Thursday Jan 31

Two visits today, as we continue our route south. The weather is still dark and threatening, although a bit warmer – mid to high 60s. First stop was to our Oneonta friends Vic and Debbie Silvernail in Clarmont. They have a huge motorhome where that park in an RV resort every winter. They owned a gas station down the street from the bank and took care of our cars for years; and I lent Vic a lot of money! They sold the business a few years and retired. We chatted about old Oneonta over coffee and blueberry muffins.

After a not-so-quick stop at McDonald's drive in for a crappy lunch, our next stop would be a visit to our friend Bob Zurhellen (our book group will remember the conversation with Tommy Zurhellen!) Bob has a winter condo in a senior development in Hobe Sound, off rt 1 just north of Jupiter. He spends the rest of the year in Charlotte. He took us to a local pub for an excellent seafood dinner.

We left Bob about 6:00 for another hour's drive down I-95 to our Quality Inn in Boca Raton. Just as we left it started to rain. And it rained and rained some more, hard, all the way down in heavy traffic on the six lane highway! The weather report did not predict rain today.

Tomorrow we'll visit Biscayne N.P. #49. We'll stay in Florida City. 

I did not take a single picture today!

Friday Feb 1 Biscayne NP

When we woke up this morning it was still raining! Hard! The locals are loving it since they've been in a period of drought. So, to relieve our state of depression we opted to "eat out", instead of the minimal breakfast offered at the hotel. We found the Red Fox Cafe, a local diner which provided an excellent breakfast!

After a quick stop at WalMart for nothing in particular, we headed south in search of Biscayne National Park. The skies began to clear, the sun appeared and it got quite warm! By the time we reached the park it was a gorgeous, warm humid Florida day! We checked out the visitor center, purchased the obligatory magnet, and walked on the half mile path along the shoreline out to the end of the key. To really enjoy this park, one needs a boat to reach the other islands for camping, diving, etc. Nevertheless, a very pleasant place to spend a little time.

Next stop was "Robert is Here" vegetable and fruit stand. We had discovered this place on a prior visit. An amazing assortment of all kids of unknown fruits and veggies! The area around here features acres and acres of lush farmland, growing all kind of things, and many acres of tree farms. We also passed by the huge Homestead NASCAR Speedway.

From there we found our Quality Inn, checked in, freshened up a bit, and since we had some time left of the afternoon, went over to the Everglades and walked the boardwalk around the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm. We saw some beautiful birds and LOTS of alligators. A pretty sunset capped off the day.

When we got back to town we had a wonderful Italian meal at an old famly owned place called The Capri.

Heading for Key West in the morning.

Saturday Feb 2 on to Key West

Beautiful, warm Florida day! It would be 80 by afternoon! After a hotel "breakfast", we left Florida City and headed south on Rt 1. (Homestead/Florida City area looks pretty nice!)

First stop was Harry Harris Park in Key Largo. Harry was an important figure in the early years of the Keys.  Back on Rt 1 we passed the Waffle House we'd been looking forward to but it was way too early for lunch! By the way, traffic on Rt1 in the northern Keys is horrendous. Its a two lane road, occasional turning lanes in the middle. It would be really difficult to be a pedestrian. You can't cross the street without risking life and limb and there are no traffic lights to break the flow. Forget it if you want to see something on the other side of the road - you can't turn left to get back in!

We stopped at a craft show - the annual event sponsored by the UCC church.....bought a hair doodad for Olivia. Then stopped at the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park which told the history of mining and cutting blocks of fossilized coral reef to be used for building material and fill for Henry Flagler's railroad.

We stopped for lunch at the Island Fish Company overlooking the docks. Conch soup and MahiMahi. It was fun to watch the pelicans!

We arrived in Marathon and were VERY pleased to see that the Kingsail was open and looking good. We had stayed there twice before and we'd been afraid that the hurricane might have damaged it - it was an old building. Speaking of damage, as we drive through the keys you see very little evidence of that horrific hurricane of two years ago (?) You can see a few billboards and large signs that were blown away, a demolition site once in a while, the tops of trees missing, but if you didn't already know about it, you'd never notice. A park ranger told us that the biggest problem was the loss of hundreds of units of low income housing (mobile homes). Housing costs in the islands was becoming a serious problem. (Isn't it every where?) She was paying $1600 a month for half a mobile home, with cockroaches and a leaky roof!  We also noticed lots of "for sale" signs.

Our next stop was Sombrero Beach there in Marathon. We remembered it as a really nice beach and it didn't disappoint! We were there just long enough to wet our toes.

Then on down to Key West, arriving at our hotel, the Havana Cabana, around 5:00. Seems like nice enough place with a large pool, poolside bar, food truck and free shuttle to downtown. There's a great sidewalk/path along the shore but its across the street...hard to get there.

For dinner we took a LONG walk down the street to the Stoned Crab (the hotel gal said it was an easy ten minutes - well, she was wrong!) We enjoyed stone crab, clams, mussels and key lie pie! Took Uber back to the hotel!

Tomorrow's plan calls for church and a visit to Harry Truman's Summer White House, Then we'll hang out by the pool and hope the bar has the Super Bowl on!

Sunday Feb 3 Old Town Key West

After a fine breakfast from the hotel "food truck" we took the free hotel shuttle into the "Historic Seaport" district (Old Town). This where all the action is! Restaurants, bars and T-shirt shops among some very historic buildings. First stop was the 11:00 service at the Key West United Methodist Church. Historic building and a seemingly thriving congregation.

After church we walked around Mallory Square, grabbed a hot dog at a stand among the chickens, saw some beautiful boats, and found our way to the Truman Little White House. We begged off the official tour because they wants $30 EACH!

By this time the weather was sunny, hot and VERY humid. We took the shuttle back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the beautiful pool. Surprise visit by a rather large iguana!

A great dinner from the hotel "Food Truck" at the cabana and watched the first half of the Super Bowl. We watched the second half back in our room, preparing for our Tortugas trip tomorrow.

The Food Truck

Key West UMC - love their tree!

Private residence, loved the door