MISSED ANOTHER SUNSET!!!!

A must picture spot in Key West

See everyone want's their picture taken!

Cuba only 90 miles away...I am wearing hats because of my "Helmet Hair" when we ride the bike

Who goes to Key West and on a beautiful day and still misses a sunset at Mallory Square....US..that's who.  You see the day was beautiful and we took the bike ( a 400cc Bergman Suzuki...didn't want you thinking I was pedaling all this way) and drove the hour and half to Key West.  We are only 50 miles from there but with only two lanes of road and allot of bridges it does take time.  We also pulled off and looked at different RV parks for future ideas.  Now the closer you get to Key West the more expensive the RV Park and then there are some that we swear have been there since the Spaniards discovered the Keys (I think they discovered the Keys, they discovered everything else in Florida) and I think the people put their "RV's" in those spots at the same time and maybe those people sleeping in front of them had been there since then too!!!  Anyway if you can ever get reservations at Bahai Honda State Park be sure and do it, you have the campground right on the water and the Encore Resort looks nice but pricey.  We stopped at one great RV park, but they only take 34 ft. RV's and it was also in the protected area for the Key Deer.  Now this island was once cut off from land  and the animals that remained became dwarf in size because of the limited food supply and they had to adapt to their surrounding.  The Key Deer are only the size of a very large dog.  We drove carefully into the area looking for them, but I am sure since it was 84 degrees they were hiding in the shade of the mangrove trees.  We went on disappointed but such is life, we then turned down a road to see what the RV Park advertised looked like (been there since the beginning of time) and wouldn't you know it right in front of us was a Key Deer.  Now there are only 800 of these little guys left, yep we hunted them right into extinction until the 1950's...anyway he just stood there and looked at us.  Now he knew we had put the camera away and I swear I could hear him laughing, saying" Oh Yeah you only thought you were going to get a picture," he knew that the minute we got off the bike to get the camera he would run...so we just sat there and had eye to eye contact with him.  I told Dusty to at least take a picture with his phone and he gently took it out got it ready and bam..off that little sucker ran...laughing all the way!!
Well on to my story.  So we went on to Key West and our butts were sore by then.  We happen to follow Hwy 1 to the water and then took out a map and saw we were close to the Southern Most Point in the USA so headed there.  We took our picture (well someone did for us..everyone was taking everyone Else's picture for them..nice people) and then since we had pasted Hemingway's house went there.  Now we have never read anything by Hemingway, but we still found the information very interesting.  He wrote half of his famous works while living there from 1931 to 1940 with one of his many wives, he did like the women.  For Whom the Bells toll was written there and it is a nice retreat.  But a very interesting story that I am sure my nephew Paul would appreciate is that Hemingway's friend "Sloppy Joe" who owned the tavern Hemingway frequented (he liked his liquor too  besides women) suggested he buy the house because it was right across the street from the Lighthouse and that way when he had too much to drink (which was often) he could find his way home, so Hemingway took his advice and that is how he bought his Key West home.  Now when we lived in the orange groves of California Paul liked to frequent the local watering hole near us and would often have a very hard time finding our house, I mean late at night all orange groves look alike, and suggested we put a neon arrow on top of the house that would flash Aunt Char's house!!!  Had we had that poor Christina's mustang may not have had a dent!!!  So Paul we were thinking of you yesterday.
From there we went to Duval street to find a place for lunch as it was now 3:30 pm.  But on our search down the street we saw the sign Bourbon Street Pub....oh how we loved Bourbon Street in New Orleans..and made a side stop. We had a great time chatting up our bartender Paul and it was Happy Hour and two for one..we always find Happy Hour..oh well..and he told us to go to Caroline's for a fish sandwich and I asked him about the show at the Aqua Club since our son had suggested it.  That made Paul happy and we really had a fun time then, he told us to go to see "Goddess" that evening for dueling bartenders and I said we already had that planned.  So eventually we headed for that fish sandwich which was delicious and big enough for Dusty and I to share.  Then back to the Aqua Club.  Now please people if you go to Key West you MUST go with a open mind and enjoy the flavor of the place.  We had allot of fun with "Goddess" and our bartender Lori.  A lady my age sat down and we struck up a conversation..I know you can't believe that..but she and I hit it off and were soon sharing life stores.  She had been married twice and said she loved Key West and everyone looked out for each other.  She said she had lived with a gay couple for longer then she had been married and the guys were great.  When we got ready to head to Mallory square where all the tourist go to watch the sunset, I mean if your in Key West it is a must, and she said here is my phone number..if you drink too much, have any question's or need any help while here please call.  Since her name is Janice Marie (my sister's name) I knew she was OK.  After she gave it to me she said..Oh please don't think I am a stocker or anything...I laughed and said no I really appreciated it because in my world I NEVER knew what was going to happen!!  So now we only had 30 mins to get to the square.  Since it was a long walk and Dusty is trying to help my foot heal, we headed to get the bike, no we hadn't been drinking that much..more talking and laughing..anyway my phone rings and it was a very important phone call we had to take.  You see our insurance has decided after 7 years they don't want to pay for Dusty's rejection meds and we have been trying since March 28th to handle this.  He had been three weeks ahead on his pills so when we can't get somewhere to get them he will have enough.  Since last week I have been on the phone daily with our attorney's office and now I had called Stanford to help and it was our nurse on the phone.  So after that conversation it was now late and even though we just barely got to Mallory Square in time we couldn't find a parking place and that is how we missed the sunset!!!

Ernest Hemingway's House

He needed a large headboard so took this wooden gate from a Monestery in Spain!



Hemingway loved cats and had 50, all cats aare descendecents from them and most have 6 toes, when they die they are buried on the grounds and still have free rein of the house and gardens



Hemingway through the years



His Guiding Light Home!!  In the 1930's the trees weren't has big, this was taken from his veranda




His writing study away from the house



The $20,000 pool his wife added while he was gone and he didn't approve

So to piss the wife off he went to "Sloppy Joe's" and bought the men's urnial and drug it home and planted it, she was disgraced and tried to make it look like a fountain!!!

Dusty back on Bourbon St.

All I could see of the sunset from the street!

So here is the sunrise from our motorhome!!!!