WE REALLY LOVE KEY WEST

February 19

After a stellar breakfast at the hotel, we took the shuttle to Old Town Key West at 9 a.m.  We decided to book the Orange Trolley Town Tours so we could get off and on the bus easily where we wanted to stop.

§         We headed to the Ernest Hemingway house at 907 Whitehead Street. He lived and wrote there for ten years. The house is the only house in the Keys with a basement (14 ft. high) and his wife had the first swimming pool in Florida built there.  Polydactyl cats abound and all are descended from Hemingway’s cats. A full time staff cares for the 40-50 cats that live there and a veterinarian visits the cats once a week.

§         We met Tim’s cousin Joe, his wife Sarah, and six year old son for lunch at Fogarty’s---another culinary delight of shrimp po’ boy sandwich for Tim and a Cobb salad for me. Joe and Sarah shared some Key West insight.  Joe’s Bait Shop and Restaurant on Margaret Street keeps him quite busy (http://www.keywestbaitandtackle.com/) and the laid back atmosphere is only for tourists. Sarah is a 3^rd grade teacher at a Key West public school and told us  of the stringent requirements for teachers and students and there is no slacking there. Tenure is being eliminated as well as some retirement benefits.

§         Joe walked with us to the end and beginning of U.S. Highway 1, and then on to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum (http://www.melfisher.org/). I waited 28 years to see the treasure of that Fisher recovered from Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a ship that wrecked in the Florida Straits in 1622 carrying 24 tons of silver bullion, silver coins, gold bars, copper ingots, and jewels (emeralds), and more. I particularly liked the emerald cross that is presumed to have been a gift for the Catholic pope of the time (http://www.insideflorida.com/detail/mel-fisher-museum/ ) and the thick gold linked chain about 36 inches in length.

§         We finished our visit in Old Town with soda, arepas (corn bread sort of like pancake filled with mozzarella cheese), and hot pretzels at Sloppy Joe’s.  A band was playing and the atmosphere was certainly party-like! We walked to the Key Lime pie factory and had a slice of pie and back to the hotel by shuttle.  I can add Key West to my all time favorite cities, New Orleans and New York City!