June 6th and 7th - Key West

Our route to Key West took us from Marco Island on a local road through the Everglades. We stopped at Everglades National Park and walked along a bike path to 'be one with nature'. There were large birds along the path that didn't really move when we walked by. We saw several turtles and fish in the pond and they were sizable.  We saw several gigundo turds on the path and sure enough there was an alligator lying on the side of the path. 

 Rob went closer and took a few pictures, but that was way too close for me. As soon as I saw the alligator on the path, I was heading back to the car.  I am definitely not a nature girl; and being up close and personal with an alligator is beyond my capability.

After passing through the Everglades we took Route 1 from southern Florida through the Keys.  Usually when you think of the Florida Keys you think of Key Largo or Key West, but there are hundreds of Keys including Pass Key, Ohio Key, and Raccoon Key.  Our drive on the Overseas Highway through the Keys to Key West took about 3 hours. When we arrived at the hotel, it was just starting to rain. After about an hour, the power in the hotel went out. The lights on our side of Duval Street went out while the lights across the street were still on. If you know me, you know that electronic stuff just breaks around me. Rob immediately accused me of causing the power outage and making the lights go out. The outage was about an hour and we went out and had oysters at a raw bar afterward.

Friday morning we took the Trolley around the island to get some Key West history.  We stopped at Mallory Square, the Southernmost Point, and Duval Street. We had beer, key lime pie, oysters, and shrimp. We saw street entertainers, bums, and plenty of tourists. We walked to a lot of the hot spots because everything is so close.  We saw quite a few buildings with For Sale signs.  An average home for sale in the old town district is selling for $3.5M. Where do the normal people live??

Even though it rained several times, I really enjoyed Key West. We found several hangouts for the locals and found some really good reasonably priced food. Everyone here seems to be really laid back.  Tourism is the only industry so that can be a challenge. The sponge industry failed; the tobacco and cigar industry failed. The entire island is making their living off the tourists. At times that felt a little uncomfortable, but overall I would come back here again and spend more time.

About the weather...we have been dodging tropical storm Andrea for several days. On the drive down to Key West we had overcast skies and no rain until after we arrived. The next day was actually sunny in Key West until a brief downpour in the evening. The storm moved north and has caused flooding in Florida. Hopefully, the rain has not caused any flooding on our route north. Tomorrow we are heading to Daytona Beach.

And one more thing...there are chickens everywhere on Key West.  Nobody owns the chickens and they are protected which means you can't kill and eat them. We saw mostly roosters which crowed all during the day from 5am-ish to just before dark.  We saw very few hens.  This guy brazenly walked across the street crowing the entire way.