2/15/13-2/18/13

   Sue, you must cringe every time you read this.  I can tell I'm in such a hurry I don't proof read very well!  Just to let you know, I usually edit things when I reread it to see where to start the next one.  and than goodness for spell check. I got the record everything genes and you got the accuracy!
   Valentines night it rained like crazy!  In the morning it had pretty much stopped and felt warm so we wore our shorts and t-shirts and hopped on the local bus. The bus ride to the Keys was an adventure in itself.  The locals use it to get to and from work so we learned a lot from them.  Everyone is very talkative and Jerry got all his questions answered!  We were only 40 miles from Key west over bridges and across more keys but it took 1 1/2 hours.  The cost was $4.50 for Jerry and $1.50 for me the senior!  Everyone said to do this instead of struggle with the parking and they were right!
    We got to Key West about 2.  The first thing we did was see a cruise ship at dock.  So huge it is just unbelieveable and all we could think about was the recent event on the Carnival Cruise line....
     Bought a ticket for the Trolley Tour (1 hour long talking tour and you can get off and on 8 different spots)  We got on and realized we were starving so got off, had some lunch and hopped on again.  Oh, by the way, It started raining again about halfway to Key West and rained the entire time we were there.  It may have been fairly warm when were were dry but wet....Oh my!
      We did ride the open sided cable car looking trolley and got a great tour but we were freezing.  We saw the Southernmost spot in the US, the Truman "little white house",  the Key West cemetery (raised like New Orleans for the same reason, high water table!), climbed to the second highest spot on the island (8ft.), the lighthouse and so much beautiful architecture.

 Trolley had pull down plastic windows but we couldn't see through them so we just got wet!

 See the cruise ship in the back ground

 The customs house

Key lime pie place.   We stopped there the next day.

 Cemetary

That's hot coffee...too cold for beer.  And Marilyn in the rain!

     We lasted as long as we could and caught the bus back.  We met some great folks from North Carolina and got their e-mail address. When we got back to the RV place, we were able to get Survivor on our computer!!!  Woo Hoo, we're still in the running!  Slept like rocks!
 
 2/16 Saturday we woke to a cold and windy day but decided anything was better than wet so hopped on the bus about 11 this time (Jerry with his sweatshirt and me with my windbreaker).  Some of the same folks on the bus as yesterday but lots more!  Standing room only!  and 1 1/2 hours is a long time to stand! (we could sure tell the next day). When we got to town a man we remembered and talked to the day before got off and forgot his computer.  Jerry and I noticed and stopped the bus and the fellow had been chasing us!  Very grateful! (the Karma thing works as you will see!)
    The most important thing I wanted to do was see the Ernest Hemingway House, Jerry, not so much.  I had an amazing tour and saw and petted descendants of his 6 toed cats, saw the desk where he wrote most of his novels, and heard the back stories about his 4 wives.

 Real cat!

 His second wife loved chandeliers and she had many!

 Yep, that's a real cat allowed to sleep on their bed!

 Love those shutters!  on the second floor deck.  also with fans.

 stairs to his office where he wrote most of his stories.  He used to have a bridge from the house so only he could access it!

His office and desk with his hunting trophys

The front of the house

 We then went to have lunch and Jerry discovered he didn't have his Visa card....Probably back at the trailer but the Mad Rooster restaurant from yesterday was where he thought he last used it.  We had no idea where the restaurant was and  decided not to let it ruin our day so we wandered Duval street, took the trolley again (free the 2nd day!).  This time we got off over at the waterfront walk.  Saw a huge restaurant,  (the Conch Republic), tiny hole in the wall places and tons of cool stuff and finally got my slice of Key Lime Pie!    Lots of live music.  At Sloppy Joe's was the Doerfel Family.

 A group of siblings (oldest 6 of 10 kids, ages 14- early 20s) from New York who now make Key West their home.  They played everything from bluegrass to Bruce Springsteen.  They were absolutely amazing!!  Yep gonna get a CD!  At the Hogsbreath Saloon we saw Cliff Cody, a huge guy with huge talent!  Yep gonna get his CD too!

 Will wait til we get home to make sure we have enough $$ to pay for the gas home!
   We went back to the spot where the cruise ship had been docked and watched and very cloudy sunset from the "sunset spot" of Key West!  Lots of very cold tourists doing the same thing.

      As we wandered in the dark the place came alive with lights.  So pretty and it seemed there were more people than ever.  All of a suddenly, there was the Mad Rooster!  We walked in and asked and they handed Jerry his Visa card!!  (that's the Karma part).  What an amazing day.  We got the bus stop about 20 min early (8:15) and there were already a lot of folks in line!  4  ladies from New Jersey (all retired party girls!  50-65 or so) nearly started a fight.  A family with 3-4 kids walked in front of all of us to the front of the line and one of the ladies went over to tell him no way was that going to happen! The dad said he wanted to be sure his kids got a seat and the "Jersey Girl" let him know those are just kids and seniors should get the seats!!!  I thought I was on "Jersey Shore"!!  Jerry and I were having a tough time holding it together because it was sooo stereotypical we couldn't stand it.  And then they were chatting and laughing with us and some other guys from the morning bus who were also in line....It was sooo fun!
   Needless to say that when the bus arrived, that little family waited until everyone in line got on first!  And Jerry and I got to sit all the way home with the Jersey girls and had a great time learning of their escapades and where we should go next on our journey!

2/17/13
    Had a tough time leaving because we kept running into folks who wanted to chat.  We did let them know we had seen none of the Key Deer this Key is famous for.  They are a miniature deer (about as big as a med dog) and they apparently are everywhere! We saw pictures on people's phones, were told where to go to be sure to see some and still after wandering around town for an hour had seen none, so WE WILL BE BACK! We  headed north on hwy 1 and we could tell how far we were from Key West because we had seen Mile marker 0 there!  We had a "World Famous Fish Sandwich at "Craigs" on Plantation Key!
    We followed hwy 1 clear to Miami.  More tall buildings than we had seen on this trip (and maybe ever!) We took the bridge to Miami Beach and did a drive through.

 I wanted to see the art deco architecture and Jerry wanted to see the people and the beach and we did it all from the comfort of the car pulling our cute Casita behind.  The traffic was so slow we could hear the music and smell the food from the beachfront cafes.

We can really see why you love Florida, Kristi!!  Sorry Jerry, no bikinis today!  Most had heaters since it was another cold day In the 50-60s but windy.
    We drove up the island and over  to highway 95 then North to Fort  Lauderdale.  We drove down to the beach (It was evening by then) and had a lovely walk on the beach and then along the boardwalk.  Lots of shops and restaurants and loved the blue star lights on the light poles!

 I've never seen this done!

 Nice lady on the beach offered to take our picture.

 Lovely beach front walk.  Lifeguard stations and showers all along.  It must get warm enough to swim here.

There we are!  We called a number on the meter and gave the lady our visa number and she took the $2 off to park for the evening.  Pretty cool!

    We had scoped out and K Mart parking lot for boondocking (we even called and they said "sure") before we went to the beach, so we pulled in, jumped in our house, fixed some dinner, read a bit and went to bed!.