Key West - Feb 4–9

It was a blustery day driving down to Key West but the trailer handled well since speed limits dictated we not go faster than 40 mph for most of the trip. It took about two hours to get to the KOA campground at Sugarloaf Key, the closest RV park to Key West we could find (about 20 miles from downtown Key West.) Normally, KOA campgrounds are quite nice; roomy sites, nice amenities and good location. Well, this campground had two of the three.  We spent five days packed like sardines in a small can. It took Russ and two other people close to an hour to get the trailer backed up into our site. Our bad luck was that the site was directly across from the store/registration office/wood bin/dump station and golf cart parking for the employees.  So there was very little space to turn the truck so that the trailer could turn. But, we finally got situated and I took a big sigh of relief. Then, after unhooking the trailer, Russ backed the truck up into the RV coach parked next to us. Hard to believe, given the hardest part was over. But for whatever reason, it happened.  Good news was that it was just a small dent on one of the coach’s slideouts and we have good insurance.  Kind of awkward camping next to the folks though.

We spent a total of three days touring Key West. The other two days were spent at the Dry Tortugas National Park and visiting some of the other keys.

There is a lot to do and see in Key West. It is a very funky place with a downtown that is full of cheesy t-shirt shops, raunchy bars, and stereotypical tourista spots. The surrounding area is full of restored Victorian style cottages and mansions, with lush, tropical gardens. It is actually a beautiful combination; old Victorian gingerbread with exotic palms and orchids. And the town is surrounded on 3 sides by water, so of course, there are marinas and cruise ship docks everywhere. Every day we were in Key West, there was at least one cruise ship docked for the day.

One of the tourista things we did was take the Conch Train tour. This tour was close to two hours and the train drove you all over town, pointing out important places like the Hemingway house, the Truman home (he vacationed in Key West while he was President,) and the southernmost point in the contiguous United States. It was a fun tour; the guide added humor and did a great job threading his way through the narrow, crowded streets.

There are a few art museums in the town and we visited a nice, small one that is housed in the old Custom Building. They had a special exhibit on Ernest Hemingway who spent many years living in Key West.

Another museum was Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum where many artifacts were displayed from the dives he did on the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank in 1622. He recovered over 400 million dollars of jewels, gold and silver, which Florida promptly tried to claim. After the Supreme Court ruled that maritime law trumped, Mel was able to take possession of the treasure. What I found interesting is that what Mel found represents only about half of what was supposed to be on board.

The day we drove through the lower keys, we visited the National Key Deer Refuge, but didn’t see any of the 30 inch tall deer. We also had a lovely lunch at the Sunset Grille, at the foot of the Seven Mile Bridge and took another walk out onto the old bridge.

A highlight for me was the day trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park. We took a 2.5 hour ride on a large catamaran about 70 miles west of Key West out to the park. A naturalist gave a nice talk on the way out while we had a continental breakfast. Then we spent about five hours on Garden Key (one of several keys which make up the Dry Tortugas) which is the location of Fort Jefferson, the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere. It served as a prison for Union deserters for a good portion of the latter 1800s with its most infamous prisoner being Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who treated John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg after Lincoln’s assassination and was convicted of conspiring in the murder. He was sentenced to life but his sentence was commuted after he took a lead role in treating a yellow fever outbreak in the prison. Nowadays, you can tent camp at the beach campground, tour the unfinished fort and enjoy snorkeling around the key. We had a wonderful time enjoying the history, beauty and gorgeous weather.

So now, it is time to say goodbye to the Keys. We enjoyed every minute of it. We will head back up to the Fort Lauderdale area for a few days until our camping spot in the Everglades National Park opens up. We are certainly seeing a lot of Florida’s many faces.

Russ enjoying one of the many photo ops in downtown Key West.

It was a rainy day but the view was still nice. This is part of the downtown area.

It is definitely easier to get around on bikes. These folks were pretty creative in adapting their bikes for local use.



These colorful chickens have free reign over the town. They are the descendants of cocks that were brought in by Cubans for cockfighting. Nowadays they are legally protected from harm. Some seem to know to cross streets using the crosswalks - we saw several doing that very thing and causing the cars to come to a quick stop.



