It began 45 years ago...
Claude and I were married 45 years ago. That is a momentous anniversary to reach. We determined to spend it completing something on our bucket list. Claude has always wanted to visit Key West, Florida. This anniversary would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. Arrangements were made and we left from the Lexington Airport on Thursday, February 12th with one stop in Atlanta. During that layover we enjoyed a nice breakfast of peach biscuits. That my friends is just very southern.
A quick taxi ride from the Key West airport took us to The Southernmost Inn which we would call home for the next four nights. That is Claude to the right of the front door. This wonderful little inn is actually spread over several buildings that were homes. They have each been converted into sets of individual rooms. Ours had a nice little sitting room, bedroom and its own bathroom. We were in room 412 in a building about 3 buildings to the right of this one. This was the main office building. Two swimming pools behind this building. One of the things I noticed was our room had no telephone. Shows you how much we now rely on cell phones.
We actually had a hour before we could check into our room so our baggage was left at the office and we began to learn how to read a Key West map. The nice young man at the front desk pointed out where we were and where some of the main attractions were.
Key West is two miles wide and four miles long. We had decided not to rent a car as we were told parking is at a premium. We determined to use local transportation. This ended up being our legs. We walked everywhere. It was about 20 blocks from our room to the Historic Seaport. Every one of the three events we pre-purchased would leave from there. Lots of miles of walking this trip. Lots and lots of miles of walking. All of our trip was spent in the 'Old Town' portion of Key West.
We walked to The Southernmost Point in the United States for our first outing.
We roamed around our neighborhood and then strolled back to the Southernmost Inn to check into our room. The rest of the evening was spent walking north on Duval Street. This is a main drag for Key West. Lots of shops, eateries, etc. We found a place called Pinchers Crab House and had dinner there. This restaurant was on the second story of a building and we opted to dine on the balcony overlooking Duval Street. Claude enjoyed 'grouper tacos' while I had 'grilled shrimp' with oodles of cocktail sauce.
We finished our day by walking to the end of Duval Street, across front Street to Simonton and then all the way back to United to the Southernmost Inn. We enjoyed the mints on our pillow before retiring for the night.
Here are a couple of the interesting things we saw during our first day of walking.
Friday, February 13th, was our anniversary. We needed to fill our morning. We opted for a tour of Ernest Hemingway's home. This is a must stop when visiting Key West. Claude and I loved this home. Would have bought it in a heartbeat. With its verandas on every floor, open airy feel, lots of cooling vegetation surrounding it, a wonderful guest house out back, what is not to like. Here are a few pictures of the main house.
The home has a guest house in the back. The main level is the bookstore for the home and museum. The second story was used by Hemingway as a writing studio. His typewriter is still on the table.
While Hemingway lived in Key West, he was married to Pauline Pfeiffer. She loved chandeliers. Most of the rooms in the home and even the writing studio had a beautiful chandelier gracing the ceiling and we can thank Pauline for these. Even the boys room (they had two sons) had a chandelier.
Cats, cats and more cats. It seems it was thought lucky by sailors to have a cat that sported extra toes. The technical name for this is polydactal. There are from 40 to 50 cats residing at the Hemingway Home. These are lovingly cared for with a few vets that come to the property and check them over. These cats are carefully bred to see if they can keep this rare extra toe on the front feet and sometimes on the back feet. Not all the cats residing there have the extra toes. We met one who dutifully posed for me to take a picture or two. The cats on the picture of the master bed both had extra toes. When we walked around the guest house I spied a home made as a replica of the main house that is for the cats. There is also a cat cemetery on the property with tombstones. Any cat would be happy to make their residence at this location.
Then there was the swimming pool. This portion of the grounds was where Ernest Hemingway had a boxing ring. Great sport for him and he loved it. Well, it seems Ernest took off to Europe and Pauline found out he went with the woman he would eventually leave her for. Pauline was none to happy about this. She wanted a swimming pool. So, while Ernest was away playing, she hired people to come in and put in the largest pool on the island right on the spot of his boxing ring. Hmmm... When Hemingway returned, Pauline was out back waiting for him by her new pool. He was not very happy and asked her the cost. She informed him it was $20,000. Ernest had paid $8,000 for the entire home and land. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a penny and threw it at Pauline exclaiming, "Pauline you've spent all but my last penny, you may as well have that!" There is a penny embedded in the cement at the pool said to be the very penny Hemingway tossed at Pauline.
