Last post from Key West, Fl.

 

      Last night the rains that were forecast to arrive at 11 AM, did arrive at about 8:30 PM.  I'm glad to see that the weathermen in Florida are no better than the weathermen in NY.  Which is why, up in NY, we simply use an old mop head as a weather predictor.  If you touch it and it's dry, then it's not raining.  If it's wet, it is raining.  Much simpler!  Now I see that my second most favorite cousin, John, and his wife Pam, are reading my ramblings.  You remember that my most favorite cousin is Timmy and his wonderful wife Norma  up in Port St Lucie.  He promised to let me move in with him when I'm old and decrepit.  (You do remember that don't you Tim???)
     So today is our final day at Blue Water Key.  Debbie is definitely going to miss this place.  The sites are wonderful with lots of space.  Our tiki hut on site 81 was magnificent.  Since we're not sun worshipers, it was great having a place to get out of the sun, but still enjoy the water.  We were able to swim in the bay off of our dock, which would have been a great place to dock cousin Johnny's boat, if he had brought it down.  I'll have to take that up with him when we see him in a few weeks.  Key West proper is only 14 miles down the road, which allows us to get away from all the craziness down there.  Today we're scheduled to get Weezy washed and waxed although that may be a little iffy with these scattered rain storms still threatening us.  But the weather the past 12 days has been truly remarkable and we're actually a little concerned  about returning to the mainland since it's about 20 degrees cooler up there.  This crazy weather which is again effecting the entire east coast with ice and snow is actually quite fun to watch from Blue Water Key.  We truly do feel bad for all of you who are putting up with that mess!

     The last few days we've spent enjoying everything Key West has to offer.  While dining the other night at the Schooner Wharf Bar, we started  visiting with 3 sisters from Minnesota about the best key lime pie in Key West.  Even our waitress joined in the conversation.  Both agreed that the best Key Lime pie in Key West can be found at Blue Heaven.  So on Tuesday, Debbie and I included Blue Heaven in our stops.  We were destined for the beach again at Fort Zachary Taylor, but stopped for lunch at Blue Heaven.  A little parking tip for those visiting KW.  There seems to be ample free parking over near the CG vessel Ingham which is located right at the entrance to Fort Zachary Taylor.  We parked the jeep and walked a few blocks over to Blue Heaven for lunch.  Then we returned and drove into Fort Zachary Taylor.  There were no signs saying we couldn't park, and everything worked out fine.  The only problem was I forgot my camera (again!) so I don't have any pictures of the beach area.  You'll just have to take my word that it's a great place to visit.  We had a great lunch at Blue Heaven.  It has quite a history with it.  It's open seating in the backyard which is also the home to numerous chickens and roosters.  We paid no attention to them, and they payed no attention to us.  There was live music playing...bluegrass...which I love.  The menu had a history of the restaurant on the back which is always a must read.   It claimed that Ernest Hemingway used to referee boxing matches in the courtyard which is now the dining area.  And the roosters are the decedents from the cockfights that were held in KW.

Before I forget, Debbie says the Key Lime pie was the best she has ever tasted!  Oddly enough, the waitress recommended the Key Lime pie at Publix as a close second???
     Yesterday we spent a very nice day on the waterfront of KW.  It's amazing how many nice rainy days we've experienced over the years.  Debbie was on a mission to find the best ice cream in KW.  And by the time we found it, I was definitely ready.  The humidity was up a little yesterday, and us Northerners are not quite used to this weather yet.  Our search down Front Street was successful and we both enjoyed the homemade ice cream at the Key West Polar Bear Homemade Ice Cream Shop overlooking the waterfront of KW.  We stopped later on for a cool one at the Rum Barrel, one of the many taverns located along Front St.  It is probably famous for it's rum flavored drinks, but Debbie and I both settled for a nice cold beer.  We were the only ones up on the rooftop, and we had a nice view of the "tourists" enjoying the beautiful "rainy" day in KW.  As we were leaving, we warned the waiter that the thunderstorms were scheduled to start in about 3 minutes, although there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
      While downtown, we wandered into a little park and Debbie soon found a plaque "honoring" my last visit to Key West in 1982.  Actually the plaque commemorates the secession of Key West from the U.S. after the U.S. Border Patrol erected their checkpoint on U.S. 1 and questioned everyone leaving the Keys.  April 18, 1982....I remember it well!

      Tomorrow we're headed back to the mainland, destined for  Everglades City.  Debbie just finds this are of the Everglades fascinating, so we're going to spend a few days there.  Let's all hope for nice warm weather!