House Inn, where owner Edith Amsterdam still holds court and the house, filled with antiques, sports a widow’s walk that offers a great view of the town. An interesting and somewhat hidden site is a restored World War II ship that you can tour; everything is pretty much like it was when the ship cruised the Atlantic, including the radio room and the cramped enlisted men’s quarters. And of course, Truman’s White House, decorated in simple chintzes, is remarkable for its lack of grandeur, a reminder of a far simpler time.

Ambrosia
1100 Packer St. (moving to another location soon)
Key West, FL
305 293 0304

Bo’s Fish Wagon
Corner of William and Caroline
Key West, FL

Kermit’s Key West Lime Shoppe
200 Elizabeth St.
Key West, FL (4 other locations throughout the state)
800 376 0806

Michael’s
532 Margaret St.
Key West, FL
305 295 1300

Pisces
1007 Simonton St.
Key West, FL
305 294 7100

Related posts:

1. Kermit’s Key Lime Pie On a Stick is Bliss
2. Key West Food Picks, Part 1
3. Key West Food Picks, Part 2