The grounds were so very pleasant to stroll through. They were setting up for a party on one corner of the lot. But the remainder of the grounds were available to just stroll through at your leisure. The water fountain below has a base for the water to flow into. This is actually a urinal from Sloppy Joe's, a major hangout on Duval Street. The white arch is where weddings are held and, if you look closely, you can make out at least one of the big spider webs I noticed as we were leaving.
This home was a highlight of my trip to Key West. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting there.
We just crossed the street to the end of the block for our next adventure. The Key West Lighthouse Museum.
The home to the left was the home of the Light Keeper. Today it houses artifacts about the lighthouse and the people who lived in the Light Keeper's home. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse to get a nice 360 degree view of Key West.
The grounds have statuary on them. Here is one example.
After this we walked back to the Southernmost Inn for a quick nap. We found a fun little hole-in-the-wall place to eat. It was named Last Flight Out and they sold falafels!! The man running the little establishment was a transplant from New Jersey. He makes his pita bread from scratch himself. This was a very respectable falafel and a welcome treat.
Our evening consisted of our first outing on the water. We were booked on the Schooner America 2.0. Much of what I found on-line seemed to point to the need to be on the water to see a Key West sunset. Several described seeing a flash of green light just as the sun sets. I asked our taxi driver from the airport if he ever saw one. He assured us that he had never seen such an event and just wasn't sure they even occurred. When we boarded the Schooner I asked one of the young ladies helping with the sails and the food if she ever saw one. She assured me she saw many of them. She said it has something to do with refraction of the light. She also cautioned not to look at the sun until just as it was about to go down or you would have those lovely spots in your vision and not see the refraction. Alas, there were some clouds on the horizon and the sun set in those clouds. No green light for us.
The Schooner American 2.0 is a replica of an 1851 105 foot schooner. Your cruise includes all the beverage of your choice you want. (We had a ginger ale each while our neighbors consumed many, many beers. Champagne was also available.) Veggies and dip were served. Then a round a shrimp cocktail was served. Then cheese and crackers. Blankets were also provided to help with the cool air. Claude and I took and wore long pants, long sleeved shirts and carried jackets. It was great to sail around in the ocean, to watch them raise and lower those huge sails on the ship as well as other ships in the harbor. The captain told me we would function at least 80% of our trip that night strictly using wind in the sails. The sunset was gorgeous even without the green flash of light. Great anniversary evening.
Back on shore we walked across the end of the island to Duval Street for the walk back to our room. We happened into The Key Lime Factory and popped in for a piece of Key Lime Coconut Pie. Oh my heavens, it was so smooth and creamy. Just delicious. We followed that with a stop at Angelina's Pizza for a piece of pizza to finish our dining experience for the day. This was excellent hand tossed pizza and they even had Mountain Dew to satisfy a thirsty girl.
The morning of the 14th, Valentine's Day, Claude awoke with a plan. We would walk back down Duval Street till we found a place that sold rolls or muffins and have breakfast that way. Our intent this day was to stay out all day. So we didn't leave the room until a little later and planned to slowly make our way to our dinner cruise for the evening.
We found Cafe Moka and enjoyed a nice danish for breakfast. We enjoyed this little treat with chickens at our feet.
There are a lot of free range chickens and roosters roaming Key West. Claude and I felt like we were back on Kauai. This little hen and her chicks were enjoy all the crumbs that people dropped or offered. The man in this picture was the father of a little boy that was totally taken with the chickens. He wasn't even 2 years old and made the most delightful noises trying to talk with the chickens. Great breakfast entertainment.
Our first tourist destination was the Little White House.
We were allowed to take pictures on the grounds, not in the building. We were alerted that, since this still functions as a White House for official business, there is lots and lots of security we would never see but should know it is there. All cell phones were to be turned off. Here is a little time line of this interesting site.
