Check That Bucket List Item...

Sunday, February 16th, was the day to check off that bucket list item. We would drive the Ocean Highway from Florida City all the way to Key West. We were blessed with perfect weather. We drove to McDonald's for a quick breakfast. It was near our hotel. They did not have a soda I would drink and I am not fond of their biscuits. I hopped out of the car and walked next door to the Amoco Station while Claude got his bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. I found my first Mello Yello in a week!! They also had hostess cupcakes in the pumpkin flavor. Oh my, was that heaven. With our breakfast to go, we were back on Highway 1 or The Ocean Highway headed south to Key West. 

It takes 2 hours and 45 minutes to get from Florida City to Key West. It is important to know that before there was this highway, there was the Flagler Railroad. As you drive, you can see what is left of it. Some of it has been paved on the top and people like to walk out and fish from it. There are also stretches where you can ride a bicycle on it. Then there are places were it is simply being left to crumble away. It was a lovely ride indeed.

These are a few pictures from our drive. 

When we arrived in Key West, we had plotted three things we hoped to do. Having already visited Key West before, we had seen lots of things there. This trip we hoped to ride the Conch Train through old town Key West, visit the Audubon House and visit Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum. No tickets had been purchased ahead of time. We were at the mercy of availability.

The first task was finding a place to park the Buick. There is a small parking lot near Mallory Point. We headed for it. After circling the lot once, we found one spot at the end of a row. Claude took it. We fed the meter for four hours and headed off to see what of our three adventures we could accomplish.

When driving to the parking spot, we saw a kiosk selling tickets for the Conch Train. My Google search told me they didn't run on Sundays. Hmmm... We found the kiosk and learned they did indeed run on Sunday's and we could buy two seats on the next available train. Yippee.

This Banyan Inn had a huge banyan tree planted in front. However, one of the roots dropped down across the driveway into the next yard.

Our tour guide shared the most stolen sign in Key West. It is the "Mile 0" sign. The end of Highway 1 is at this intersection. Ironically, there is a gift shop right across the street that sell the Mile 0 signs. I found it amusing that last October we were at mile marker 0 of Route 66 in Santa Monica, California. Now, not even a year later, we are mile marker 0 in Key West, Florida. Cool. 

This marker is supposed to be the farthest south point in the United States. Actually, there is a little island in the distance that is also part of the United States and it is the real southernmost point. But this is a great photo op. 

This home decorated for Valentine's Day has two storks out front. We were told they are named Rhett and Scarlett. 

This home is made out of the coral rock on which Key West stands. It would be like the Coral Castle we visited in Homestead, Florida, except the rocks are cut and placed together. 

This enormous hotel was built by Flagler for his extremely wealthy passengers who came to Key West aboard his train. 

This is the Key West Cemetery. It is hard to tell but the graves are all above-ground crypts. The Key West Cemetery is a 19-acre park-like cemetery in Old Town Key West. It was established in 1847 after a hurricane exposed a cemetery that was previously located on the beach. It's estimated that as many as 100,000 people are buried in this sprawling 19-acre site—that's more than the some 30,000 living who currently reside in Key West. For this reason, it is believed Key West is the most haunted place in the United States. We did not see any ghosts!

Part of the old architecture is homes with gingerbread trim on them. They get a special plaque to put on their homes. I really liked this one with actual gingerbread men for their gingerbread trim. I will mention here that the ceilings of the porches are all painted a shade of blue. This is supposed to keep all those spirits away from their homes. Evidently, spirits will not cross water. Therefore, the ceiling of the porch painted blue makes them think they are at waters edge and they won't cross. It is also supposed to help keep out insects. 

The Smallest Bar is Key West...literally!!

The Conch train tour was very informative and pointed out things we would definitely have missed on our own. It dropped us off at Mallory Point. We quickly walked the few blocks to the Audubon House.

The house was built in 1946 by Captain John Huling Geiger. He was a very wealthy citizen due to the ship wreck industry in which he participated. At the time the home was built, the harbor was across the street, there were not all the buildings you see today. This allowed Captain Geiger to keep an eye out for ships who wrecked on the coral shores. Shipbuilders designed and built this home. The home stayed in the family for 104 years. The final owner was a recluse and the home fell into great disrepair. In 1958 the home was to be demolished. A group of ladies formed an association to restore the house. They chose the name of John James Audubon, not because he stayed in the house, he did not, but because Audubon did come to Key West for six weeks in 1832 and painted the local birds. There are two stories and an attic space to explore. There is a separate building in the back for cooking. The gardens are beautiful. The guide called in sick this day so we were given a printed sheet with information about the house and its contents and enjoyed a self-guided tour. 

The parlor.

The dining room.

Up a flight of stairs to the master bedroom. To the left was a small room for the man to dress in. The bedroom was in the middle. To the right was another small room for the lady to dress in.

Across the hall was the children's bedroom. 

Up the next flight of stairs to the attic was a room decorated to help you remember the birds and flowers of Key West. A little overdone for my tastes. Beautiful music played and you could sit on the sofa and just try to feel island life.

We went back downstair to the gardens and to visit the cook house. 

Right across the street was the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. We had time to visit it. Yeah!! Mel Fisher was a seeker of gold from shipwrecks. His life path led him to the Florida Keys. The museum contains an extensive collection of artifacts from 17th century shipwrecks, such as the Henrietta Marie, Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita found by Mel Fisher. As mentioned in the description of the Audubon House, in the 1800's many ships carrying great treasures of gold, silver, copper, etc., would wreck off the coast on the coral. The sea captains would see this and rush out to assist the sailors in getting to land from their wrecked ships. The team who reached the vessel first could then claim the good and the ship as their own. This wrecking industry was so successful it made Key West the richest city per capita in the entire United States for most of the 1800's. The ship Fisher is known for finding was the Atocha. It contained billions of dollars in gold, silver and copper in today's money. He found it after many years. Some of those artifacts are on display in this museum. It boggles my mind that I didn't take pictures of these treasures. Alas, I did not. It was a very interesting tour.

Time for a real meal. We chose First Flight as our restaurant for dinner. The building was the actual headquarters for Pan American Airlines. Their first flight was from Key West to Havana! We enjoyed fish tacos served with sides of beans and rice. I promptly mixed my beans and rice together because that is how I like them. Claude followed suit. The meal was delicious. Took us back to our first fish tacos in Juneau, Alaska years ago. Yum!!

Time to find a pillow. We would stay at the Best Western Hibiscus. Delightful room and the most expensive of our entire trip.

An Interesting Fact: When a baby is born on Key West, a conch shell on a stick is placed in front of the house. If it is a boy, the pointed end is up. If it is a girl, the open end is up.