Day 5: Key West

5/24/2011: The Florida Keys are a little over a hundred miles long and our goal to day was to drive to the far west end and visit Key West. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed west from our hotel, which is at mile marker 99 on Highway 1.

We didn't have any specific agenda, other than to make it to mile marker zero. We made a few stops on the way - one at a nature center that was not open until noon, and the other at the seven mile bridge to look at the beaches and bridge and watch some people fishing off the bridge. We had been at this same spot four years ago on a family trip and took some memorable pictures by a pair of palm trees. Much to our surprise, only one of the trees remains. The other must have died, because it was cut off.

On the trip we saw medical establishments for everything! A turtle hospital, a fisherman's hospital, a moped hospital (what?), a pirate's wellness center, and a bird hospital. It seems that a human can't get medical care unless he/she is a fisherman or a pirate!

Key West is a very interesting place! It has a small town charm and though it is a tourist trap, there isn't that gaudy touristy feeling. We visited a landmark - the southernmost point in the continental US. We had to stand in line for 15 minutes to take our pictures there!

We also bought a couple coconuts for drinking. The street vendor drilled a hole in them and we drank the "milk" with a straw. It was tasty! It's also supposed to be a very healthy drink.

We visited the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. It is a fortress that was used from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s to protect our borders. It was a pretty impressive structure with some very large canons.

The trip home was uneventful, and we munched on sardines and crackers for a snack as we drove. Lunch was peanut butter and jelly.

After a dip in the pool and some time lounging around, we went for another evening tennis match under the lights. No names will be mentioned, but let it be said that the person who won all the previous sets convincingly was in danger of losing the set tonight, but it was called early due to a broken string. The broken string was a handy excuse for the extremely close score and we will never know how that set would have ended up.