- In 1890 the U.S. Navy built a home on the waterfront for the base commander and paymaster.
- In 1918 Thomas Edison resided here while developing over 41 weapons for the U.S. Navy during World War I.
- From 1946 to 1952 Harry S. Truman used the house for 175 days as a retreat and a functioning White House. He enacted the Civil Rights Executive Order while living here.
- In 1961 John F. Kennedy met with the British Primer Minister concerning Laos. 23 days later, the Bay of Pigs occurred. Hmmmm....
- In 1987 the state of Florida recognized the Little White House as a state historic site.
- In 1996 Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn enjoyed a family gathering at the Little White House.
- In 2001 Colin Powell held peace talks between the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- The Department of Defense came into being at the Little White House.
The presidential seal was pointed out to us. It is over the door as you enter the home. Originally the eagle faced the foot holding the arrows representing war. In 1947 President Truman signed Executive Order #9646 stating the new seal would have the eagle facing right which represents a direction of honor but also has the eagle facing the olive branch a symbol of peace. When Claude worked at the Peace Corp, I did a very nice piece of counted cross-stitch of the Presidential Seal for his office. It has the eagle facing the olive branches.
Through the years dredging has created additional land along the coast of Key West. This is property of the military and is called the Truman Annex. Today there are storied condominiums between the Little White House and the beach on the 'new' land blocking the view of the ocean from the Little White House.
It was time for something for lunch. We wanted something light as our evening was a dinner cruise to watch the sunset again. We walked on up Front Street and found another second story restaurant named Roof Top Cafe. Yummy gazepacho and shrimp dishes provided us with just the right lunch. Enough to sustain us so we could walk some more but not so much to fill us up before dinner.
From here we walked through the shops and out on Mallory Point.
If Claude and I were true party animals, we would have found our way here one night to watch the sunset. There is a party at Mallory Square every night with people doing just that. Alas, we are not party animals. We just enjoyed our two boat rides on the water to watch the sunset. This seemed to be our coldest day in Paradise. Claude even bought me an additional sweat shirt to help me stay warm while on the boat that night.
We walked back to the Historic Seaport and found Captain Alex and his boat which would be our Valentine's evening adventure.
We would cruise the harbor in this boat with two other couples. There were three tables on the top. Captain Alex and Carrie would grill the dinner of our choice and serve us on fine china.
Before we boarded the Islescapes vessel, I watched a typical site for the Historic Seaport. Fishermen come in with their catch. There are stations they can clean their fish on the piers. The pelicans know when this is happening and find a place close in to get any left over bits of fish the fisherman chooses to toss into the water. However, this fisherman had a big dog that was very protective. The pelicans would come in close and then the dog would bark and send them scurrying across the water out of his reach. No animals were hurt during the taking of these pictures.
We boarded our dinner cruise vessel and Captain Alex gently drove us out to an area of mangroves where the water was a bit still and we could enjoy a quiet meal. This area is actually where people can park their boats for free and many live there rent free on their boats. Claude and I pondered that life style. We couldn't quiet wrap our heads around it. These were not huge boats. There was even one with a big dog on it. Wondered how that dog liked living on the water all the time. Captain Alex actually lived out of the boat we were on until very recently. The big white building in the background is a multi-storied building with an very deep water tank in it. It is used to trail Navy seals.
Anchor dropped and Captain Alex goes to work preparing our food. Claude and I asked for water to drink. It was brought to us in very nice glass glasses. I was expecting a bottle. Not so for this dining experience. Claude and I each chose the same items for our dinner. We started with these shrimp boats and it went up from there.
Our appetizers were Potato Goat Cheese Tarts. Then we had a Rosemary Mango salad. For our entree we enjoyed the fresh catch of the day which happened to be yellow snapper filets. Dessert was Decadent Strawberries served with Key Lime White Chocolate Whipped Cream. Man or man it was delicious. All the while the sun is setting and we are having nice conversation with the other two couples who were both from New York state.
