Key West Trip - October 10-12, Leaving paradise

 One last shot of our hotel.  It was like living in paradise for three days.

 We're back on the mainland now, having taken a side-trip north of Key Largo, through the swamps and bayous to the only building for 20 miles around, Alabama Jack's.  A television station in Key West did a story on the five best places to get conch, and this was the second one we tried -- the first was Louie's Backyard.  Alabama Jack's is a haven for bikers, and it's a must-stop on the back road from Homestead to Key Largo.

 OK, now Barry LOVES conch!  We had the fritters here, which are a lot like Maine clam cakes, maybe 6" in diameter, and so sweet and flavorful.  Nothing else needed on them.  It's too bad that Kroger's doesn't carry conch, or we'd be eating them here at home.  

All in all, we tried mahi-mahi, grouper, yellow snapper, and conch.  So now I have three new kinds of fish I like -- and CAN GET!  Down here in Kentucky, catfish is what most people call "seafood."

By the way, in Cancun in 2005, Barry was offered $10 for the Corona hat by a gal on the ferry to Isla Mujeres!

 A true roadside "dive" with fantastic food.  Where's Guy Fieri when you REALLY need him?  Goes to show that the best food isn't always in the fanciest or most expensive restaurants.

 In our quest to drive as much of US-1 as we could, we took the route through downtown Miami.  Hardly any traffic, but of course, it was Saturday afternoon by this time.

 But we also had our sights set on Miami Beach.  There it is, over the causeway, with its hotels lining the Atlantic Ocean.  The Port of Miami is on the right, and below...

 Ah, yes, the ubiquitous cruise ships...

 One of the art deco hotels in Miami Beach.  The area prospered in the 1920s, when this style of building was brand new.  Rounded corners, pastel colors, round port-hole windows, all are typical of art deco.  The area was badly blighted by the 1970s, but a restoration effort has renewed the city.

 

Kelly's Landing, Fort Lauderdale.  This was my birthday dinner -- Ipswich Fried Clams.  By the time this photo was taken, they were mostly gone though!

 On Friday, we explored the Fort Lauderdale area.  One of our goals was the Hard Rock Café in Hollywood.  We had visited the Hard Rock in Key West, and since we drove right by this one, we stopped.  Good thing we bought the tee-shirts BEFORE we lost all our money in the casino!

 The Seminole Nation has bought all the Hard Rock franchises, apparently world-wide!

 Homes along a canal in Highland Beach, some of the many beautiful, and obviously expensive, residences in this city north of Fort Lauderdale.  Because they're all water-side, one could take the boat about anywhere in the city, all the way down to Miami, probably.

 Sea turtles nest on the beach from March through October, so the street lights are either turned off, dimmed, or hooded so the light doesn't shine on the beach.  This is sort of Florida's answer to Maine's "Moose Crossing" signs.

 The water was nice, not as warm as Cancun, but definitely comfortable.  I could have stayed in for hours.

 Our last day, and wouldn't you know, the rain and clouds had held off all week.  You can see here the hoods on the sea side of the street lights to cut down the light for the nesting turtles.

 Pompano Beach and north, from the air (we're flying right over I-95 here).  The marshland along the coast has been dredged, the land filled, and canals made everywhere.

Couldn't believe we were so close to Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral, maybe 200 miles north of Fort Lauderdale.  I could almost see the place where we go to get our oranges and grapefruit...

Key West Trip - October 8, Doing the tourist thing in the Conch Republic

 Breakfast at our hotel.  It was about 9 a.m., and the temperature was already in the low 80s.  Our room is just over Barry's head in the background.

 White tablecloths, a cream pitcher, and a wonderful breakfast await me.

 The pool.  Cool and refreshing on a day when temps would get into the mid-80s with high humidity.

 Southernmost.  The most common word in Key West -- well except for "Conch".  This is the southernmost house in the US.

 The southernmost point in the US -- actually the navy base off to the right really is, but this is the southernmost point that can be ACCESSED.  Cuba is 90 miles from here.

 South Beach.  Tennessee Williams wrote here, saying "I work everywhere, but I work best here."  We did go swimming, and it was only a short walk from our hotel.

 South Beach.

 The view from the end of the pier at South Beach.  Cuba is out there somewhere.

