Key West and Homestead

Late in the week, himself felt well enough to make the 40-50 mile drive to Key West from Grassy Key. He has been there before but I was eager to see it and had my list of interesting attractions.  He was going to find shady spots and rest in the car, along with Raggie.  The temp was about 68 degrees with a 20-25 mph wind, so that was a good thing.  The drive down was nice, seeing the water on both sides and the different keys along the way.  Once we hit KW and the main part of town, it was a zoo.  Construction at the entrance to the island slowed entry and two cruise ships and spring break overwhelmed the town.  It reminded us of the little town of Skagway which is in a beautiful, but very small harbor and town and is ruined every day by 4-6 cruise ships.

We drove around and saw many of the sights that would have been fun to visit.  The parking was just about non existent, so we toured the island and left.  I will buy books and dvd's for a "virtual" visit.  Some of the attractions that would have been interesting are the Hemingway home, where he did much of his writing and kept numerous 6 toed cats.  There are now abut 50 descendants of those cats.

Hemingway's Key West House

A favorite Hemingway Bar-a pic from the Internet with no crowds

One of the wonderful things about traveling as we do is the availability of the Internet, especially since we purchased our own hot spot and don't need to rely on campground wifi.  When we run across something interesting, want to check weather etc., onto the computer we go.  I looked up 6 toed cats, also called Hemingway cats or more correctly, polydactyl cats, I ran across this article.  Where will government intrusion end????

http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2012/12/28/dont-tread-on-sixtoed-cats-n1474945/page/full/


Another attraction that was new to me was the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.  Himself was familiar with the stories but it was all new to me.  I have since found books and dvd's about this on Amazon and will see what I missed on the visit.  The following is a brief summary from the museum website about the Fisher story.


Mel Fisher, a dreamer, a visionary, a legend and most importantly, the World's Greatest Treasure Hunter! Mel Fisher did what many have not - he realized his dream during his lifetime. Everyday he insisted, "Today's the Day"! His mantra continues to inspire the search for the rest of the treasure from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita, the Spanish galleons that sank during a hurricane on September 6, 1622, near Key West, Florida.

Mel Fisher suffered many personal losses to keep his dream alive during his 16 year search and endured over 100 court battles which ended in victory in the US Supreme Court. The riches Mel Fisher, his team and investors had worked so hard for all those years were finally theirs. The $450 million dollar treasure cache or "Atocha Mother Lode" would be found on that momentous day, July 20, 1985. Over 40 tons of silver and gold were located including over 100,000 Spanish silver coins known as "Pieces of Eight", gold coins, Columbian emeralds, silver and gold artifacts and over 1000 silver bars.

Another attraction is the symbol demonstrating that Key West is the furthest point south in the continental US.  Again, the line was about 50 persons long for a personal picture so here it is without Raggie and me.  Note that Key West is closer to Cuba than to Miami!

One of the things we noticed in the Keys, particularly Key West, was the colorful roosters.  I decided to google Key West Roosters and here you are.  It seems that our island, Vashon, has no corner of local controversy.


http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-16-roosters-usat_x.htm

Another appeal to Key West is the "Caribbean" architecture.  There are many old homes that are just fabulous.  It we come back at a time when the crowds are tolerable, I would love to take a walking tour.

Another item on my  culinary bucket list was conch.  We left the island and found a neat local cafe so I could try conch.

Conch

Fried Conch Strips

The conch strips reminded me of friend clams, which are only really tasty if you dip them in a nice sauce.  Here we had a key lime, mustard/mayo sauce, plus the usual tartar and red sauce.  the fish tacos were actually better.

Once back to our area, we tried a locally recommend restaurant, both on the water and dog friendly.  We all had a nice time with fish tacos and a fish sandwich.

We left the keys yesterday and found a City RV park in Homestead.  Homestead is a major winter produce growing area, in addition to having many tropical plant nurseries.  We found several farm stands and loaded up on corn, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, avocados, papaya and strawberries.  Like summer in Vashon, tomatoes and strawberries that have not been picked early, refrigerated and shipped are such a treat.