 

In the Shipwreck Museum, we saw some of the items that had been recovered from the many wrecks off the reefs. For many decades, the town made its living from salvaging the wrecks. At one time, the town was one of the wealthiest in the country. They had laws about how the spoils were split amongst the townspeople, which meant that everyone got a share.

Mario Sanchez is a famous folk artist known for his woodcarvings of everyday Cuban life in the early 1900s.

We saw an interesting exhibit on Ernest Hemingway which focused a lot on his interest in fishing. I found out that he was quite involved in conservation and participated in research on the large gaming fish.

We didn't see Long Beach on the pole, perhaps we should have made a sign.

There was a boardwalk along the marina and it was interesting to look at the boats coming back from their day of sports fishing. We had a very good seafood dinner one night and I ate Hogfish for the first time.  It was quite tasty.

 

These are Tarpon.  They are attracted to the boardwalk because people feed them. Apparently they are not good eating.

 

In the 1970s, the locals got upset because the DEA had put up a checkpoint on the Overseas Highway to check for illegal drugs and immigrants coming up from the Keys. It caused a massive traffic jam and caused the towns people to "secede" from the U.S. They declared themselves a separate country and then they promptly applied for one million dollars of foreign aid. Things did eventually get worked out, but every since then some of the Keys folks like to call themselves citizens of the "Conch Republic."

These are some examples of cigar labels that were used in the early 1900s. Key West had several cigar factories. I imagine they are excited about Obama's announcement about easing relations with Cuba.



One of several sculptures throughout the downtown. This one depicts "wreckers" salvaging goods from a shipwreck.




This was a customs house in the early 1900s.  It is now a nice small museum.




The "World Famous" Conch Train Tour.  It was fun to be driven all around the town, especially since the day was absolutely beautiful.



This is supposedly the Southernmost point in the continental U.S.A.  However, off to the right (out of this picture), there was a military radar installation that was obviously further south.  So, who knows?

The Cuban population in Key West was large and powerful in the early 1900s. They didn't trust the existing banking system, so they built their own bank and the community did all their finance transactions using this bank. Today, the building is......a t-shirt store (of course.)



Many of the restored Victorian homes still had their elaborate gingerbread.  This home had belonged to a rich ship captain.



Mallory Square is the place to be to watch the sunset. There were all sorts of vendors, street performers and bands. Easy to forget to watch the sunset.

 



This is in the National Key Deer Refuge. It is a sinkhole filled with fresh water.  The organization that runs the refuge has built a short boardwalk with educational signs. Most of the rest of the refuge is not open to the public.



This gator is a regular feature at the water hole overlook.



As was this guy.  He was a pretty good size, about a large platter in diameter.




A friend recommended a stop at this place. It sits at the foot of the Seven Mile Bridge and was a great place for lunch on a sunny day.




You can't be in the Keys and not have a coconut drink, right?



This brown pelican put on quite a show while we ate our lunch. These are big birds, about two feet high.

On the way out to the Dry Tortugas, we saw several fishing boats, including this shrimping boat.  Anyone see Forest?

This is Fort Jefferson. It was never finished, despite being under construction for a couple of decades.  It is estimated that over 16 million bricks were used.

The ground floor of the fort. You could see the tracks in the floor where the cannons sat.

A large moat was built as one of the lines of defense.  The fort was never attacked.



We think the lighthouse is in use.



This is the inside of the armory.  A lot of engineering was put into the building to keep the powder dry and safe from explosion.

The Gulf water was absolutely breathtaking.  The dark shades are where sea grasses are growing.

That's our ride peeking out from behind the fort.

The total allotment of cannons was never put in place, but a few have been left behind to give you an idea of the level of power the fort could have had.

Adjacent to the Garden Key where the fort was built, there is another key (attached via a small sandbar) which is a nesting area for birds. We weren't allowed to walk over there, but you could hear the noise from quite a ways away.

The frigates were fun to watch as they just hovered over the ground.



You could actually walk on this moat wall all around the fort.  The water was so clear, you could the tropical fish swimming around.



Not everything in the fort has been restored. The iron window casements are causing damage to the walks.  They are being gradually replaced by plastic replicas.





In addition to the ferry, people can get out to the Dry Tortugas on seaplanes or private boats.