For those of you who have been with us for the last few trips, you might remember us describing our overnight stay at Eagle River on the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. If so, you might recall that we talked about leaving the Eagle River Inn at the point where highway US-41 begins. We also went on to point out that it ended in Miami at a junction with US-1 - which, in turn, ends in Key West, Florida. Well - all you Jimmy Buffet fans hang on to your hats. We're gonna take you right to the very
end (or beginning, depending how you look at it) of US-1 on Duvall Street in the southernmost city in the United States - Key West, Florida. And - while we're here we will try to show you as many of the highlights as we can but, believe me, it will fall way short of all there is to see and do here!! Although our trip lasted a good while
we will probably condense things a bit so we can prepare for some other journeys. First, we have to get there and the keys are waaayyy down there folks!! Located nearly 130 miles BELOW the tip of the Florida peninsula, Key West seems like another country altogether - and - it almost was!!! (More about that later.) It is almost unimaginable that anyone could think of building a highway to Key West - much less a railroad - but one man not only thought of it, he remained committed to doing it for nearly forty years. I'm not going to even attempt to summarize the accomplishments of Henry Flagler but let me give you a tip. If you have a chance - get one of the many
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| Key Deer |
books about the building of the Florida East Coast Railroad - sometimes called the "Great Ocean Railroad." It is a story of the incredible vision of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of our country and one that chronicles the almost superhuman achievements of ordinary men as they created a railroad almost out of the air and water - through Mangrove swamps and over terribly inhospitable terrain. Today Key West is reached by the spectacular "Overseas Highway" that is founded - literally - in the legacy of Henry Flagler's railroad. The trip from Miami through the keys is a never ending series
of beautiful sights but it would be nearly impossible to recap the journey here. But - it's great. Having reached Key West we were already learning new terms - and new animals. Early on we noticed the prevalence of a small species of deer along the highway. We learned that they are "Key Deer" and are a lot smaller than the ones that hang out in our back yard. Ours can grow to 3.5 to 4 feet tall and weigh from 130 to over 300 pounds but the Key deer are 2 to 2.5 feet tall and weigh
less than eighty pounds. As we drove to the hotel we would be staying in for the next week we saw what we thought was an unusual number of chickens. Well - turns out that chickens are essentially a 'tropical bird' and the ones that were brought here by the original Spanish explorers have flourished and are a protected -and treasured - species in Key West. (Lemme tell ya - if you're out for a morning run in the dark at around 5:30 a.m. and one of those roosters lets out a crow just as you pass an intersection - it WILL get your attention!!!!) After getting settled in we headed out for Duval Street - location of Mile 0 of US-1 and home to approximately 180 bars!!! Whoa!!! It is a continuous party. On Duval Street you can get
every kind of tattoo - or other body decoration - in existence, pictures with every kind of reptile or bird imaginable, two-for-one Margaritas everywhere!!! ... and more Karaoke bars per square block than you would believe. Over then next couple of days we would get to know the restaurants and fascinating people of Duval Street well and would even become friends with a really cool young French couple who joined us on an excursion to Fort Zachary Taylor. Like many guys my age, I was an Ernest Hemingway fan in my early years so we were really looking forward to visiting his former home. "Papa" stories abound here and one of my favorites is about his attempts to build a watering fountain for his cats out of a discarded urinal!!! His beloved "six toed" Egyptian cats have never - to this day - consented to use Hemingway's creation for their drinks!! These exotic creatures have, themselves, reached almost 'legend' status here and the story of their breeding and care is fascinating!!! About 40 cats make up the 'family' and they are attended to by a regular veterinary staff. Decisions about which ones will be allowed to procreate are carefully considered and the "pure" population is guarded. But - the cats are not locked up!!! That means, there are quite a few cats around Key West that bear the signs of being 'partially' in the family!!! You really need to see the house and grounds and the story of the building of the swimming pool is a classic. Seems like Hemingway and his wife didn't see eye to eye on that particular project and it was quite a conflict!!!! After our visit to "Papa's" house we went a few blocks north to the community cemetery where there are a number of fascinating memorials. Although
rapidly fading into history's twilight, the Spanish American War was a conflict whose effects continue to be felt to this day. It all started out as a struggle by
Cuba to gain independence from Spain. In January of 1898 the USS Maine sailed from Key West to protect American interests in Cuba and three weeks later she exploded and went down with a heavy loss of life. The event solidified U. S. support for Cuba and probably affected the outcome of the war which eventually spread from the caribbean to the Phillipines. We won't spend much time debating that nasty conflict - in fact, investigations into the sinking of the Maine continued into the 1980's!!! - but we mention all of this because of the moving memorials to the sailors of the Maine and the Cuban champions of independence who gave their lives in a struggle for freedom. But - y'know - a while back we talked about 'cosmic connectedness' or serendipity - think about this. When we took a short time out for a visit to South Carolina's State House grounds one of the memorials we looked at was the Spanish American War memorial. Then, in Salt Lake City we saw that absolutely enormous memorial to the Mormon soldiers who lost their lives in that conflict. And - here we are, thousands of miles from one and hundreds of miles from the other thinking about the same tragic event!!! Wow. We'll close for now so you can rest up for a boat trip tomorrow!!! Get your sun-tan oil out and come on back. If you do, we'll explain more about the "Conch Republic" title we started out with!! See ya.
