Move Over Jimmy Buffet

That's me in the doorway of our cottage

Well here we are at the end of our recent excursion to Key West. One of the best things about Key West is the time. Everything runs in slow motion - even the motorcycles. It's easy to fall into the easy going casual atmosphere here as soon as you park the car and take to the streets.

Each evening, the sun puts on a spectacular show for free and we took it in on our first night there in Mallory Square. This is also where I discocvered that marvelous concoction called a mudslide. It is made of Irish cream, kahlua and vodka. Yummmmm.

Duval Street was alive with a wonderful variety of people young and old, dressed everywhich way but formal. It is impossible to differentiate the millionaires from the paupers by appearances. The noise and music from the open air bars and restaurants drifts into the street keeping pace with the rhythm of life.

Only in America can a magnificant theater like The Strand become a Walgreens.

This is where Ernest Hemingway came to write when he wasn't fishing or drinking at Sloppy Joe's. It's the place where shipwrickers and especially Mel Fischer, became millionairs, where Harry Truman had his vacation White House, and where roosters roam freely along the streets and occasionally into the restaurants.

The architecture is unique and inviting and the palm, banyon, and kapok trees are abundunt and lush.

And sometimes it is even difficult to tell what is real and what is not.

Only 70 miles away, and accessible only by boat or seaplane lies the Dry Tortugas National Park.

 We took a high speed cagtamaran out to the island which includes both breakfast and lunch on the boat. First we toured Fort Jefferson which was  built as a Civil War fortification and later used as a prison. It was here that Dr. Sammuel Mudd spent his days of confinement under the most severe conditions. This was his reward for following his hippocratic oath setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth after he assasinated President Lincoln.

 Most of this park is underwater where coral reefs attract a myriad of sea creatures.

It was very hot in the sun which made it easy to hit the water after lunch with the snorkel gear. We were warned that the Man of War Jellyfish population had recently increased and to stay clear of them as their sting can be devastating. I was able to take in some brain coral, and abundance of plant life and a large baracuda, or two or three before giving up trying to allude the jellies.

The water is extremely clear and, thanks to a recent series of calm sea days, many of the local residents were visible with the naked eye from above the water along the moat wall of Fort Jefferson. Walking along the moat wall after my swim was a lot more rewarding. Don't ask me to name what I saw, you just have to take my word that I saw a great deal of marine life in its natural habitat.

We finished our trip with a delicious dinner at a waterfront restaurant where I indulged myself with Key West Pinks (shrimp) caught that day in the very waters we had just traversed.

 So anytime you have an opportunity to travel down to the point where Highway 1 begins and ends don't miss it. I guarantee you'll have an adventure worh the trouble.

We sure did.