EXPLORING THE FLORIDA KEYS

Driving the entire length of the Great Florida Reef , known as the Florida Keys, 110 miles from Key Largo to Key West has been an experience. The string of 822 low-lying islands stretches from mainland Florida southwest into the Gulf of Mexico has only about 30 inhabited keys. Spotting half way down the Keys we spent the night at Pelican RV Park in the Middle Keys to break up the drive from the mainland. 

Departing mile marker 51 on Marathon Key the rig headed south for an hour on the Overseas Hwy US 1 crossing numerous keys and the long Seven Mile Bridge to the Lower Keys.  There were remnants of wealthy magnate Henry Flagler’s Folly, the railway track project, built miles from St. Augustine south through the Keys to Key West in the 1920s. It was an amazing engineering feat later destroyed by devastating hurricanes. 

The Keys has for centuries been the graveyard of sunken vessels and Spanish Empire lost treasures. Unfortunately we haven’t found any coins, but in Key West we’ve discovered that the physical tropical element brings a change in attitude at the latitude and a combination of flair and color with local inhabitants, from Caribbean, Latin, and U.S. culture that blend into a casual Margaritaville lifestyle.The community population here is a mixture of dark skinned locals known as “Conchs”, retirees, shop owners, young, neo-hippies, artists, writers, street performers, and gays. We have donned tank tops, shorts, and swimsuits in February, rode our bikes and the city buses to conquer the sites and streets of Key West with its hordes of snowbirds and cruise ship passengers. Key West is mainly a mecca of touting commercialism aimed to gouge ones pocketbook. Prices are jacked triple higher for hotels and restaurants during the peak season winter months. However, where else are Ernest Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett equally revered? 

A tour of the Hemingway House regaled us with tales of the man, his loves, passions for deep ocean fishing and writing, and travel experiences abroad in Africia, Spain, Paris, and Havana that became the basis for many of his novels

One of the 44 cat descendants with six-toes has the run of the house and grounds like others at the house today.

The $20,000 pool his second wife Pauline had installed to the house that Hemingway purchased for $8,000

Hemingway's favorite Key West haunt on Duval Stree

An olive jar from Spain and the men's urinal from Sloppy Joe's Bar Hemingway bought

 for his pool patio

 It is a sunny, fun destination with enough sights and attractions to keep you busy when you're not snorkeling, parasailing,boating, fishing or enjoying the sun. Avoiding local tour trolleys, hoofing in on foot and riding bikes has enabled us to soak up much of life around Old Town Key West relatively inexpensively.

 From Mile Marker 0 at the southern most point of the continental U.S.A. before we biked to the Fort Zachary State Park for a respite along the beach.
 

 The Harry Truman Little White House was full of rich history about his Key West summer vacation days. The president had a passion for playing poker and deep sea fishing. We learned numerous presidential families and their descendants can still come and stay here for free from the government anytime even today.

Mallory Square for Sunset Celebration in Key West is a favorite spot to catch spectacular sunsets, street performers, and music daily.

 The Conch Train also is a popular tourist attraction taking folks around on an Old Town Tour. We loved watching the pelicans competing for bait at Tarpon Feeding time off the Historic Seaport. Wharf.  It is no wonder why we really came for the best experience though.

Tarpon fish and pelicans battle for bait tossed off the wharf

Some sunset shots captured off Mallory Square on February 28th

Sunset off Key West is always a daily thrill from Mother Nature

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Launching phase three of our latest travels finds it has been a busy first week back out on the road again. What a surprise to see Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State to President Bill Clinton, on board our connecting flight from Washington, D.C. into Jacksonville, Florida. At 77 years old she is still active and going as strong as ever. My goodness wouldn’t it have been great to have had a good conversation with her. Upon arrival, after spending a few days at Cousin Joan and Gene’s, JR had the motor home systems back up running and the refrig was restocked. Giving thanks for the gracious hospitality, we bid the kinfolks farewell and headed south to the Space Coast for three days. 

At Kennedy Space Center, NASA was Celebrating 50 years of Americans in Orbit. We hopped on a VIP bus tour taking us into a restricted area of Cape Canaveral to see the Vehicle Assembly Building where shuttle orbiters, rocket boosters, and fuel tanks are brought together.


An overview of the famous KSC Launch Pads 39A and 39B along with numerous other launch pads was quiet impressive. Buckling up for a ride in the new Shuttle Experience Simulator became a must do back at the KSC. 

There is nothing quiet like the sensation of being on board in a command module during lift off into space with the loud noise of rocket fuel burning, intense vibrations, G-force pull like three gorillas sitting on one’s chest, and traveling at speeds of 17,000 mph. KSC had a variety of exhibits such as Robotic Encounters, The Astronaut Hall of Fame, and IMAX films of the Hubbell Telescope and International Space Station activities.

Seated in bleachers at the Rocket Garden Complex outdoors on a clear evening watching the Arrival of the Astronauts and Space Coast Corvette Club Procession, hearing NASA astronauts and keynote speakers John Glenn and Scott Carpenter all talk was an awesome thrill.

Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge is protected acreage of open land out on Cape Canaveral. In the Jeep we covered ten miles on the Black Point Drive there. We’ve managed to discover some great reasons for exploring Florida in just a short time already.

Gatorland

One big gator coming over the bank

Roseate Spoonbill

Egrets galore