Island Hopping to Key West

 

refrigerator magnets recently purchased

Since my last post, interesting things have been entered into my personal journal, some of which will be shared in this blog post. I'll let my snapshots tell much of the story because there are so many of them. 

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Early in the week we left home in a thick, pre-dawn fog to head south on Florida's Turnpike, heading for the Everglades. By the time we got to the Fort Lauderdale area, the fog [finally] had lifted so we could see this iconic example of architecture of a giant guitar. 

We see this casino on TV commercials a lot. The very top of the guitar projects straight vertical beams of light into the night time sky to more clearly define the instrument. We only saw this daytime version, which was still very impressive. 

We don't gamble (except with each other's cooking at home 😆), so we did not stop. It was just an interesting site as we drove past on the turnpike.

airboats lined up for boarding

It took until nearly lunch time to reach our first destination, which was Everglades National Park.

large fan of the airboat

If you've never been on (or seen) an airboat, it is a very large, very loud fan positioned at the back of an open-air boat. 

wind shield of the airboat,
as seen from the front row

Since the boat has no walls or ceiling, and is very open, plus the fact that the captain likes to "slide" as they whip around in turns, passengers are wise to dress with the understanding they may get wet (or sprayed, at the least) with swamp water.

me, waiting to board the boat

We road another airboat a year or so ago and got pretty wet. This ride was more tame with just a little spray on those sitting on the outside ends of the benches (i.e. ME!) Any headwear (hats/vizors, etc) should be firmly on the head or they will blow off into the water. And ear plugs .... a wise accompaniment! The tour guide gave us individually-wrapped foam ear plugs. 

us on the front row

Sister and her husband visited the Everglades years ago when the "ear plugs" provided was a roll of toilet paper passed around to all the passengers. With that experience in mind, I had brought my own plugs. Our previous ride with another vendor had given headphones for ear protection. So a word to the wise, be prepared one way or another. 

lily pads were everywhere

The boat has several rows like pews (benches with backs) for the riders, and the captain/tour guide is at the back by the fan so he can steer. 

the first gator

Of course, the main appeal (for us, anyway) was to see alligators on this boat ride. Within the first couple of minutes into our journey (literally) we saw this big guy lounging in the weeds to our left.

look to the center

With the instruction of our tour guide/boat captain, we easily understood where to look for more of these pre-historic-looking creatures.

another one

We were told that the gator's main activity during daylight hours is to do absolutely nothing. I'm sure if 'dinner' suddenly appeared in front of a gator, he would show more life, but generally speaking, they are more active in the dusk and dawn hours, as well as at night.

Bouganvillea

I think we saw about 5 gators (all of them big) that day, plus a baby one sunning himself atop his mother's back. We were told the babies stay on the mother's back for the first 3 months. After that, she wants them to leave or she will eat the baby. Ugh. That bordered on TMI (too much information) for me!

Gary and his pet gator goofing around

We saw about 3 different airboat businesses as we drove along highway 41 in the Everglades. At the visitors' center, we learned a lot about gators and crocodiles. Gators prefer fresh water, although they will tolerate salt water briefly. Crocs prefer salt water. We have both in Florida.

Also of interest is that the weather in south Florida is about as warm as gators like to be whereas south Florida is about as cold as a crocodile wants to be. So there is a little intermingling or overlap there, but they do have their preferences. 

Our lunch that day was late: sandwiches from a refrigerator case at the visitors' center. After poking around and seeing all that interested us in the Everglades, we drove to our hotel in Miami, kicked off our shoes and turned on the TV to catch up with FOX and the ever-evolving political news.

Our supper was from Panda Express, the orange chicken over rice -- one of my favorite meals in the entire world. (not exaggerating here)

The next morning we began our trek south to the Florida Keys. We first got back onto the Florida Turnpike, continuing south on that until it was no more, in the Homestead area. From there we got onto Highway 1 which turned into the Overseas Highway at the very southern tip of mainland Florida.

the Overseas Highway (1)

The drive to Key West was long (as my sister-in-law had advised beforehand) but nonetheless interesting. This, from the internet, says it better than I can:

"....thanks to a stunning engineering marvel known as the Overseas Highway that stretches 113 miles from the mainland's southern tip across 44 tropical islands on 42 bridges, I was seemingly floating across a necklace of mangrove forests and cays as I drove to a place where North America and the Caribbean meet."

the Overseas Highway (2)

Something I learned along the way: "cay" is another word for "key" which on this stretch of geography means "island." 

the Overseas Highway (3)

The highway took us through Key Largo, Marathon, Cudjoe Key, past the Key West Naval Air Station, and eventually onto Key West, with a lot more lesser-known known islands all along the way. (lesser-known to us, anyway)

the Overseas Highway (4)

I had expected one continuous bridge above water the entire way, but instead it was a continuous highway over MANY bridges that linked the keys en route. In the towns on the keys were some traffic lights, but not many, so we didn't stop much. We did stop at one of the larger tourist spots to use the restrooms and to buy T-shirts and refrigerator magnets.

the Overseas Highway (5)

Arriving in Key West in late morning, our first goal was to find the famous buoy marking the southernmost tip of continental USA and get our picture taken.

us on the south end of the USA

A lot (A LOT!!) of other people had the same objective. The line was long. I was ready to scrap that idea when Gary said we should just stand on the street curb and make sure the marker was visible behind us. That would be better than nothing. 