 After going back to the hotel and showering the salt water off, we walked around Key West.  Must have done 10 miles.  Our first stop was Louie's Backyard, where we tried the conch fritters.  We'd had some bad ones a few years ago in Melbourne, so I really wanted to try them again.  Barry pronounced them delicious!

 Mosquito Board?

 Bougainvillea shrubs (nearly trees) are everywhere, and they were still in full bloom.

 The highlight of the day -- and probably one of the highlights of the whole trip. 
Ernest Hemingway lived here from 1929 to 1939.

 Hemingway's bedroom, with Archibald MacLeish in his usual place of repose.  All the cats here are named, and well-cared for.  Most are descendants of Hemingway's original "polydactyl" cats.

 Wish I could remember this one's name.  He has 6 toes on the front and 5 on the back; most cats have 5 and 4.  Count them on your cat(s) -- if you can get them still enough.

 Hemingway's studio.  It's in a separate building, originally a carriage house, and was once connected to the main house by a skywalk.  One wonders exactly what Hemingway wrote on that typewriter.

 OK, the urinal story.  Hemingway brought one home from Sloppy Joe's and put it in the garden for the cat's drinking fountain.  His second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, was NOT going to have a bar urinal in her garden, so she camouflaged it with a huge Greek olive jar and had the water run out of that into the urinal.  The cats often will drink the water running down the side of the jar instead.  We purchased a print of Archibald MacLeish drinking from the side of the jar.

 Pauline had a salt-water swimming pool installed, the first pool on the island.  Even though she paid for it with her own money (much more than Hemingway had), he said she was spending his last penny on it.  He threw a penny up in the air, and Pauline had it encased on the ground just where it landed.

 Hemingway's studio.  The ground floor is now a gift shop.  The pool is seen to the left.

 Just a reminder how close everything in Key West is to the ocean, this is the view of the Key West lighthouse from the balcony outside Hemingway's bedroom.

 One of the more famous photos of the author.

 The front entrance.  Every window is floor-length, and was opened to catch the ever-present breeze.

Nothing to do with the Hemingway house here.  Roosters, chickens and chicks wander freely around Key West.

Key West Trip - October 7, We head for Key West

The second in the series -- Heading for Key West.

 

We left Ft. Lauderdale and headed south on I-95.  And just south of Miami, we reached the southern end.Our next goal was to get to the southern end of US-1.

 Seven-Mile Bridge.  Over open (but not very deep) water.  The original railroad bridge (1912) is seen on the right.  When a hurricane destroyed the railroad in 1937, it was rebuilt as a highway, but has now been replaced by the one we're on here.

Key West city limits!  We made it!

 Here's where US-1 goes west then south; Fl-A1A (which runs along the ocean through much of Florida, heads east and south.

 Duval Street -- where all the night life is in Key West -- crossing US-1.

 Mile marker "0", the southern end of US-1.  I've always wanted to drive US-1 from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, FL.  Well at least, I HAVE driven it to Key West.

 The pool area at our hotel.  It was like being in a lush tropical garden -- probably because it WAS a lush tropical garden.

 One of our first stops, Margaritaville.  This was the first place where I tried mahi-mahi, which is also known as Florida dolphin, a VERY ugly fish; of course no one would EAT a dolphin (love ya, Flipper), so calling it mahi-mahi assuages the guilt, apparently.

 The original Sloppy Joe's Bar.  Ernest Hemingway practically lived here from about 1929 to 1939.  Story goes that when the rent was raised about 1937, Joe ripped out all the urinals and threw them into the street.  Hemingway told Joe he had spent enough on beer there to have bought one of the urinals, so he took one and brought it home.  We'll see where it is now in one of the future posts.

 The "new" Sloppy Joe's Bar.  After the urinal incident, Joe moved here, to the next block.  So did Hemingway.

 Mallory Square.  We'll watch the sunset here along with a huge crowd of merry-makers, in a carnival atmosphere.  It's a daily occurrence and has been for 19 years.  Watching the sunset, of course, not actually the sunset -- that's been going on for longer than 19 years.

 Luxury yacht, tied up at Mallory Square.  This is so big, it has another boat INSIDE the stern that most people would die to own!

 Stopped in here for a beer.  What a laid-back atmosphere, an such a cool name.

 Schooner near sunset, Key West.

 Almost down, split by a bank of clouds.

 Gone, but the afterglow is still there.  Like a good piece of Key Lime Pie.

From here it was off to dinner, and looking forward to really doing the tourist thing tomorrow.

