So much to do and see in Key West!

Mackie in Key West

1/31 (Thursday)-2/2 (Saturday)
     We took the shuttle to the downtown historic district of Key West.  There is so much to see and do in this busy, crowded space of about 6 square miles!  It is full of historic buildings and has such a  rich history of pirates, gold, shipwrecks, art, bars, music, restaurants, seafood, museums sunsets at Mallory Square and most of all tourists!  What an interesting blend of people walking around, riding scooters and bicycles,  eating, bar-hopping, shopping and looking for fun! We saw the furthermost point in the United States, beautiful beaches which are somewhat different from what we are used to on the gulf.  Since the island is surrounded by coral reef, there are no waves and the beaches can be a little rocky.  But, the water is so clear and beautiful, it makes up for the lack of sand! In fact, they import sand from Miami to build up the beaches for the visitors to enjoy a beach!
   

Karl at mile zero

Check out the Six paws

Our first stop was the Ernest Hemingway house.  Hemingway lived here in 1931 for 10 years and did most of his writing in this home.  The home itself is built out of limestone and has withstood many hurricanes.  He has a very colorful history, was married 4 times and enjoyed his whisky, fishing and bar fights!  He frequently visited Sloppy Joe's bar and today it is a pretty famous watering hole! He also loved his cats, bringing in some unusual cats that have six toes!  Our tour guide said he thought they would bring him luck since they have 9 lives, maybe more with 6 toes!  There are currently about 56 cats living around the house, all have names of famous people and movie stars, so we can say we saw Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart!  I am now inspired to read and reread some of Hemingway's novels and stories.
   

Truman Little White House

 After an enjoyable lunch on an outside deck surrounded by lovely banyan trees and palm trees, we went to Harry S. Truman Little White House.  We learned so much about this past president during a delightful tour of the house.  It was built in 1890 to use as Naval Officers quarters.  It was used by Truman as the winter White House, because his doctor said he needed to be in a warmer climate due to health issues.  This was a perfect spot for him, it was protected by navy officers and has since been used as presidential retreats for several presidents.  We then walked all around town, easily getting our 10,000 steps!
 

This Speaks for Itself

Michael McCloud has been singing his own songs there for years

   1/2  Friday.  Today we went to the historic waterfront district.  We ate lunch at Schooners Wharf, which is a place where we have frequently been.  The same guy was there singing and playing his guitar that we have seen many times.  He smokes cigarettes, keeping a lit one attached to his guitar strings most of the time.  His original songs are about Key West, women, drinking, booze, fishing, boats and hurricanes.  He is pretty irreverent, but it is just who he is and he does not apologize for it!  It is always fun to go to this bar.  We went to Kermit's for their famous slice of Key Lime pie, and it was just as good as we had remembered!
     We then did a very touristy thing, something we would never think of doing when we have visited here before when we were younger, because we thought that it was just for older tourists! At that time, we were more interested in the whole experience of Key West, the bars, music, art, fishing and water sports! But since we now are the "older tourists," we decided to take the World Famous Conch tour Train ride! We actually learned a lot about the history of Key West and it highlighted some of the more famous places to visit.  We found that we have already visited a lot of these places!  It was a fun experience, you could hop off and on at various spots around the city.

     I must mention about the roosters and hens that are all over the city!  They almost seem like they are taking over!  Turns out, they were brought here during the early days, when cock fighting was a popular sport by the drinking crowd and it was allowed.  I am so glad that it is not legal anymore, but it looks like the roosters have gotten their revenge!  They are now protected, and the fine for harming one is $500!  They are everywhere, in open air bars and restaurants and walking down the streets, holding up traffic, etc.