Provisions were obtained at the local Walmart and Bailey is ready to hit the road for Key West. About a three hour drive and we are ready for four days of the best weather we have had on the trip so far, temp in the low to mid 70's and sunny.
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| Bailey is pumped! |
Arrived at Boyd's Campground, very nice with a little ocean view at site 92. Lots of friendly folks and dogs for Bailey.
F15 planes with afterburners blazing woke us up this morning! They sounded so close and SO loud. Pete thinks they came four at a time with one group after another for about 20 minutes. Quite the wake-up alarm!
We managed to get our retired selves ready for action around noon and off to Key West. We parked the RV at Mallory Square right in the center of the action and only $4/hr to park. The first thing we did was take the Old Town Trolley tour for $26 each for 2 days. Thirteen stops to get on and off but we stayed on the 90 minutes to get the lay of land. Very interesting history to the area. So many cargo sailing ships wrecked on the reefs that "salvage"companies prospered and become very rich so lots of big houses built. This lucrative business ended when someone decided it might be a good idea to put in channel markers and light houses. All good things must end so the richest city (per capita) in the US became the poorest.
One of our presidents helped Key West recover by deciding it would be a great tourist area so some dollars were spent and tourism saved the day. Duval Street was alive with tourists from the Carnival Cruise ship docked nearby but not over-crowded. We walked along taking it all in. The TV show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" featured a place here so we had Mahi mahi tacos that were great. Our friends Rosemarie and Mark gave us the idea to do this and it turned out to be a real winner. We may go back tomorrow for the lobster rolls! The cigar seems to be alive and well here with lots of stores everywhere! There is the Churchill Cigar, Al Capone cigar etc., at least 2-3 cigar shops per block.
Naps are one of the great pleasures of the RV and we indulge ourselves regularly. We awake ready to enjoy the TERRIFIC street performers at Mallory Square where crowds are gathered to watch the famous Key West sunsets. One act involved a trained pot belly pig. Unicycles, juggling fire torches and music were all there but the humor these guys came up with was great! Another man's show was cutting up coconuts with a machete VERY rapidly then giving them to people to drink--another few hacks after that and fresh coconut to eat. Pete and I got the whole coconut chopped up to take home.
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| Street performing pig |
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| Machete faster than the eye can see |
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| In awe |
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| mmm mmm good |
Key West is famous for sunsets and we were not disappointed! The sailing ships (probably tourist sunset cruises) and birds flying around added to the picture perfect scene. Fresh guacamole and chips sealed the deal. What a great way to end a delightful day!
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| From Key West Pier |
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| Sunset in Key West |
Day Two-- Bocce Ball, Pickle Ball and Key Lime Pie!
We drove the RV to Higgs Beach to park for free but didn't get far before the local "beach guard" told us that Donna the new police commissioner just declared that conversion vans were no longer permitted to park near the beach. Apparently we are a "rowdy bunch"! We were able to park close by at the Bocce Ball courts. It is a hot sport down here with seven hard dirt courts that were groomed between leagues. Serious stuff! Pete and I watched for awhile and learned the basics. Steve gave us a set of Bocce Balls for Christmas several years ago so now we'll know how to play.
Notice the beautiful beach! It is all TRUCKED in sand from the Bahamas and Florida panhandle.
There is no natural sand here because of the coral reef along the island prevents heavy wave action which creates the sand beach. This is the second or third largest coral reef in the world.
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| Man made beach on Key West |
There was even more to learn as we walked along. We saw our first Pickle Ball courts. We've been hearing about this game--played indoors or outdoors on tennis court with a whiffle like ball and rackets a little larger than ping-pong. Nice people who were eager to have us join in! But alas, we had other pressing destinations!
We walked about a mile to the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. It is rated #1 on Trip Advisor--lots of butterflies flying around you with good displays--but not worth $9 each. The southernmost point of the USA is a short walk and people were lined up to have their picture taken by the sign.
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| Sub tropical climate with no frost ever! |
Back onto the Old Town Trolley to Duval St where it's all happening...although not much wildness because most of the tourists were our age! Nice lunch at Black Fin and later a great piece of their famous Key Lime Pie. There are so many neat places to eat outside with live music that it was hard to choose.
The Trolley took us around to where we started and we were relieved to see our van was still there with no ticket! Our last visit was to West Martello Fort which was a Civil War Fort for the Union and was only used as target practice. It was a bombed out mess until the Key West Garden Club took it over and landscaped the whole 1 1/2 acres. It is full of beautiful tropical plants and large Banyan trees. Free admission!
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| Banyan tree in the fort |
There are lots of chickens running around everywhere in Key West. They were brought here by the Cubans for cock fighting. This was out-lawed and all the roosters and chickens were just let loose. By this time, all birds are "protected species" so the chickens are in sanctuary land. There is a fine if you harass them. They are brazen birds strutting their stuff right in front of the Fried Chicken Place! Living on the edge I'd say!
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| In the town square at the pier |
Day Three: Our Bucket List
Our GPS took us to the Fire House Museum where we spent about 90 minutes with retired Fire Chief Eddie Castro. Eddie was FULL of great stories. Key West back in the day was wilder than the Wild West with drunken firemen shooting up the bars on their day off and no one got fired because that was the norm! In the eighteen hundreds the fire departments were all volunteers and only the first firehouse to the fire got paid, if they stayed to the end and finished the job. Other companies would sabotage each other's equipment so they'd be the ones able to finish and get paid. The dalmatians were originally guard dogs and taught to attack any one around the equipment other than their own firemen who might be up to no-good! We both enjoyed our time at the old firehouse with Chief Eddie. Thank you Trip Advisor!
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| Hose trough for wishing hose after the fire |
On to Mallory Square to park and walk along Duval St. Pete completed his Key West bucket list getting a Margarita at Hard Rock Cafe as we watched the tourists from two cruise ships. I completed mine when we used our 2 for 1 coupon at Haagen Dazs ice cream! Life is so sweet!
The street performers were in high gear at the square as the two cruise ships departed. We continued to walk along the ocean and discovered a beautiful boardwalk with nice shops and gorgeous sail boats. There is more to see here in Key West and we may just come back here next year.
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| Local Key West street performer |
Bahia Honda State Park and the Sand Castle lesson!
Pete knew about this beautiful State park down here on the keys but it is VERY popular and difficult to get a spot. He stayed on the computer and two nights opened up just the days we needed on our way up to Pompano Beach. What a great place! Our spot is right on the ocean in a little cove. It rained all day the first day but we are just happy to be in this parkda State Park. Today it was 65 degrees with 25 mph winds but the Sand Castle lesson proceeded on our beach.
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| Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys |
Rick and his wife Capri have a full-time business with beach sand art. He was an architect in Colorado hit hard by the recession 2008. They sold their house, bought an RV and went to Texas where he took a sand sculpture lesson. He does everything from sand castle competitions to marriage proposal sculptures. They taught 800 classes last year. Who knew! Four years later they employ 20 people!
The beach here has great sand and about 20 of us showed up for the lesson. Amazing! Anna, Molly, Carrie and I build sand castles at the pool and we are not using near enough water! We will be building great structures this summer!
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| Early stage of the sculpture |
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| Adding spiral stairs |
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| Adding brick, stone, and an arch |
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Tonight was a ranger talk on star gazing and the night sky. This was well done. Tomorrow we are off to Pompano Beach.
