We
very much enjoyed our time in the Everglades and from there to
Homestead. At Homestead, we spent the night at an RV park.
Next morning, we headed out the causeway to Key West.
The
photos below are what we saw.
We
stayed at a Florida state park and again we got the last site
available. A miss is as good as a mile! The temperatures
were not as hot as the night before and the park sprayed for bugs, so
things were nice. The beach there was super, although the water
side was somewhat mucky and shallow.
The
sand was clean. The ranger told me that the entire beach was
transplanted as part of the state park build-out. He claimed that
the beach cost $1M and all the sand was trucked from the middle of the
state.
Our
camp site was right across from the beach. The mog camper looks
pretty hillbilly in the face of some of the rigs in the camp.
Our path took us over the 7 mile bridge.
There
were many small islands near the causeway. Many of the islands
had nice beaches and having a boat is the only way to access them.
The
old bridge was next to the current causeway. The bridge was
breached to prevent folks from going onto the crumbling parts of the
bridge.
When
we got to Key West, we stayed in an RV park for the first night.
After we checked in, we decided to cruise main with the mog.
There were many restaurants along Duval street. We stayed one
night in the RV park and Kathleen found a bed and breakfast that had
room, so we moved.
Duval street has everything a tourist needs including the Conch Train to carry you around town.
My
little Leica camera with a 28mm lens was not up to the task of getting
a closeup of this girl's colorful and intricate tattoo. Oh well.
It
was hot, so we decided to stop along the beach for some
refreshments. The water looked great against the brewing storm in
the distance.
On
our drive, saw plenty of beaches and beach goers.
The
beach restaurant had some nice cuisine.
The
classic view of the beach. That night, we ate at a local 4 star
restaurant, but neither Kathleen nor I thought it was super.
Good, but not super.
Next
day, we did a ride-about on the bikes. Above is a shot of one of
the ferries that service the marina.
The
marina area was nice and clean.
There
were some nice boats in the marina.
We
found a nice restaurant at the marina and had oysters and a lobster
BLT. Awesome.
The
restaurant had seating over the water, so we got to feed the
fish. The water would boil with activity when we dropped food.
Bikes
were the preferred mode of transportation on Key West.
We
saw this residential island from the boardwalk. I am sure that
the homes are very expensive.
We
stopped at several bars along the way.
One
of the historic homes on the island.
Mile
0 of US Highway 1.
The
civil war fort at the south end of the island was interesting, but in
very poor repair. However, the beach next to the fort was perfect.
Both
because of the heat and the scenery, we felt like we were in the
tropics. Almost, but not quite. We are about 1.5 degrees
north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
We
had to get a photo next to the southernmost marker.
Do I
look unhappy? I am frowning because we are baking like
biscuits. It was hot and sunny.
The
home next to the southernmost monument was big and nice, but they had
to suffer many intruders on their property, thus the high perimeter
wall.
Key West is nice
and we had fun during our visit. I don't think that living there
would be a good thing, but I would be willing to try it and then pass
judgment on the concept. Our plan is to leave the bed and
breakfast and head north back along Highway 1 toward the mainland.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2010, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.