Farthest Away From Home Now! Sunday, November 25.

Yesterday we made it to the point farthest away from home for this trip!

Key West, Florida is not only the farthest point away into the south east of the USA but it is the farthest point south on mainland USA.

In fact Key West is about 90 miles north of Cuba and straight west of the Bahama Islands. We are closer to Havana, Cuba than we are to Miami, Florida!

How far is it to home from here?
Good question!

Key West is located at the Red Star on the right side.
We are quite away down south now!

Now, one should prepare themselves for a visit to Key West.
I say this for a number of reasons.

This wasn't one of them...

As one gets to the other end of Duval Street there are some.. lets say establishments there that are not where I would take my children. In fact some of the staff is on the sidewalks trying to lure you in, so I wouldn't even walk down their with young people.

If you thought the guy above looked weird that is nothing compared to what I am talking about. I am talking about... I will leave that to your imagination because most of it is right there in your face. As the sun goes down... things come out and the city changes a bit.

Before heading down to KW, I would read (as one should for any city visit) about the history first to better relate to what you are seeing.
There are a lot of interesting facts, sights, historical moments and sounds in this little city!

Here is a Link outlining some of it: Key West Preparation from Jim!

When we arrived in town we started off with a nice seaside lunch at the Hyatt Hotel.

Barb in her Sun Hat, always looking so good!

Part of our lunch time view.

We decided rather than walk that we should rent a Scooter!
I have a couple of tips here too.
TIP: Ask to see the Scooter first and make sure it is in good condition. Long after we left the so-called rental agency I discovered that we didn't have either signal lights or brake lights!

Just call me "Scooter!"

I thought he said he'd rent me a Harley?

That didn't stop the fun though and we covered a huge part of town. Its not as quaint as walking but you can see so much more this way and it is the next best thing.

Nice beach eh!
Sure beats the Ghost Dam back home.

Just watch out for the darn tourists driving because half of them don't know where they are going and they may surprise you with a last minute turn!

This wasn't a Tourist - I don't think?

Everyone in town heads over to Mallory Square to watch the sun set. Apparently this is a ritual they follow each & every day. When in Rome!

We headed over and what a beautiful sight. It reminds one of the favorite sunsets of times gone by. Add in sailboats and others on the water along with a slight warm breeze & Carribbean music in the background & wow.

Sunset Watchers Everywhere!

This makes me want to go sailing again!

Some of the best Sunsets anywhere... just ask all of these people!

We really enjoyed ourselves at Key West for a number of reasons.
The picture below wasn't one of them.

One reason Barb didn't like this place as much.
I thought we should go in and have a look around!

It can get very busy down here with tourists and if you happen to be unlucky enough to hit it when the cruise ships are in port lookout! Thankfully that didn't happen on our visit.

The main street is called Duval Street. It is a must to wander the little shops and when you get tired of T Shirts there are lots of places to stop for a nice bite to eat or a refreshment.

Duval Street is where the action is!

We decided to stop in here for a cool drink.

There's always something happening here on Duval!

Do not drive while on your cell phone!

Lots of neat old homes, Inns and more.

Lovers in Key West Dancing.

Lovers in Key West riding a scooter!

TIP: do not wear flip flops when trekking around like this!

Much of the afternoon was spent looking around to about 930pm. We got so tired we knew it was time to drive back home. On the way back to the car the second TIP of the day came to life.

TIP #2: Don't buy $6.42 cookies. They are large, they are good but...

Our motor home was parked about 45 minutes north up the Keys at Bahia Honda State Park. It doesn't look far but the highway speeds are slow and sometimes there is a lot of traffic.

BAHIA HONDA State Park:
Have a look here at this Link: Bahia State Campground

Aerial View

Campsites

Beach

Another aerial view

These photos might help you to understand 

why we do not want to leave here!

For our 60th wedding Anniversary I mentioned to Barb we should fly back to Key West and spend a week here in the American Caribbean!

Some of the best bronze sculptures I have ever seen!
This one is of Harry Truman who spent a lot of time here.

That pretty much sums up the day at Key West.

Other than that we have been spending our days relaxing, walking beaches and reading. It has been very relaxing down here.

It started to rain on & off here today. It is supposed to rain a bit tomorrow (Tuesday) and 100% chance of rain on Wednesday which is our next moving day.

On Wednesday we will move to a RV Resort called Grassy Key RV Park. 

Click the Link to see their website, photos & more: Grassy Key RV Park 

Feel free to leave a comment on our Blog and share it with anyone that might be thinking of this way of life. If they have questions on pursuing this way of life have them contact us and we will do our best to get them answers.

Thanks for reading! 

Please know that we really feel blessed that we have been able to live out our dreams like this during the Calgary winters.

We also feel blessed for all of our friends and all of our family.

Cioa!