Captain Alex was a microbiologist researcher and professor. Then he got out of that rat race and came to Key West. His dinner cruise is rated third in restaurants in Key West. He has plans to buy a larger vessel in the near future. He loves being on the water and meeting people as he serves them lovely meals. After he returned us to the harbor, he was doing a quick clean up and then he and Carrie were taking other couples out for an evening on the water.
Here was our sunset on Valentine's night. No flash of green but stunning nonetheless.
Back on shore we wandered back to Duval Street. Angelina's pizza was calling to Claude. A Mountain Dew was calling to Sandi. We enjoyed these treats and then strolled back to the Southernmost Inn or a good nights rest. We walked past the man dressed in a Darth Vader costume playing his banjo for donations. We walked past the mannequin in the window with a tee shirt over a baby bump with words on it that read "Do my shoes match?" The man playing his drums was there trying to also earn a few coins from passers by. He really needs to get something that plays a melody. The tourists doing the Duval Crawl in every pub along Duval Street were trying to walk down the street. I loved watching the people making cigars by hand outside cigar shops. So many interesting things to see.
We enjoyed the mints on our pillows and tried to get a good night's rest. We had an early morning on Sunday. Off to the Dry Tortugas National Park for us.
Dry Tortugas is located 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. It is named 'dry' because there is not one fresh water source on this island. It is called 'tortugas' because that is the Spanish word for turtle. There used to be plenty on the island. They have now moved to another island. The method to get there is a huge catamaran boat.
We were served breakfast on the 2 hour and 15 minute ride over to Dry Tortugas. There are no outdoor toilets or food services on the island. All that is done on the boat. While we were there a nice lunch was provided on the Yankee Freedom Ferry. Claude and I opted to walk the top of the moat around Ft. Jefferson when we arrived. Then we went back the the Yankee Freedom for our lunch. Then back to tour the inside of Ft. Jefferson. You can snorkle or swim if you choose. There are coral reefs around the outside of the island. Everyone is to be back on the Yankee Freedom by 2:45 so the boat can leave by 3pm. It was a very low stress kind of trip. We even scored a nap for Claude under the shade of trees on benches inside the fort before boarding the boat to return to Key West.
Here are a few pictures of Dry Tortugas National Park and Ft. Jefferson, the Civil War Fort located on the island.
There is a picture in the middle of these that is a home made metal boat. This was used by Cuban refugees to make the crossing to America. The last picture is of the 2nd floor cell of Dr. Samuel Mudd. He set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. This fort is a photographers heaven. So many views and angles to try and snap a picture from. I'm just a picture taker. One lady hefted a big camera and case all over this fort taking what would hopefully be the perfect picture.
We returned to Key West and found Johnny Rocket's for dinner. There are so many places to eat in Key West. We passed Sloppy Joe's many times. It is a must visit for most people. It is very open to the sidewalk on two sides. We did not ever enter. Just way to loud and appeared to be mostly drinkers. I was very happy with a Mountain Dew from Angelina's.
Monday was our last day in Paradise. Our flight was to leave at 5:45 for Atlanta and from there to Lexington. The weather reports were not good for Kentucky. They were not even looking great for Atlanta. We decided to proceed as though we were going home. But I kept a careful watch on the Lexington Airport as it cancelled flight after flight through the morning Monday.
We slept in and left our room just before 11am. We left our baggage in the lobby and walked to Blue Heaven for a nice lunch before our journey home. This place was recommended by a friend in Lexington. While on Key West we had two other people say we should make sure we ate at Blue Heaven. What a fun place this turned out to be.
From the ping pong table to the lady reading your palms, from the sails tied across the tree tops to the roosters wandering and crowing around your feet, from the bar built in the middle to the shower at the base of some trees, this was just one mass of eclectic wonder. None of our dishes matched. None of the tables matched. It is just a hodgepodge. Service is cheerful. It is a mom and pop operation that has caught on and we only had to wait an hour to enjoy it!!! Yep, we would recommend this to anyone visiting Key West.
