Beginning with a peripatetic journey to the Florida Keys in 1974, I have returned to the Florida Keys roughly once each decade to "glimpse the changes time has wrought". These incremental snapshots create a unique perspective, not unlike watching a person age in ten-year increments. In the 1970s, there were around 50,000 inhabitants compared with nearly 80,000 today. About 30,000 resided in Key West, while another 5000 lived adjacent to mainland Florida in Key Largo. This meant the other 15,000 folks were scattered among the 100-mile long chain of islands between Key Largo to Key West in the 1970s.
Starting in Key Largo, Highway 1 in the 1970s was a narrow two-lane road that meandered through sleepy island towns and across 42 low concrete drawbridges dead-ending in Key West. Today, U.S. 1 has several four-lane segments and several high-rise bridges to allow maritime access. My most recent Florida Keys visit began on 2/8/15 with Art, my Mom and their cat, Princess meeting me at the Miami International airport in their 30-foot RV.
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| Princess, the cat! |
Recently adopted from a shelter, poor Princess was clearly a victim of a massive bait-and-switch. After a short period of adaptation to a nice, stationary house in Reno, she suddenly found herself bouncing cross-country in an RV. After hiding under the bed in the rear compartment for the first 2500 miles, by the time of my arrival in Miami she was gradually adapting to her new life on the road. She had ventured out to a small space under the sofa in the forward compartment and was even napping on the bed at times.
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| Our RV along the Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys |
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| For reference, the tile is a foot square |
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| Dining table lamps at the Wharf Bar & Grill |
On our drive out to Key West, we stopped for lunch at the Wharf Bar & Grill on Summerland Key. Serving primarily seafood, the food at the Wharf was quite tasty and also notable for iguanas slumbering beside the deck.
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| Entrance to Boyd's RV Park |
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| View from our RV site...obviously our neighbor has been there awhile! |
Boyd's RV Park in Key West is located adjacent to a marina and we were assigned a site that might be called a "partial water view". Although my total RV Park experience is limited to a half dozen locations, it is interesting to note human RV behavior with respect to privacy. Although people & vehicles are often arranged "cheek to jowl", there is relatively little exchange of words or glances. Apparently, this veneer of privacy is quite typical for "one nighters", but apparently softens if one spends multiple nights in the same park.
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| Dollar bill wallpaper at Willie T's |
Feeling adventurous, I decided to explore the Key West bus system on the Green Route bus. Although the bus map shows five primary bus routes designated by colors, four of the "routes" are in reality two routes where the busses simply run in opposite directions on the same route. Each round-trip route takes about 90 minutes...and there is always only one lonely bus running on each of the colored routes at any time!
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| Art & Mom at sunset |
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| Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico |
The next day we departed Boyd's by foot for a short walk to lunch at the Rusty Anchor restaurant. Located far away from the "tourista" district in Key West, the Rusty Anchor has been serving seafood since 1983 and has the ambiance of a "locals place". Following an enjoyable meal, we had an interesting exchange with an inebriated fellow while waiting for our taxi who wanted us to "look him up on the Web" as he was "locally famous". We had another interesting exchange with our taxi driver discussing the newly proposed "common sense" Town Council regulations for the annual Key West "FantasyFest" (http://www.fantasyfest.com) held during Halloween week. While attired only in spray paint, some folks apparently wander into the produce aisles of local grocery stores and scare children.
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| Key West architecture on Duval Street |
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| One of the ubiquitous roosters/chickens in Key West |
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| Obligatory tourist photo! |
Our taxi deposited us at the foot of Whitehead Street, locally celebrated as the "Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S." This southernmost point was originally just marked with a sign, which was often stolen. In response to this, the city of Key West erected the now famous concrete buoy in 1983. According to Wikipedia, the concrete buoy is actually an old sewer junction that was dug up in the area and found too large and heavy to move, so it was painted to look like a buoy. Today it is one of the most visited and photographed attractions in Key West.
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| The Bull, Whistle and Garden of Eden on the roof! |
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| People-watching on Duval Street |
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| View of Duval Street from the Bull & Whistle |
We wandered north up Duval Street through the myriad of tourist shops, bar and restaurants. Art bought a shirt and Mom bought a sweatshirt for what promised to be a breezy and cool (60s) evening. Towards the north end of Duval Street, we stopped for a drink at the Bull & Whistle. It was not until later that we learned that the uppermost floor of the Bull & Whistle is the infamous "Garden of Eden" clothing-optional bar nightclub.
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| Pier & Mallory Square named after this Senator, lawyer & Confederate |
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| Mom being de-Mini Pearled by Art |
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| The Old Man and the Sea |
As it was nearly 5pm, we headed over towards Mallory Square, site of the famous Key West sunset celebration. Adjacent to Mallory Square is a "bust garden" (bronze...no police or cleavage!) exhibiting several notable characters in Key West history. While we were walking around this bust garden, Mom realized she was sporting the Mini Pearl look with her new sweatshirt price tag flapping in the breeze.
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| Firestick juggler at Sunset on Mallory Square |
Back in the 1970s, the Key West "Sunset" celebration was held on a empty dirt lot near Mallory Pier attended by a few dozen people. In that era, the beautiful Key West sunsets were further enhanced by a plethora of inebriants and hallucinogenics. Whereas "No Peddling" was the rule in the '70s, Mallory Square has now gone "like, totally" commercial. The entire area is now hard-surfaced with shops lining the perimeter of the square. There are musicians, firestick jugglers and crowds of several hundred with cruise ships docked nearby.
As the time for "Sunset" drew near, flocks of tourists began to migrate towards the waterside edge of the pier. We decided this was a good time to exit and head towards our chosen restaurant, the A & B Lobster House. We were seated on their second story wraparound balcony overlooking the marina. This was an awesome restaurant choice with great food, excellent service and a view!
Conversation during our taxi ride back to Boyd's RV Park immediately shifted to further discussion of the proposed FantasyFest regulations. Our taxi driver held up a roll of paper towels she always keeps in her cab for the naked FantasyFest revelers to sit upon. Perhaps over-sharing, she confided that she personally hates the feeling of fabric on her skin and twice emphasized that she is simply a "nudist", not an "exhibitionist" like the FantasyFest folks. We were clearly not in Kansas anymore!
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| High quality takeout at the Eaton Street Seafood Market |
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| Stone Crab claws |
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| Lunch of Stone Crab claws and Key Lime pie |
The next morning, I realized I had left my credit card on the bar at the Bull & Whistle. A phone call revealed my card had been turned in and was being held for me. Since we were departing Boyd's RV Park this morning to begin our trip back towards Miami, Art decided he would navigate the 30-foot RV through the narrow streets of downtown Key West so I could retrieve my credit card. He found a nice spot on Simonton Street near Eaton Street and pulled over to wait. I retrieved my credit card and, as a bonus, went to the Eaton Street Market to procure takeout stone crabs and Key Lime pie. This made for a very tasty roadside lunch!
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| Amanda, the disembodied GPS voice |
Finally, it was time for Amanda (the disembodied GPS voice) to navigate us back to the Miami airport. She did quite well until she suggested we exit onto an exit ramp that was under construction. Art circumnavigated the entire Miami airport, finally getting us back to the proper airport entrance while Amanda fretted about our deviation from her routing. After we said our good-byes, Art & Mom headed west towards Naples to continue their great RV adventure.
Posted by TBW Travel Today!