Skip to main content

Catching Up: 2011 Florida Trip: Part 3 - Exploring Key West

(Editor's Note: While there's some slow time in the few week's before we have a new addition to the family, I'm trying to catch up on blog entries that I wanted to post or started but never completed.  This is another one of those entries.)

We made it to Key West.  A tropical paradise or party. Or both.

I've never been on a Caribbean Cruise or really anywhere tropical, and Key West really gave me first taste of the tropics, or at least to me it did.  For the first day in Key West in photos, head to flickr.

Mile 0.  The End of US 1.  The end of the Overseas Highway.  It's most likely is the most photographed road sign in the United States.

IMG_6577

Yup, that's me.  It's only 2,377 miles - and oh about 40 or so degrees Fahrenheit less to Fort Kent, ME.  And that's a lot of signs for one post.

Continuing past the End

Yeah, there's an END sign too.  Not as many signs though.

One Tough Chicken

Not sure why, but there sure are a lot of roosters and chickens wandering around various parts of the island.  The "gypsy chickens" are descendents of former cock-fighting Cubalya chickens and domesticated chickens that were kept by residents on the island.  Just another thing that makes Key West unique.

Of course, no visit to Key West is complete without a walk down Duval Street - where everything and pretty much anything can be seen or done.

IMG_6604

Including a passed out drunk tourist at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Last call sure came early for this fella.

The preferred mode of transportation on Duval Street.  Rental golf carts or golf cart taxi's.  And as these ladies show, it doesn't stop you from having a good time.  I'm not allowed to publish the pictures of what they did next.  It is a family friendly blog of course!

IMG_6608

Key West has some great architecture.

IMG_6802

St. Paul's Episcopal Church - Key West, FL

And some colorful creatures:

IMG_6613

And of course there's Sloppy Joe's Bar.  I think a guy named Hemingway liked to hang out here.

IMG_6611

At Mallory Square, every evening there is a Sunset Celebration.  Tourists that came by car, or plane, or just arrived via massive cruise ships docked nearby are enertained by this nightly carnival that features juggling acts, acrobatics, musicians, and numerous other types of street performers. 

IMG_6640

This guy was pretty good.

IMG_6648

This man would be performing various gymnastics next.

IMG_6655

IMG_6675

And the sunset...wasn't bad either.  Even with Sunset Key in the way.

Key West Sunset

IMG_6680

IMG_6710

Day 2: Sunrise

This was a quick road trip, so unfortunately the next morning it was time to head back north to Raleigh via Daytona.  But I managed to get up for sunrise and a swim in our hotel's outdoor pool before we left the Keys.

Sunrise Day 2 photos can be found here.

IMG_6746

IMG_6753

IMG_6790

I wish we had another day to spend at Key West.  It's an amazing place and there was a lot more I would like to have done. I would be fascinated by taking the trip - and even spending the money - to check out Dry Tortuga.  But sometimes, the best thing is to get just a little taste of something or somewhere to make you want to go back and enjoy it even more.  Key West is certainly one of those places for me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba