Visiting Key West

     Sunday morning arrived and we sat around our waterfront tiki hut trying to decide if we should just sit tight and enjoy site 81, or travel south 14 miles and see what Key West has to offer.  After my 3rd cup of coffee, a decision was made to make the move down to MM 0.  Checking "the Google" as "W" liked to say, we found a Catholic Church in Key West with several morning masses.  Problem was, we waited so long, that the next mass we could make was going to be the Spanish Mass.  I thought that was going to be pretty interesting, so we got ready and headed for KW.  Parking seems to be a real problem as you get closer to downtown KW, but fortunately we located a spot on one of the side streets. We found the Basilica of St Mary's Star of the Sea, and since we were a tad early, we had the opportunity to wander around the gardens nearby.  It is believed that the first mass was celebrated in 1847 although numerous attempts were made earlier in the formation of a Catholic Church in Key West.  The convent next door which was opened by a group of nuns from Canada,  was converted into a hospital in 1898 during the Spanish American War.  It was a very nice Mass and Debbie seemed to enjoy it even though she didn't understand anything except "Amen."
 
     After Mass, we went for a walk heading toward Duval Street which is where Key West comes alive.  The streets are small and packed with shops, bars, and restaurants.

     There are numerous open air bars where you can grab a cold beer and just do a little people watching.  

It was only noon, but live music was already pounding from several establishments.  If you look closely, you can see $1 bills tacked to the ceiling and post all around this bar.  Just prior to leaving, we received 2 plastic cups from Betsy H. memorializing her recent visit to the Hog's Breath Saloon.  Debbie and I headed down Duval St to see what it was all about.  It wasn't long before we found signs pointing down a small alley, and at the end we found the infamous bar.  

      I wasn't sure about Debbie, but I had worked up quite a thirst searching for this establishment, and it wasn't long before we were settled down and ordering a nice cold beer.  There were stickers from all over the world pasted everywhere around the bar, and we even found an "ADK" sticker on one of the beams.  Made us feel right at home!

     We continued working our way toward Mallory Square on the waterfront where we found a cruise ship docked and numerous power/sailboats anchored off in the distance.  We slowly worked our way up the side streets, trying to stay in the shade since it was in the low 80's and our blood is still quite thick from being up north.  I think it will take a few days for us to adjust to the heat and humidity.  Quite a problem isn't it???  We arrived back at the jeep and made a loop around the city enjoying all the views, and noting places we would visit the next time we came to town. We made our way over to U.S. 1 and located MM 0, but the long line of tourists waiting to get their picture next to it convinced us to try again another day.    

     We headed back to Site 81, and enjoyed a nice dinner and peaceful sunset.  What to do tomorrow???