The Keys

We have been hunkered down on Grassy Key for three days now.  We have a view of the gulf from Bella and most of the time, a nice breeze.  The RV park reminds us of old Baja, funky trailers with added on rooms, painted tropical colors which have been decorated with all kinds of amusing things.  There are even a couple of my all time favorite Airstreams.

Never having been to Florida and not knowing much about the keys, I did a little research.

The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 90 miles (140 km) from Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 23.5 and 25.5 degrees North latitude, in the subtropics. The climate of the Keys is defined as tropical.  The total land area is 137.3 square miles (356 km2). As of the 2000 census the population was 79,535, with an average density of 579.27 per square mile (223.66 /km2), although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.

There are over 1700 islands in the archipelago but only 43 are connected by the road.  They have really cool names like Sugarloaf Key, Duck Key, Cudjoe Key, Shark Key and Raccoon Key.

Since himself is still down with the bug, I decided to take a tour of the Turtle Hospital, the only state-certified vet hospital in the world for sea turtles.  The most common ailments are flipper amputations, entanglements from fishing lines, shell damage from boats and debilitating viral tumors unique to the Green sea turtle and found around the world.  Cooperative research with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has successfully transmitted the disease, proving that it is infectious and the cause is close to being isolated.  The vets treat the tumors with CO2 lasers and if the turtle remains free of regrowth, it is released.  The goal is to release all turtles possible.

Turtle Surgery

Current patient with weights to counteract buoyancy issues to to boat impact

Current resident chasing turtle food

While the hospital tries to rehabilitate and release all the injured and sick turtles, a few become permanent residents.  My niece Maddie will receive a notice that she has "adopted" April, whose sweet temperament reminds me of Maddie.

Maddie

While the dining options have been pretty limited due to the sick bay continuation, some key lime pie made it back to Bella as did Key West pink shrimp.  Yet to be tried are conch and the local spiny lobster.  I think a comparison of key lime pie styles is also in order.

Florida and the Sick Bay

Nine days ago a nasty bug got me and I have been laying low.  I am on the mend but himself and Raggie were good sick bay companions, Raggie laying at my feet and himself taking over the chores.  I still have plugged ears so miss a lot of what is said to me.  Himself has it now and he has lost his voice.  What a pair!

Cubi Bar Cafe at the Pensacola Naval Air Museum

We entered Florida just before I took ill but we found a nice beachfront campground to rest in.  Before settling in, himself got to see the Pensacola Naval Air Museum, one of the best in the world.  We enjoyed the Cubi Bar Cafe which is decorated with retired plaques left by squadrons commemorating WestPac tours, which were originally displayed in the NAS Cubi Point Officers' Club in the Philippines.  The tradition of leaving the plaques started in during Vietnam and continued to the base closure in 1992.

The first stay in Florida was at Navarre Beach on the panhandle, just east of Pensacola Bay.  The campground was on the beach and close to everything.  The beaches are really quite beautiful along the gulf.  I finally took the plunge and ordered fried cheesecake.  They were small bites and deep fried.  One was enough, cross that off the make at home list.

A small canal on Cedar Key

Our next stop was a totally out of the way place called Cedar Key, population of about 700.  Funky, quiet and a bit reminiscent of Vashon.  At one time it was the biggest port on the west of Florida and was known for its cedar pencils and brooms, brooms, brushes etc made from local "swamp cabbage."  They are the biggest producer of clams for the Florida market and the little local cafe has won the famous clam chowder contest in Rhode Island three times.  It was the best chowder I have ever had and we have some frozen in Bella.

We then headed south, still on the gulf coast getting warmer and much more crowded.  Today we turned east and started through the Big Cypress National Preserve on the way to the Everglades and the Keys.  We saw our first manatees about which I learned

         Manatees are large, slow-moving animals that frequent coastal waters and rivers. These attributes make them vulnerable to hunters seeking their hides, oil, and bones. Manatee numbers declined throughout the last century, mostly because of hunting pressure. Today, manatees are endangered. Though protected by laws, they still face threats. The gentle beasts are often accidentally hit by motorboats in ever more crowded waters, and sometimes become entangled in fishing nets.

There was also gator sunning himself right under the deck at the visitor center.