Key West
Drove to Marathon, FL yesterday. Half way down Florida Keys and location of RV park with decent price (for the Keys). Today we drove another 50+ miles to Key West. Old (historic) Key West is a grid of very narrow streets, little to no parking ($$-$$$ where available), lots of bicycles, even more tourists, many cars and even large trucks, trolleys, and tourist attractions and shops of all kinds. There are a number of museums and historical spots but most have gone commercial and if you do want to visit them there is no parking near them. We opted to take another Home Town Trolley tour so we didn’t have to deal with traffic and got to at least see (if not visit) many interesting spots and get an informative narration of what we were seeing. Not a place we would chose to spend a vacation but many do. The whole length of the Florida Keys is a mixture of water related tourist activities. Fishing, diving, snorkeling, jet skis, kayaks, tour boats and helicopters, restaurants, museums, etc., etc. Occasional communities with ‘normal’ retail. The lone road that traverses the Keys is pretty filled both ways with traffic. Must be quite interesting if there is a mandatory hurricane evacuation.
As with much of south Florida, Key West has a huge historical and cultural tie to Cuba. Chickens are a large part of Cuban culture where they run free. That bit of culture was transported to Key West. For some reason the chickens became protected. Killing them is a $500 fine. They are everywhere. We saw roosters, hens, and chicks of all sizes all over the city.
Key West cemetery. Graves are above ground. Not because of high water table (which does exist) but because ground is essentially a coral reef and digging is nearly impossible.
Closer to Cuba than the US mainland.
Hemmingway’s favorite bar.
Hemmingway’s house is beyond wall. Big tourist attraction (and $$$).
Beginning of US Route 1.
Southern most drivable point in the United States. We have now been to all four extremes.
Not as prolific as chickens but these guys are here if you know where to look.
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