Happy Holidays!

We hope this message finds you and your family safe and warm. We have heard about the unusually cold weather people are getting all over the States. Even Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound got snow in early December. We are staying pretty warm and dry so far, but people are worried about another cold winter here in the Keys .

In late November, Sandy’s brother, Jay drove all the way from Illinois for a visit. On his first day here and within the hour of his arrival, Dan took Jay out kayaking around the campground. Jay promptly had himself baptized by tipping the kayak over while trying to look at an Iguana sitting in the tree above him. At least, it was a warm and calm day to go swimming in the marina. Later, we took him to an area of the marina where he could get pictures of the iguanas without getting wet.

Some of our plans had to be changed because of a cold front coming through, but we managed to do quite a bit during Jay’s short visit. We took him to Mallory Square for the Sunset Ritual and walked around Key West afterwards. Of course, we had to take him to the Southern Most Point and Mile 0 for photos. We spent one day taking a 70 mile one way boat trip to a very isolated outpost - Fort Jefferson (1860) at the Dry Tortugas NP. The seas were not too rough, but the Captain had to zig-zag around Lobster traps to avoid taking out the floats.

Once we landed at Dry Tortugas, we had the option to go on a tour or to do our own thing. While Jay did the tour and took pictures, we decided to wander around on our own. After lunch, Dan went snorkeling along the Moat walk while Sandy did some more exploring.

We learned that this was the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd and three other conspirators after they were found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. Three years later, Dr. Mudd was released from his life-long sentence after treating yellow-fever victims during his imprisonment.


We have linked the National Park’s website so you can read about the fort's history.  Dry Tortugas Album

We spent a couple of hours at the Key West Garden Club (KWGC) at the West Martello Towers (1863-1873). The KWGC rescued the unfinished fort from being leveled on the south side or Atlantic side of Key West. Now the West Martello is listed as a National Historical Site and has a rare collection of native and exotic plants. We had to remind ourselves as we wandered along plant filled pathways and into garden rooms that this was supposed to be the fort’s old brick walls. Banyan Trees and Bromeliads were growing on many of the walls. The Club has done an amazing job and they only ask for a donation.  Key West Garden Album

Well, Jay did not get a chance to parasail or to snorkel any of the reefs. He did find lots of good subjects for his 3-D photography.  If you are interested in seeing Jay’s photos, here is a link to his album.  From the pictures he took, it looks like he had a good time.

We have also added a few more photos to some of our older albums.  The links below will start where the new photos start:

More Key West

Key West Critters

Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

Power Boat and Super Boat Races

It’s hard to believe we have been here in Key West for over a month now. Time just slips away with so many different things to do. One minute we are eating breakfast trying to decide what we want to do today and the next thing we know it is dark and we have not eaten dinner yet.

Ah! And the weather has been wonderful! Some days are almost too perfect with 83 degrees and just a hint of a breeze. Some days, the water on the Gulf side looks like glass all day long! Ah! Gorgeous! Well, to make you feel a little better. It wasn’t completely perfect. Yes, the humidity was a little high, but who cares when the sun is shining and the water is beckoning for us to dive in!

We have been exploring different kayak launching areas on the other Keys. We are always hoping to come across different sea life and wild life during our kayaking time. So far we have seen a lot of birds, a couple of sharks, stingrays, barracudas, and one dolphin. We uploaded a few more pictures to Key West Critters.  We’ll keep looking. After all we have plenty of time for exploring.  We started a new album Key West Kayaking with photos from our kayaking trips.  There are only a few, but we promise to add to the album as we get more photos.

On 7 Nov, Key West hosted a Power Boat and Super Boat Race. Every other day, there were three races with boats from different power/speed classes. On the first day, we went with the idea that we would not be able to see the race that well without binoculars. Boy, were we ever surprised to have the boats racing by so close that the spectators could almost feel the rooster-tails splashing them! If we stood right on the shore, the waves made by the power boat’s wake would get our feet. It was a WOW!! moment! Needless to say we were back for the next two race days. We took advantage of the multiple races by viewing them from different locations. We took so many pictures that Sandy filled her microchip (holds 500 pics) twice. Don’t worry we only uploaded a little over 100 photos in Power and Super Boats album.

As always, pics and clickable links are above.

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

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!