New Years and Covid-19 in Key West

This year in 2020 we were lucky enough to be able to take our boat down to Key West and spend the week from Christmas Eve through New Years’.  It was a really enjoyable time even though they did implement a curfew and folks were supposed to be wearing masks when in public.  There were police in the streets on Duval to enforce the masks but of course while eating and drinking it is hard to be confined to a mask full-time.

Restaurants and Bars in Key West & the Surrounding Keys

The bars and restaurants in Key West and the areas surrounding there were pretty in parallel with the rest of Florida in that they did try to social distance to an extent and you were required to wear a mask until seated and also when going to the restroom.  We felt comfortable dining around town and walking on the off-Duval streets without our masks enjoying the crisp weather.  Mallory Square was a little different with an array of different people with very different ideas of how to respond to the mask-wearing and Covid in general.

I believe when folks were in or around restaurants they were taking others into account with having a mask on or around their face and handy to throw over their nose and mouth when there was a crowd.  Down at the sunset watch, I noticed both maskers and non-maskers enjoying the sites only Key West can offer.  Catamarans traveled by with passengers looking to see what this town had to offer.  The largest sailboat I have ever seen was out off of the coast of Mallory stunning all who were paying enough attention to notice it.  Stuntmen, palm hat weavers, snack providers, and drink makers all still had their shops set up and it was mostly business as usual.  We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of being outside and able to walk around on New Year’s Eve.  The crowds were less…and the sites as crazy as ever.

Food and Beverage around Key West

One of my favorite restaurants in Key West has always been Blue Heaven.  I have gone there since the early 2000s and went for another night of great food, roosters, and service.  We enjoyed a great bottle of wine and a wonderful dinner outside under the lights in the grass.  A new place that we happened into during our wait was on the corner at The Rams Head Southernmost.  We actually had our New Year’s Eve dinner here.  The food was all good and we liked our service both times we visited.  We got lucky and met a few really cool people at the bar we chatted up while enjoying some of the notorious rum punch!

All in all our visit was awesome and went exactly as planned.  I was worried when I heard there was a curfew but honestly, we were home before 10 on almost every night anyway.  LOL.  Key West or bust sea hags!  Whoot Whoot…