Sept key west

We have been letting the days slip away in the ol' Key West fashion by taking long walks around the base, relaxing outdoors with the cats, a couple of dips in the sea, watching sunsets, and occasionally going downtown.  It's rough, we know!  

We have also watched several people come and go since we got here.  Most are on vacations while some like to spend time here only during the summer.  We are in agreement that winter time is better as far as weather goes, but it has also been nice for the low number of occupied sites for the first couple of months.  That will be ending soon.

So, what have we been doing for entertainment lately.  Actually, we have been going downtown about once a week just for a change of scenery.  Otherwise, we are quite happy with staying on base.

 

 Parking is hard to find free in the downtown area so we have been parking near the Eco Discovery Center.  Also, a great place to visit and learn about our oceans and how they are rebuilding living reefs.

Mama Hen and chicks inside the Truman Annex

Anyway, this location is located towards the southwest side of town.  From there we can walk north towards the busier area of Key West.  We get to walk through this tree lined neighborhood called the Truman Annex on our way towards Duval St.  (Named for President Truman). We often see roosters and hens along the way.

Truman Annex

On this day we walked to the Key West Lighthouse located across the street from Ernest Hemingway's house on Whitehead.  This is the second lighthouse that was built taller, further inland and unto higher ground (14 ft) after the first one was destroyed during the 1846 hurricane.

After visiting the lighthouse, we walked up to the Customs House.  With two stories of art and history to view, we were worn out.  Not bad for one day of just enjoying Key West considering both were offering a free admittance fee during the summer for military active duty and retirees.

One of our friends suggested we visit the Key West Wildlife Center.  They know us well!  They share our interest in all the wildlife, not to mention, our love for cats.  They are cat owners and they foster kittens for the Florida Keys SPCA.  Sandy says she would end up adopting all of them...then she really would be the Crazy Cat Lady.

Ibis with a twisted bill - poor baby!

The Wildlife Center rescues and rehabilitates all wildlife including chickens. According to one volunteer, home owners will get tired of the chickens and ask for them to be removed.

They are captured and sent to farms in central Florida where they happily spend their days hunting  bugs.

We did not see the sick or hurt animals.  All the animals we saw were big beggars following us along the walkway.

Even the turtles came swimming over looking for a handout.  Sorry we did not bring any food with us.  Maybe next time we will be better prepared for feeding them.  There is no fee, but donations are appreciated.

We also visited one of our favorite places - the Key West Garden Club in the West Martello Tower.

The KW Garden Club did a fantastic job of building and growing a garden paradise on an old fort property.  

We can still see parts of the old fort while wandering along the many paths.

We have eaten a couple of times at Amigos Tortilla Bar.  They have excellent veggie burritos with a great view of the street for people watching.

Here are a few more views of Key West during our walks...

Outside of BO's Fish Wagon

Cruise ship near Mallory Square

Walking along the harbor boardwalk on the north end.

So far, we have been lucky with this hurricane season.  We have only had one warning to be packed and ready to leave when notified.  We hope that will be the only time.  

Another lovely sunset

In a couple of weeks, things will start to pick up with more festivals and people.  In the meantime, we are going to enjoy our last couple of weeks of quiet paradise time.
Happy Trails!

Key West "America's Caribbean"

It is a whole different world here. It has sometimes been referred to as “America’s Caribbean”.

The beaches are from crushed white limestone and it is hard on the feet, so best to wear water shoes into the warm waters.  There's a few sandy beaches open to the public in Key West such as Smathers Beach, Higg’s Beach, and Ft. Zachary State Park.  As a matter of fact, all of the keys are made from limestone and an ancient coral reef giving this area its tropical setting.  Even Hemingway’s home is made from limestone. The first owner excavated limestone from the very spot the house was built. This gave the house a basement area and the first pool on the island.

Of course, we had to visit Hemingway’s home and all the cats. Hemingway had not planned on living in Key West. He and his wife, Pauline stopped in Key West to pick up a Roadster to drive to their final destination, but the car was not delivered for 7 weeks. By the time the car was delivered Key West had worked its magic on Hemingway and he decided to stay. Well, for at least the next 10 years, then he moved to Havana, Cuba after his divorce.

A sea captain gave Hemingway his first 6-toed cat and that cat apparently did a lot of tomcatting for many years based on the number of 6-toed cats on the estate. There are quite a few cat houses, food dishes, and water dishes throughout the grounds. One special drinking fountain for the cats has an old urinal catching water from a Spanish olive jar. The urinal came from Joe Russell’s “Sloppy Joe’s” place. Pauline disguised it with tiles. Pictures of the Hemingway Estate are in a separate album.

We bicycled all around the island one day. There are bike trails and designated bike lanes all over the island. Drivers learn very fast to keep an eye out for Jay-walkers, scooters, and bike riders so we felt safe riding our bikes on the narrow main streets in the downtown area. We were able to see more on our bikes than when we are in the car, not to mention that we got a lot of exercise. It is just over over 12 miles to ride around the island of Key West. We will probably do it again since it is easier to park a bike than to find a parking space for our car without paying.

Last week, we went to Casa Marina Resort for a Pet Masquerade during the week of Fanasy Fest.  Some owners were more dressed up than the pets. It was still a lot of fun and we took quite a few pictures. Many of the pets were enjoying the attention as much as their people. We swear that many of them were actually posing for the camera.

After the pet show, we walked downtown to check out Fantasy Fest and the sunset celebration at Mallory Square with the blowing of the conchs.  We cannot post many pictures of Fantasy Fest as it is a bit wild and not PC.  No nudity is allowed, but body paint and scraps of cloth constitute suitable clothing for some in the main blocks of the fest.  The theme this year was Habitat for Insanity.


Even grocery shopping is a different experience. We came across frozen bags of yucca and plantains. We tried the fried plantains at a restaurant and they were very good. We will have to try the yucca sometime in the near future.


We try to either walk, bicycle, or kayak each day.  Dan has a new case for his small digital camera, so will try and get some on the water kayak pictures posted soon.


When we are here at the motorhome in the evening, we go outside to watch the sun set. We have added more pictures to our Sunset album. A few of the campers blow on conch shells signaling the setting of the sun. It is so peaceful and so beautiful that it is hard to believe such a place actually exists. Pinch me!

Key West Photo Albums: More Key West
Key West Sunsets/Sunrise
Key West Critters
Key West Week #1