Key West Trip - October 6, We leave for Ft Lauderdale

This is the first in a series of posts on our recent (well, a month ago now) vacation to Fort Lauderdale and Key West.

 Our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, an older model, badly in need of upgrades, but practically ON the beach!

 Fort Lauderdale Beach, looking north toward Pompano Beach; water was rough due to a hurricane offshore, and the wind actually whipped the sand into our faces!

 Fort Lauderdale Beach, looking south; Miami is only about 25 miles from here.

 A sea grape.  We have one in our dining room (seed came from Sebastian State Park about 150 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale.  These trees grow to maybe 30 feet, and the grapes ARE edible, and make good jams and jellies.  Now if our "Sebastian" would only grow this big, we'd need to add an open second floor to the house!

 Marina in Ft. Lauderdale.  It's called the "Venice of North America" and with all the canals, one can see why.

 See the boat?  See the tourist?

Can you find Barry?  We didn't eat here -- but we did next door, at Kelly's Landing -- little canal-side restaurant run by a guy from South Boston, MA.  He flies in the clams and lobster from New England 2-3 times a week.  I don't have a photo of the meals but I'll say the Ipswich Fried Clams were THE BEST -- even better than anything I ever had in Maine!  We would head back to Kelly's for my birthday -- look for pics under Oct. 10.

More random liberal political thoughts -- and latest news, too.

For our last major trip of the year (probably until Spring), we're headed out to Fort Lauderdale and Key West on Wednesday morning -- thank you, Delta Sky Miles for nearly free tickets.  Plus it's off-season, so motel rates are great.  One in Fort Lauderdale is $53 a night (WONDERFUL reviews on "TripAdvisor", our travel "Bible"), and it's 269 FEET to the beach.  Water temps are about 80, and the seafood is already making both of us hungry!

In Key West, the place we're staying is $100 a night, but in September it was over $200, way, way out of our price range -- remember, we're not just poor, we're CHEAP and poor!  Well, maybe just CHEAP!  Even got a coupon for a free breakfast at Denny's on my birthday -- the morning we leave -- and Denny's is 2 blocks from our motel.

So, it's off to drive to the southern end of I-95, and US-1, sunset at Mallory Square, Hemingway's house with the polydactyl cats, maybe some swimming in the warm, tropical water, and just relaxing and eating great SEAFOOD(I want to try grouper, had pompano in Nashville and loved it) and home-made KEY LIME PIE!!

So we're off Wednesday!  Pics when we return!

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OK, if you're anti-liberal OR closed-minded, you may not want to read the rest of this post.  It basically credits liberals with many positive aspects of our every-day life -- and it IS historically accurate as far as I can tell.  This is NOT my attempt to criticize conservatives -- most of them are good, hard-working Americans -- but rather an attempt to point out that not everything with the tag, "Liberal" is bad, either, as some conservative pundits would have people believe. 

With so many people who are angry at those liberal, communist, statist, socialists for  stealing away "their" country, I had to share this commentary.  Please note that this originally read "Joe Republican", but with the change in outlook of the main parties, this isn't accurate today.

I have to wonder what those who hate liberals, and everything liberals have done, with a passion, would choose to give up on this list.  Also note, in the past many of those "liberals" WERE Republicans, notably Teddy Roosevelt, who would be hounded and shouted out of the GOP nowadays as a "RINO."

Back a hundred years ago, both major parties contained both liberals and conservatives; then about 1964 with Goldwater, the Republican party began its shift to the right, furthered by Reagan and Gingrich (Bush isn't a conservative, TRUE conservatives say), which continues today.  There is NO room in the GOP now for anyone who is to the left of Atilla the Hun.  The Democratic Party, however, is still populated with both liberals and conservatives (at least here in the South), and that's a good thing to my mind.

There IS another side to this "big government" debate.  There ARE wasteful government programs (some heralded by GOP members of Congress because their districts benefit); there ARE more people on welfare than there should be (and yes, some of them are Republicah); there ARE crooks and connivers in government (Democrats seem to be more crooked, Republicans seem to be more immoral), there IS more "soft money", untrackable, going into politics today (latest figures show 5-1 for Republicans).  But does anyone actually BELIEVE that the "other party" is going to be any different?

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A Day in the Life of Joe Conservative

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too -- EVEN IF he lives in a "right-to-work" state where he gets union benefits without paying union dues.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girlie-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. 

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have." 

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