Our First Week in Key West

….has been Great! We have already been out kayaking four times. We saw our first Manatee close to the base shore and two sharks. We were able to follow the Manatee around for a while since he or she did not seem to care. Dan saw the first (small) shark while kayaking around Geiger Key’s mangroves. We got a picture of one 4 foot shark swimming around in the marina with some very large Tarpons.

We have been downtown just as often, and stopped to see the Southern-Most Point in America. The marker was very busy so we will have to go back for pictures. Of course, we had to visit MargaretiVille. It wasn’t crowded so we were able to spend some time at the bar, sipping our drinks, and checking out Jimmy Buffett’s place. . OH!.. and we have watched many beautiful sunsets. Yep! We got pictures. We will keep a separate album for the Sunsets so our Key West picture folder doesn’t get too large. We haven’t done the sunset ritual at Mallory Square, but we plan to do so and take lots of pictures.

The weather has been a little humid, but not too bad. How would we describe Key West? Three words come to mind: exotic, eclectic, and colorful. Exotic: a rich historic background with stories of shipwreck salvagers and an independent Conch Republic. Add in palm trees, warm crystal-clear and very calm waters, Iguanas and feral chickens blended with the eclectic culture in this balmy weather and the results are a very artistic Fun-n-Sun-Loving community with lots of flavorful food in a very beautiful old town. We couldn’t ask for a more colorful setting than Key West.

In one short week we have learned a lot about Key West history and its occupants. Such as this island’s first name was Bone Island after the Spanish found large amounts of human bones just lying around.

We were a little surprised to find the Key populated by Green Iguanas. Our first encounter with one was as we were driving our motorhome onto base. That’s when Sandy spied a very large lizard sitting on top of a bush near base housing. Turns out Iguanas are not indigenous to the Keys. From what we have been able to learn: some came by ships with fruit cargos and others were escaped or set free pets. Apparently, the weather, the vegetation, and the location have been perfect for the Green Iguana. We are going to have a separate album for the Iguanas and other Key West critters.

Then there are the feral “Gypsy” chickens running wild around Key West. They say the chickens have been here for over 175 years, but they grew in number when fleeing Cubans came here in the 1950s. We find the free-roaming chickens add charm to this area and are interesting to watch, but the locals are divided on keeping the chickens.

The food has been very good so far. Our first stop was a small place in a strip plaza. We just happened across Kennedy Café just outside the Sigsbee gate. We thought they were serving only Turkish food, but they also have Cuban-American and Italian. This time we decided to stick with our favorites: a Greek salad for Sandy and a Shawarma for Dan. Very good food and we do plan to go back.

We also had lunches at the Geiger Key Campground Smokehouse and Turtle Kraals. Both have good food, great views, a wonderful and very relaxed atmospheres.

So, do we like Key West? Most definitely!

Kayaking in Tampa, FL

After leaving Tyndall AFB, we stopped at Old Town, FL on the Suwannee River. We only stayed a few days at Suwannee River Hideaway campground. The owners are very friendly and very helpful. They had just reopened for the winter season so we were their first and only customers. Yep, we had the whoooole campground to ourselves. There’s a boardwalk built over a swamp that leads people to the Suwannee River. We took our time walking through the swamp since we have never been inside or near a swamp before coming here. From the road – yes, but never like this. We did not see any alligators, but we did hear some loud crashing deeper in the swamp. We think it was a deer or the Swamp Thing. You never know.

Since the campground was empty of people, we took three cats out at the same time. Squirrel and Dusty ran around on their own with their leashes dragging behind them. We knew they would not go far. We held on to our escape artist – Hitch. Max refused to go outside. We think it was the wide open spaces that made him nervous. Well, at least three of them had a few hours of fun and exploring.

We went to Manatee Springs State Park. The water is absolutely beautiful and so clear. We could see divers swimming around at the bottom. We did not see any Manatees, but we did see two different snakes lying in the bushes nearby thanks to an eagle-eye young man pointing them out to people. We had walked right by both and did not see either one.  We did not do any kayaking during our short visit to the Old Town area.

Moving on to MacDill AFB in Tampa:   We really like this campground, and the base is one of the best we have ever seen.  Here, they still play Reverie at 6:21 am, a noon siren, the National Anthem at 4:30 pm as the Base Flag is being lowered, and Taps at 10 pm every day on the "Giant Voice System". That is going to take some getting used to since we retirees like to sleep until 7 am.  Not to mention, we just went through a Time Zone change. Still, we are talking about coming back. We like this campground and the area.

The beach, the marina, and the beach club house are in the campground area. There is a residential Osprey living in the campground. The Osprey likes to perch on a lamp post near the beach boardwalk and watches the people as they walk to the beach. We also discovered Armadillos are not very scared of people. Well, at least the ones living here are not scared of us. The one in the photo in the webshots link below kept posing, but just as we would take his picture he would move. And Boy! Could he move and jump. We always though they were sloooow moving. Not true.

We went to Sarasota for a Kayak Demo Day sponsored by Dolphin Dive and Kayak Center,  to test a Current Designs 14' * 26" light weight sit on top composite kayak.  We liked the "test ride", so we traded in our old plastic kayaks for two lighter and faster fiberglass/kevlar kayaks.  The dealer through in 2 extra seats of a different design for a total of 4 seats, and a deep discount as these are last years models.  Pics to left of our new kayaks, with one seat in and one seat out.


Pictures above are "clickable" and more pictures are in our album Florida - Going South.