Sunday Drive

Sunday Drive

The Inn’s Back Door

Breakfast was outside on the inn’s patio framed by bamboo and palms and kissed with a gentle sea breeze. Mona keeps telling me not to get used to this. As if!

Remember the Maine!

After breakfast, we strolled a few blocks to the Key West Cemetery. This cemetery has about 100,000 residents compared to Key West’s current population of 30,000. Space is very limited here so many of the graves are in above-ground vaults; sometimes stacked three high. There are a wide variety of residents….lots of Cubans, slaves, ship captains, rich, poor…the cemetery really reflects Key West’s jumble of cultures and peoples.

Most interesting to me was the section dedicated to the U.S.S. Maine. Remember that ship? Back in 1898 it was sitting in the Havana Harbor when it exploded, killing almost 300 American soldiers and propelling us into the Spanish American War. Here, in this cemetery, are the remains of 20 of those soldiers, along with a statue dedicated to all of those who lost their lives in that explosion.

Sadly, it was time to leave Key West. We really had a great time here and plan to come back. Thanks to MNM (not us, the other MNM) and JH for all your tips on what to see and do. They really helped!

Luckily, no damage to Red!

 

The Everglades National Park was our next stop. We didn’t spend much time here because of the weather and our desire to get to Ft. Lauderdale before dark. We did take a hike on the Anhinga Trail. We didn’t see any alligators, but we did see an Anhinga. The 3 foot tall bird swims underwater to catch its prey. It looked so strange to see this bird swimming! Later, we saw him perched on a tree with his wings spread, drying them off.  He looked pretty proud of himself!

Mona was driving and decided to forego the interstates and drive Route 1 and A1A all the way to our hotel. This route took us through South Beach with all the Art Deco hotels and provided lots of Artsy opportunities as we drove by. This drive is amazing….unbelievable how many cool hotels, condos and yachts line this route! Mile after mile after mile…

South Beach!

We made it to our hotel a little after seven. We’re staying at The Marriott Beachtower right on A1A and the beach. High rise luxury….just a little different from the B&Bs we’ve been staying at recently. We had dinner at a Cajun restaurant adjacent to the hotel and then watched the Cards game. Yes, this condo has a TV!!! (And, locks on the doors!!!)

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