He was so right -- so much so, that others around us did the same thing. One couple remarked they liked that idea, and they offered to take our picture. Of course, we reciprocated by taking their picture, too! 

We crossed that item off our mental list and stood in the shade to decide what to do next. We had found a parking place some blocks away on the crowded, narrow streets, which included feeding a parking meter. So we had to keep that in mind. 

Seaside Cafe at Key West

Happily, after just a little bit of walking, we came across this place that looked to me just like where the stars of a Hallmark movie would dine. 

Italian..... Beside the sea (Atlantic Ocean)..... Shirt-sleeves, shorts, and sandal weather....

The wait for our food was not too long. With the comfortable sea air, light breeze, sunshine, and just being on vacation with my dear one -- it really did feel like we were in a wonderful movie! (chick-flick, of course!)

We enjoyed the 3-cheese pizza with added pepperoni. It was 6 slices, the perfect amount for two people. Delicious!

Of course, we could not forget to order Key Lime Pie for dessert, with the unexpected bonus of a coconut cream dipping sauce on the side!

The famous chickens for which Key West is known picked and pecked around our feet. This one even had some of her chicks scurrying about with her (look closely in front of her). We saw a lot of colorful chickens in town. Not a bother at all, they definitely contributed to the charm of the town.

VERY narrow hallway

Speaking of charm, while waiting for our food, Gary found his way to the rest rooms. When I later asked where they were, he told me a very narrow outdoor passageway between two brick buildings was the way to get there.

I found it and was glad he had warned me. It looked like something out of a movie in Europe, but it was broad daylight and if I did not return soon, I knew Gary would come looking for me, so I walked through it. I'm not kidding about the narrowness of the passageway. A really large person would need to find another facility!

view from concrete pier

In walking away from our restaurant, we saw a large concrete pier extending out into the water with beach-goers on one side. A stroll onto that pier gave us a different view of our restaurant (the aqua table umbrellas).

chicken sculptures outside a gift shop

After lunch we faced quite a conundrum. Taking into consideration the length of time left on our parking meter, the distance required to walk to the Hemingway House, etc, previous expectations were threatened. 

Hemingway House and Museum

We chose a swift stroll to Mr. Hemingway's home but upon arrival we saw that the long line we saw at the southern buoy was now at this place. That wasn't going to work with our parking situation. 

Of course, shopping is usually an option in a tourist town... There were many more very interesting shops than we had time to explore.

(purchased at the Everglades)

I do love hoodies!

We attempted to find President Truman's Little White House but arrived too late in the afternoon to get in. I did not know until this trip that he spent working vacations in Key West and even returned after his presidency to enjoy the place.

Truman Little White House

Even though we were not able to tour these two places in person, one can really learn a lot with Internet research, which is free, comprehensive, and does not require standing on tired feet for long periods of time. I'm okay with that. I really am. 

Then of course, as the afternoon wore on, ice cream was a good use of our time (Gary has accepted the fact that I consider him to be "good blog fodder.")

hotel lobby

We found our hotel and discovered to our amazement they had upgraded our reservation to a suite. For just the two of us, we had FOUR queen-sized beds, two bathrooms, and a kitchenette. That was very nice and made up for my dismay when I spied this sign at their beach area:

 Hmmm. That's okay. We had no plans to get into the water anyway.

I had wondered before this trip if we might get to see any flamingos. As it turns out, the only ones we saw were on this birthday card I sent to a girlfriend:

card by Leanin' Tree

Speaking of birthdays, our family had an unexpected Birth Day this past week.... my nephew's wife gave birth to a precious little boy who was only 25 weeks into the pregnancy. He weighed 1 pound 14 ounces at birth and measured a little over 13 inches long. He and his mama are doing well. Just  this afternoon his daddy (my nephew) got to change the little guy's diaper in the incubator. 

Please join me in praying for this child's continued healthy development and the family's necessary adjustments to the premature event.

I close with something I read yesterday in a book of quotes by theologian E.M. Bounds. On the subject of faith, "Faith needs to be cultivated. Faith is increased by exercise; by being put to use. Faith is nourished by trials." 

That is something to turn over in the mind.

Until next time, grace and peace.