On Thursday, Dave and I drove down to Key West for a 3 day mini vacation. It's a rather long 7 hour drive from Orlando, and when you finally enter into "THE KEYS" you cross over 42 different bridges, one which is called 7 Mile Bridge, (and it is 7 miles long). Finally, after crossing all these different little keys you enter Key West!! It's like picking up a small New England town and putting down on the southern tip of Florida. The houses are very small and narrow, and the streets are very narrow. No one drives, everyone walks, rides bikes, or rents scooters. We stayed at the very nice little historic B&B called "The Conch House." The weekend we were there was very crowded - which we very quickly found out was due to all the Parrot Heads "Meeting of the Minds" convention. Yup, you guessed it, the Jimmy Buffet groupies had all come to Key West Florida for one long weekend party! And since Duvall Street, (the main street in town), doesn't close down until 5:00 am, it was party central for all ages.
On Friday morning, Dave and I went over to the Hemingway house. The first stop on our tour around the city. I wanted to make sure I got to see the Hemingway cats - those famous six toes cats that I had heard and read about for years. Currently there are 44 cats on the property, all direct descendants of the original cat, and the 2nd most expensive cost for the property. Dave found Archibald Fleabag doing his job, sleeping on Ernest's bed. Our tour guide said that he originally applied for Archie's job, but Archie has a life time contract and isn't about to give it up too soon. While E.H. was a great writer, I learned that he was, shall we say, quite the ladies man and not to serious about his wedding vows. He had many affairs during his marriages, which is why he was married so many times, and he loved to visit the local bars. Which is where he got the inspiration for many of his books - he would sit drinking with the local people listening to their stories about their lives, then go home and write his books.
Next we climbed the 88 stairs to the top of the lighthouse for a 360 degree view of Key West, very impressive. Then a trolley ride over to the southernmost point of Key West, just 90 miles from Cuba. Also, the end of Route 1, or the beginning - depending or whether your coming or going. We toured the Southernmost Hotel grounds and grabbed some lunch at a little place on the beach. The weather was so warm and beautiful, just a little overcast and breezy. Then back on the trolley for more sites downtown. We visited a maritime museum, where we got to hold a bar of silver, (boy is it heavy - could hardly lift it).
A quick trip around town on the trolley. We learned that these small little 800 sq. ft. homes would cost you $500,000 and up, (if you could find one for sale). Our guide said that usually 3-4 people will live together to split the rent, (of about $1,500/mth for a 2 bedroom), since one person usually can't afford to pay this amount. Now if you are one of the fortunate ones, you would own a home with some space and pay about $3.5 Million, (hmmm - Dave how much is in our savings?).
Time to hurry down to the Pier for the sunset. Every evening all the townsfolk and visitors alike gather at Mallory Pier to watch the sunset. It is a sight to behold, as the last rays of the sun set over the horizon. I have seen news clips and read articles about Mallory Pier sunsets, and now I would see the sight firsthand. After the sunsets, the pier comes to life with all kinds of street performers and vendors selling their handcraft items. The wares are very beautiful some are very expensive, while some are very reasonable.
Saturday morning the sky was overcast and the winds had started picking up. But the weather was still warm and beautiful. I could get used to living here, wonder if that Wells Fargo property manager position in Florida is still open? Dave and I headed over to another museum to tour the old Spanish ship salvage wares, this time we got to lift a bar of gold, (hmm how can I get that bar of gold out of this case - oh well). Then over to the Harry Truman "Little White House." Now that was an interesting tour! Dave even got me to take his photo in Mrs. Truman's bedroom, even though they said NO PHOTOS ALLOWED, and I got scolded by the tourguide. That's probably the only time he'll ever get into a first ladies' bedroom. A quick lunch, some souvenir shopping then back to our room so I can catch the Ohio State game, and we have to start packing for our long drive back to Orlando. We have to leave early to catch our flight home.
On Sunday the winds were very strong as we were leaving the Keys, and as we arrived in Orlando we discovered that a small hurricane has begun approaching the southern part of Florida and the weather stations are starting to track the path to see the direction it will take. WOW - out of there in time. But, it turned out to be only a category 1 and it was just a lot of rain and wind in southern Florida. It was a good trip, with lots of memories.
