On the Road Again!

In 2014 when we were last in the south Florida area we had a few nights in Key West. We stayed in the Blue Marlin motel. A place that harks back to Hollywood of the 50's. I had a search around the net for a weekday or two during the second week we are away.  The Blue Marlin came out at £192 a night.  The lowest price anywhere in KW is £166. This is a night mind you.  Mmmmm. Maybe start to look for other places to visit during the Weston Week. We also like the Gulf Coast. April should be hurricane free so the choices should be pretty much as good or not better than when we have been in May and October. Gulp.  Back to the drawing board.

First stop after checking out of the Blue Marlin was the Harley shop. I don't usually buy HD t-shirts but seeing as we are in the US.... The sale rack didn't have my size!  In the US I am only XL but they had large and the bigger lad sizes going up to 5XL.  I had to let Claire go in as I was in the car and it was a no stopping zone. Circling around  the block was opportune as the block was by the famous Sloppy Joe's. Quick photo. I have loads of black t-shirts and now have a yellow one too!!!  I'll model it later. Getting out of Key West took some time as they seem to be road working all over town and in patches the length of the Overseas Highway. We stopped to drop some tailgaters. It works for Lewis Hamilton so why not me? The old Flagler railroad is alongside the road in a long metal bridge. Our next stop of the day was at Sunset Grille on Pigeon Key.  As it was only about 1130 we wanted a coffee but lunch is early here and so we had an appetiser each. I had ...

What is there to do in Key West? A lot as it happens and not all of it involves lying on the beach. After breakfast by the pool, we got ready to walk ourselves into the ground. Firstly the Ernest Hemmingway house and museum. Another $22 to get in each, but the guide Rusty took a small group around and made it enjoyable. Little tales about Ernest and the four wives. And the cats. Check it out for yourselves.. Google! Six finger cats. We have them at home on the Romney Marsh. And after a couple of hours we dragged ourselves into the hunt for the post office to send the laundry card back to Punta Gorda (!) and then lunch. We shunned the chains and went in Sippin' on the Corner of Duval and Eaton. Nice place, best coffee so far... And an artist painting their walls. I'll see if they are on Tripadvisor!! It was another long slog back. In about 90F everything for us is hard work. After a swim where I found out that the ground gets hot enough to burn feet! Left aqua  shoes in Weston....

TomTom had a rather lengthy time set to cover 30 miles or so and we couldn't believe he was right. He was. We arrived at the Blue Marlin about 5.15pm!! We weren't in long before we set off for what turned out to be four hours foot slogging around Duval Street to the top of the town and then back the whole length of Simonton to the hotel.  We passed the Southernmost Point beacon and queue! The long line for people wanting their pic taken. Not for me!!   You can see it right? One stop for ice cream and another for a beer in an Oirish Pub; the most Irish on there being Claire Brigid and her quarter Irish bloodline! Still Guinness at the same price as at home? Not to be turned down. The famed sunset didn't happen. Too much cloud. Our dinner was at a Chinese place up the street from the Blue Marlin.  Not bad as it happens. Then a damned long walk back to the motel for TV and bed!  

Already? Time flies.  After the lamesville day yesterday and an evening watching John Boy Walton get married and three back to back episodes of The Middle, today is Keys Day. I dialled TomTom to take us to the Blue Marlin Motel in Key West and to avoid toll roads. So we left Mizner and headed south on 997. Over thirty miles of dead straight 55mph road. Boring. The main section between US41 and US1 seems to be Latino garden centre heaven. Miles and miles of nurseries. I used $25 of the timeshare visa on fuel. The Mustang seems happy on 87 Regular unleaded. And then we were on the Overseas Highway. In places you cannot imagine the view, made photographically impossible by the three foot high concrete side walls to the road, but is almost fantastic. I was  looking for the place I stopped in 1991 on the borrowed Kawasaki. I didn't see anything remotely like the dirt/sand pull off after one of the bridges. We pulled off at the Dolphin Research Centre on Marathon Key. It's $23 each ...

My first trip to the US was in December 1991. The trip was just as I had been made redundent and I took the opportunity to to go Miami and see out my job at Burger King HQ. I was lucky enough to stay with a work colleague in her condo near Coral Gables.  I was lucky when she was at work to use her car, and for a week, her neighbour's Kawasaki. Trips included the Keys and up to Sarasota and Sanibel. KZ750 on way to the Keys I have only a few photos of the trip and have managed to scan a few. Sunset Key West The days I went down the Key West and the place was full and buzzing. Back in '91 Gay Pride wasn't as public and "out there" as it is now.