Key West Archives - I am a Honey Bee

Key West Butterfly Conservatory_01

A few weeks back I when I posted my recap/review of Hawks Cay Resort in The Florida Keys I mentioned that I had written some posts about our babymoon but forgot I had done that after Autumn was born. So here is my recap of our afternoon visit to The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory.

We were spending a lovely day wandering around Key West when I started to notice people with these paper butterflies stuck to their shirts. I soon discovered it identified their admission into the Butterfly & Nature Conservatory, located at the Southern end of Duval Street. Since my pregnant feet were getting a wee bit tired of walking around we decided to check it out hoping there would be a place to sit down and it had to be cooler than it was outside… right?

Thankfully it was much cooler than it was outside (88!). We walked into the lobby/gift shop/gallery and I almost did a dance of joy for the refreshing AC. Almost danced… I was hot and pregnant… I have my limits.

After browsing the gift shop, learning center, and gallery (soaking up the AC), we grabbed our tickets ($12 each) to go into the Butterfly Conservatory.

To enter and exit the conservatory, you walk through vestibules ensuring that none of the 50 to 60 different species from around the world are able to escape. As well as the multiple varieties of colorful birds.

The conservatory is kept at 85 degrees, with 80% humidity, to create a comfortable climate for the plants, butterflies, and birds. While that is quite balmy, the sun is not beating down on you as there is a screen at the top of the glass-enclosed habitat, so it felt much nicer than being outside walking around.

You have check the path in front of you for resting or basking butterflies and these little birds! Some of these babes had recently hatched.

One of the 2 flamingos hanging out in the middle of the conservatory.

As butterflies get frightened by loud noises, you must talk in hushed tones. As well as keep you phone ringer off. It makes for a really nice calm experience as it’s a swift departure from the hustle and bustle of Duval Street.

It was quite fun and interesting to see some butterflies hatching from their chrysalis.

Oh hello.

So this butterfly landed on me and I got SUPER EXCITED which made the staff member crack up since my eyes basically doubled in size and bugged out of my head like Christmas morning when I got the portable stero- with built in CD player! – that I wanted when I was like 7. I practially stopped breating so I wouldn’t scare the butterfly off.

In the end it made itself quite cozy on me and hung around for awhile allowing me to breathe once again and gave Price the chance to get some awesome pictures.

I highly suggest checking out the conservatory. It’s fun for kids of all ages as you get to stroll along the pathways enjouing the beautiful vegetation as you watch the butterflies fly around you.