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

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield.  When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site.  The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge.  Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road.  The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1)  If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield.  Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield.  Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1)  Somerfield would go through va