Jan 27 2008

bearchel

After our visit in the Everglades, we made our way to the Southernest point of the United States, Key West.

The main industry in Key West nowadays is tourism, but the island has a rich history and once had very close ties with Cuba, the cigar industry was thriving. After all, Key West is closer to Cuba (90 miles) than it is to Florida’s main land (120 miles).

Conch fishing also used to be important, but over-fishing brought this industry to and end. They also dived for sponges, but a red tide destroyed the sponge beds, and the industry moved to Tarpon Springs. Salvaging wrecks made a lot of people rich, sometimes as many as 5 boats a week would sink while trying to navigate the treacherous waters surrounding the island. Once sunk, the cargo was fair game, whoever could get it off the boat and bring it to land became the owner of the goods in their own right.

The distance from the main land prompted some people to declare Key West a separate republic and they began issuing their own passports.

Passport office

Island natives call themselves “Conchs” and if you move there, after 7 years they will adopt you and you will become a “Fresh water Conch”

Famous for its sunsets, Key West puts on a show every night. You can go sit at a bar and sip a beer while you watch the sun slowly go down over the water. Street performers animate the event.

Sunset

street performer

Very famous people made Key West their home, Jimmy Buffet and Hernest Hemingway come to mind.

Ernest hemingway's househouse

Jimmy Buffet's margaritaville

Jimmy Buffet is know to come here and give free concerts. His fans are called Parrot Heads.

We stayed close enough to town that we didn’t have to drive the car, we were able to ride our bike to town, which saved a lot of parking fees. On base though, we had to wear helmets, so here we are, with our brand new helmets.

Bear and his helmetMichele and helmet

We walked all the way to the Southermost point of the Continental USA

southernmost point

And while doing so, we passed by US 1 mile 0, the beginning and then end of US1, which goes from the Keys all the way to Canada.

Mile 0 beginning of US1 mile 0 end of US1

The beginning and the end

At Debi’s request, we went shopping for shoes at the famous Kino shoe factory. In the spirit of Key West, it looks more like a bar than a shoe factory/store. You be the judge….

Kino shoe factory.

Chicken are allowed to roam freely in Key West, they eat bugs and clean the streets.

chicken

Key West is a party town, and home to a lot of weird, special and always interesting and funny characters….

birdmanBirdman

This guy goes around with his pet bird on his head while he is riding, and then he takes a nap in the parking lot of a famous bar, while the bird keeps a watchful eye.

singing dog

This one plays the flute while his dog sings.

Elvis

Elvis, shopping…..

and finally but not least, these two characters, after a visit at Hogs Breath Saloon….

Two funny characters

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 271 user reviews.


Jan 27 2008

bearchel

Doug keeps commenting about the fact that it took me 10 years to take him to Québec City, well well! It took him over 11 years to take me to the Everglades, where I’ve been wanting to go since I moved to Florida!

We left the Tampa area and drove to our campground in Naples. Space is at a premium in Naples, the proof is in the pudding, look at the pictures!

no clearance no clearance

We had to back up the coach between the cement slab and the power post, and the total clearance was 3″! Doug did it like a pro! Incredibly enough, people do spend the winter in this campground, as cramped as it is. I guess we are spoiled.

It was now time to go visit the Everglades, finally!

The Everglades are a vast territory watered by tropical summer rains, which floods the prairies and Cypress strands before flowing slowly to the south. The drainage is slow and creatures great and small have learned to depend on it. The land slopes only two inches per mile to the Gulf of Mexico, causing a delayed drainage of the wet season’s watery bounty. The gradual drainage extends the wet season by two or three months after the rains taper off in October. It provides a steady mix of fresh and salt water in the estuaries along the coast of the Everglades National Park. This nutrient rich mix supports marine animals such as pink shrimp, snook and snapper, all important to Florida’s fishing industry.

Although the importance of this ecosystem was always clear to it’s inhabitants, mankind (as always) was slow to realize it, and tried to exploit the land for its resources. Grand schemes sought to drain vast regions, meandering rivers were gutted to straight canals and saw grass prairies became sugar cane and citrus plantations. Loggers came and cut the giant cypress trees almost to extinction. Oil rigs came, land speculators descended. Then came roads and drainage canals that parched extensive tracts. The threat posed by this over-exploitation finally resulted in the establishment of the Big Cypress National Park in 1970, which encompasses 2400 square miles of subtropical swamp, surrounded by the Everglades National Park. Now Florida is very active in the preservation of the natural habitats of the Everglades.

The Seminoles Indians were pushed into the Everglades during the war against them, and learned to survive in this environment. They are the only tribe who never signed a peace treaty with the United States. They have their own government and are sovereign in their territory.

We went to Billie’s Swamp Safari, right in the middle of Seminole territory for our tour of the Everglades.

Billie's Swamp Safari

We took an air-boat tour and spotted a lot of wildlife.

Air boat

We even had a close encounter with a 12 foot alligator who got curious and decided to investigate our air boat.

Gator trying to jump in the boat
This is the real thing folks, this is not Disney, he was alive! (still is LOL)

gator and bear's hand
Yum Yum, lunch! hmmmmmmmmm

We also spotted a few of the gorgeous birds who make the Everglades their home along the way.

We then visited the zoo on site, and spotted this guy giving this 14 foot gator a shower, she seemed to like it, she was smiling!

Gator taking a shower

After the zoo, we took a swamp buggy ride, and saw even more creatures, including this one, who for some reason, followed us the whole way while we were on safari. Bear must have looked delicious that day, after the gator eyed his hand with hungry eyes, this darn ostrich pecked his arm a time or two. They finally reached an understanding and became good friends.

our little friendfriend

We finished our tour with a “critter show”, and were allowed to hold a small baby alligator, who was found injured when he was very very young and now earns his keep by putting up with creatures like us.

Michele and the gatorDoug and the gator

Yes folks, this is wild country!

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 153 user reviews.