For those of you who have been with us for the last few trips, you might remember us describing our overnight stay at Eagle River on the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. If so, you might recall that we talked about leaving the Eagle River Inn at the point where highway US-41 begins. We also went on to point out that it ended in Miami at a junction with US-1 - which, in turn, ends in Key West, Florida. Well - all you Jimmy Buffet fans hang on to your hats. We're gonna take you right to the very 
end (or beginning, depending how you look at it) of US-1 on Duvall Street in the southernmost city in the United States - Key West, Florida. And - while we're here we will try to show you as many of the highlights as we can but, believe me, it will fall way short of all there is to see and do here!! Although our trip lasted a good while
we will probably condense things a bit so we can prepare for some other journeys. First, we have to get there and the keys are waaayyy down there folks!! Located nearly 130 miles BELOW the tip of the Florida peninsula, Key West seems like another country altogether - and - it almost was!!! (More about that later.) It is almost unimaginable that anyone could think of building a highway to Key West - much less a railroad - but one man not only thought of it, he remained committed to doing it for nearly forty years. I'm not going to even attempt to summarize the accomplishments of Henry Flagler but let me give you a tip. If you have a chance - get one of the many 
of beautiful sights but it would be nearly impossible to recap the journey here. But - it's great. Having reached Key West we were already learning new terms - and new animals. Early on we noticed the prevalence of a small species of deer along the highway. We learned that they are "Key Deer" and are a lot smaller than the ones that hang out in our back yard. Ours can grow to 3.5 to 4 feet tall and weigh from 130 to over 300 pounds but the Key deer are 2 to 2.5 feet tall and weigh 
less than eighty pounds. As we drove to the hotel we would be staying in for the next week we saw what we thought was an unusual number of chickens. Well - turns out that chickens are essentially a 'tropical bird' and the ones that were brought here by the original Spanish explorers have flourished and are a protected -and treasured - species in Key West. (Lemme tell ya - if you're out for a morning run in the dark at around 5:30 a.m. and one of those roosters lets out a crow just as you pass an intersection - it WILL get your attention!!!!) After getting settled in we headed out for Duval Street - location of Mile 0 of US-1 and home to approximately 180 bars!!! Whoa!!! It is a continuous party. On Duval Street you can get
every kind of tattoo - or other body decoration - in existence, pictures with every kind of reptile or bird imaginable, two-for-one Margaritas everywhere!!! ... and more Karaoke bars per square block than you would believe. Over then next couple of days we would get to know the restaurants and fascinating people of Duval Street well and would even become friends with a really cool young French couple who joined us on an excursion to Fort Zachary Taylor. Like many guys my age, I was an Ernest Hemingway fan in my early years so we were really looking forward to visiting his former home. "Papa" stories abound here and one of my favorites is about his attempts to build a watering fountain for his cats out of a discarded urinal!!! His beloved "six toed" Egyptian cats have never - to this day - consented to use Hemingway's creation for their drinks!! These exotic creatures have, themselves, reached almost 'legend' status here and the story of their breeding and care is fascinating!!! About 40 cats make up the 'family' and they are attended to by a regular veterinary staff. Decisions about which ones will be allowed to procreate are carefully considered and the "pure" population is guarded. But - the cats are not locked up!!! That means, there are quite a few cats around Key West that bear the signs of being 'partially' in the family!!! You really need to see the house and grounds and the story of the building of the swimming pool is a classic. Seems like Hemingway and his wife didn't see eye to eye on that particular project and it was quite a conflict!!!! After our visit to "Papa's" house we went a few blocks north to the community cemetery where there are a number of fascinating memorials. Although 
rapidly fading into history's twilight, the Spanish American War was a conflict whose effects continue to be felt to this day. It all started out as a struggle by
Cuba to gain independence from Spain. In January of 1898 the USS Maine sailed from Key West to protect American interests in Cuba and three weeks later she exploded and went down with a heavy loss of life. The event solidified U. S. support for Cuba and probably affected the outcome of the war which eventually spread from the caribbean to the Phillipines. We won't spend much time debating that nasty conflict - in fact, investigations into the sinking of the Maine continued into the 1980's!!! - but we mention all of this because of the moving memorials to the sailors of the Maine and the Cuban champions of independence who gave their lives in a struggle for freedom. But - y'know - a while back we talked about 'cosmic connectedness' or serendipity - think about this. When we took a short time out for a visit to South Carolina's State House grounds one of the memorials we looked at was the Spanish American War memorial. Then, in Salt Lake City we saw that absolutely enormous memorial to the Mormon soldiers who lost their lives in that conflict. And - here we are, thousands of miles from one and hundreds of miles from the other thinking about the same tragic event!!! Wow. We'll close for now so you can rest up for a boat trip tomorrow!!! Get your sun-tan oil out and come on back. If you do, we'll explain more about the "Conch Republic" title we started out with!! See ya.
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