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!

On Key West Time

On Key West Time


Relaxing in Key West is an art. Relaxing Key West style is contagious and intoxicating. Ahhhhh! Oh yea, we have been practicing for the past month and you know – practice makes perfect, right? Now we don’t just sit around doing nothing all day. We just do things at a very easy going slow pace.

We are starting our third week in the Dry Camp area so mornings consist of recharging batteries with the generator while using any or all of our electrical appliances to make breakfast and cleaning. If the weather is good and it usually is – we take the cats outside for walks. Even Max has been venturing outside. Well, to the bottom step where he keeps at least one paw on the step. Make a move towards him – Poof!! – he disappears inside until the coast is clear. Dusty and Hitch will spend hours sitting in the screen house watching for birds, enjoying the breeze, and doing a lot of cat napping. Sandy says it is like having her own screened in porch. She spends as much time in it as the cats do. Watching the people go by and working on her hand sewing.

After lunch, we take a leisurely 3 mile walk around the base. We say leisurely because we make a lot of stops along the way. First stop is usually at the RV office to see how many are dry camping now. Anywhere from 190 to 200 dry campers are on the waiting list for the 88 full hook-ups and some of those are for Handicap only. Yep, the wait is long, but we don’t mind. We stop by the retaining ponds to see the large iguanas sunning themselves then onto the marina to watch the pelicans by the water. The most important stop is to visit our favorite rooster that Dan has named “Buck Buck”. Buck Buck comes running out greeting us with his clucking sounds. He usually stops right in front of us and starts scratching and clucking the whole time. Dan likes to speak Chicken and the two have a wonderful conversation about how they spent their day.

After our showers at the Bath House and dinner, we pop in a DVD since we don’t have TV reception here (the price we pay to live in paradise). Sandy likes to work on her quilts while Dan is reading the latest news on his computer.

During our hanging out around the motorhome, we get to watch the Ibis and a pair of Ospreys nesting nearby. One of the Ospreys always brings its meal to a utility post near our site. Our next door neighbor setup a very powerful telescope in front of his 5th Wheel with a sign inviting everyone to take a look at the nest. Very nice!

We are finding the White Ibis to be very entertaining at times. Dan calls them the crosswalk birds because they do tend to cross at corners. They are so comical to watch that we are always on the lookout for them. Their walk alone is fun to watch – the bobbing of their heads, the strange stork-like walk, and the soft grunts they make as they move around. We never know what to expect them to do. They are not very skittish around people or vehicles, but they do keep their distance if someone tries to get too close.

We have noticed that they tend to stay in small flocks, anywhere from 3 to 10 birds. We have seen a few mavericks out by themselves, but for the most part they like to stay together. If one decides to do something completely different from the others then the others will follow its lead. One time, the leader decided to use the sidewalk in front of the Navy Exchange (small retail store). We were just coming into the parking lot as they walked down the sidewalk in front of customers and the opened doors. They could have cared less that they were blocking the way and causing a small traffic jam. One couple was trying to get pictures. We could tell one lady had been here too long because she just sat on the bench text messaging as the flock marched by her.

Another time, there were two flocks. One was eating in the grass while the other flock was wandering around in the parking lot. The eaters decided they needed a drink and moved over to a very shallow puddle. Of course, the other flock had to follow. So, all these birds are trying to drink water at the same time which is not easy to do with their down curved bills. Each bird had to lay his head sideways into the water to fill its bill, lift its head straight up, and swallow. We were surprised they did not step on each other.

So, there it is – life in Key West. We have noticed the people staying in the campgrounds seem to have a spring in their step, love to be outdoors, and look very healthy for their age.

Now, stop groaning, we know the weather has been bad up north. We have been watching the weather and we can see that Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas are under Severe Weather Watch right now. We want you to know we still remember those cold, okay, freezing winter days and we do not take this beautiful weather for granted. Stay warm Friends.