Back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and catch the taxi back to the airport. We checked in and had our fear confirmed that Lexington Airport was shut down. We were counseled to get to Atlanta as there would be more options from there. We were told there were no flights available for Tuesday from Atlanta to Lexington either. We booked our flight on Wednesday morning. I found a hotel in Atlanta and we were off to the Conch Flyer to wait to board our plane. This is a little restaurant with barstools that have legs made out of propellers. We waited here until time to go through security and walk across the tarmac to our plane. This is a tiny airport with old school conditions.
We arrived in Atlanta to a downpour of rain. The concern was for freezing conditions overnight that would turn this to black ice. Fortunately our hotel was right next to a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant. We pulled up our hoods on our jackets and made for the restaurant for a nice dinner. By the time we got back to our room, it hit. I was definitely sick. I had no energy, I was coughing and was beginning to have chills and fever. Into my pajamas and under the covers I went for a good nights rest and hopefully to feel better the next morning.
Tuesday morning Claude woke up sick. We don't know what we have but it totally drains you of all energy. Claude wandered down to the breakfast buffet and got us a few items to eat. Other than that we would need to dine on vending machine fare as there was no restaurant in our hotel. Honestly, we were really not hungry for anything. We used any medicine Claude had in his overnight bag. He wandered out to a larger hotel near us and cleaned the meds out their little gift shop. We found ourselves grateful for a day of rest in Atlanta and concerned about our ability to fly home on Wednesday due to our health. It was not a pretty sight.
We did manage to get home on Wednesday. That landing in Lexington was the smoothest of the four landings on this trip. I had talked with Papa every day while we were gone. He was sure he had 14 to 17 inches of snow in his back yard. A friend posted pictures of the grocery store with empty shelves. I left Papa with lots of groceries for the 5 days we were to have been gone. Now we had been gone a week and he would need at minimum the fresh items, milk, bananas, and we would need milk and bread. Fortunately, we took the Jeep to the airport and had it to drive home in.
Claude got us to Kroger by Papa first. I went in and decided I would get whatever I could. Fortunately they were fully stocked. I just bought all the groceries I thought Papa might need for the next week and us the bread and milk we needed to get by for a bit.
The Claude took us to Papa's. Yes, there was over a foot of snow in his driveway. The plow had done his street but left a huge hill of crunched up snow about 4 feet out from the end of his driveway. Claude put the Jeep in 4-wheel drive and we made it through that mound of snow and into his driveway. While I took groceries inside, Claude drove back and forth over the driveway to flatten the snow. We neither had it in us to shovel. I refilled Papa's medicine boxes and made sure he was tucked in safe and sound. Then we were off to Sadieville.
Our driveway and been plowed by someone. But there was at least 5 inches of snow in it. The end of our driveway was similar to Papa's except only about 2 feet of yuck. Claude put the Jeep back in 4-wheel drive and we made it in the driveway. We just took out stuff inside, laid it on the bedroom floor, got in warm sweats and curled up in front of the television. No energy and cold to the bone.
This is a ridiculous change from the sun of Key West. Most of this snow is still on the ground and it has been 10 days since the initial snow fall. Brutally cold temperatures and a little more snow just keep up this fun.
Thursday, the 19th we stayed in our home and down all day. I did get the suitcases empty and wash done. Claude took the ham bone he froze at Christmas and made some really good soup. That was it for Thursday.
Friday Claude and I shoveled our driveway in the morning. Then we went to bed for 2 hours before heading to Georgetown. Papa's chair was broken. He really needs that chair. Claude took what he might need to fix it and while he manhandled that chair and found out what he needed to repair it, I worked on shoveling the end of Papa's drive. At this point I would not have been able to drive my car into and out of his driveway. The only way we were doing that was with the Jeep and 4-wheel drive. Claude repaired the arm on Papa's chair and the broken mechanism for the foot rest. We left for Sadieville and back to bed.
As of today, Thursday, February 26th, we are still not on our game. We don't think we are contagious. We are out and doing things a little. But even doing one thing and we are exhausted. Not sure what this is but it is exhausting.
From Paradise to Purgatory. Opposition in all things makes you appreciate that great time in Key West. The snow here has thawed and refrozen enough till it almost looks like the world is an ice skating rink. Amazing!!
