Key West Night One & Day Two

WED PM

Duval Street, it's all attitude and was so much more relaxing for me than a certain New Orleans street. I walked up and down and took it all in, the people, the shops, the street musicians [who seemed to multiply after the sun went down]; even the smell of cigar smoke from the shops and men playing a role didn’t bother me that much.

I had a wonderful supper at Conch Republic Seafood; stir-fry shrimp and scallops with Asian vegetables and a Passion Fruit sweet & sour glaze served in a pineapple quarter with rice. Plus a cold Coors and a glass of Riesling wine. Followed by desert of Key Lime pie, what else, and a beautiful sunset.

THU

Today was tourist day. I first went to local Cemetery to see Battleship USS Maine plot and memorial that was offered by the citizens of Key West to the Navy because Key West was the closest American port to Cuba and accepted by the Navy since the Navy did not have a burial site. Next was Earnest Hemingway’s house and followed that with a tour of the “Little White House” that President Truman used so often. What I like about these tours is the way they have reinstalled the original furnishings or done near perfect copies from photographs; really gives me a sense of how it was when they were using the house. I wanted to take the tour out to Dry Tortugas National Park but after I found out it was an all day tour and cost $135.00 I let that one slide. I did a lot of walking and driving around the downtown historic section.

There are antique stores and then there are antiques in use. There is a payphone on the wall at the park shower, when was the last time you saw a payphone?

Back to the base to rest a bit and cook some hamburgers for supper. It started to sprinkle a bit about 10-minutes after I started the coals at the time I was going to put the burgers on but I went about my plan and the shower passed on, that doesn’t look like what going to happen in the next hour so I guess I will stay home tonight.

Key West FL

WED June 23

A nice relaxing drive down Highway US 1 through first Key Largo [Where’s Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Edward G. Robinson?] at the speed limit of either 45 or 55 to Key West and you could feel the change in attitude the minute you hit the chain of keys. Had to stop one for a draw bridge so sail boats could pass under and notice an immediate change in gasoline prices, up at least 25₵.

Check into the RV park at Naval Air Station Key West, $21.00/night vs. Good Sam or Passport America at $45.00+ with membership discount. I have an wonderful view and as I was walking out about 20-yards to enjoy it I saw two dolphins swimming by and naturally I didn’t have my camera.

Off to supper and to check out the nightlife.

Homestead FL

TUE

Today I went to the Everglades National Park and strangely with all that water around me I believe the humidity was down and it was rather pleasant.

When I was driving along the northern edge of the Everglades was one of those time you wish you could click an instant picture; big sign, “Burns Lake Campground” and under that a smaller sign “No Camping”. Followed a mile later by “Monument Lake Campground” “Closed”. Not very hospitable.

I didn’t do an airboat ride and I didn’t see any alligators or crocodiles or manatees but I did see a lot of birds and heard a lot of bull-frogs, ribbet. I did see a Florida Soft Shell Turtle and bromeliads growing in a “Pond Apple” tree.

I hike a couple of trails and just enjoyed the pleasant quiet of nature.

Sarasota FL

MON June 21

Here I am in Sarasota FL at a very nice RV park; nice that is in appearance and in swimming pool but no internet access and no community shower, life’s a beach. Ah, there’s nothing like a swim to relax me after a long day.

SUN I headed south from Pensacola along the Gulf through Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Apalachicola then up to Tallahassee to spend the night and then today through Suwannee, Crystal River, Weeki Wachee and Spring Hill. My GPS wanted to send me to a toll-road but I kept it recalculating until I got tired of all the small town stop lights and turned east to the toll-road. Mistake, it took me 30-minutes longer and cost me a total of $7.25 in tolls.

The thrill of the day came early when I was traveling down US-19, a nice 4-lane divided FL highway with lots of grass in the median and on the shoulders. Of course the grass is slick and soggy with all the rain lately. Anyway, there I was going 65 in a 65 zone when a Pontiac charged passed me like gangbusters; he had to be doing 80+. And a Florida State Trooper was patrolling North on the other side and must have had forward looking speed radar because he immediately hit his lights and siren and started a fish-tailing u-turn across the median. I thought he was going to hit me and I started for the right shoulder and then changed my mind because of the wet grass and braced for impact. The Trooper must not of seen me when he started his u-turn but saw me moving over so he hit his breaks and I wiggled on past. After he saw I had control of my car and trailer he took off and caught the speeder. That’ll get you heart beating.

Oh yea two things I forgot. Last FRI at NAS Pensacola I heard them blow a siren and then make a loud speaker announcement that because of the heat a “Black Flag” condition had been declared and all unnecessary outside work and instruction should be curtailed. Ok, the only noticeable change in activity I saw was in increase on the number of joggers on the running paths.

The second item was this AM when I got up and discovered I didn’t have any water. I opened the trailer door and saw a lot of water but thought that was from the rain most of the night but when I went to the road-side of the trailer I saw that my water hose had popped off the female end and the flood was coming from the park connection; off to Home Depot for repair parts. The joy of trailering.

More Pensacola

SAT

Hanging out at the beach, swimming, reading and eating lunch; just relaxing.

I think pelicans are cool.

I don’t think ankle-biting sand fleas are cool.

Pensacola

FRI June 18

Last night I learned that the RV campground is REAL close to the flight-line and the helicopter area but the REALLY LOUD noises come from the engine test cells; the sound of freedom can get REALLY LOUD

Also the RV campground beach is closed but open about a quarter mile in either direction.

The last time I was here was about 30 years ago with Dianna and Mickey for Gerry’s wedding, don’t remember a thing.

They have a great Naval Aviation museum here and I really enjoyed it. Lots of refurbished old planes and explanatory movies and posters, very Navy aviation educational. In addition they advertise that they have the old NAS Cubi Point Officer’s Club plaque bar that is incorporated into their café. I had been to the original bar in the Philippines many times and can’t attest that this is the original because there was a lot more light in the museum than there was in the Philippines Cubi bar.

There is also the early American Fort Barrancas that incorporated an earlier Spanish fort for the protection of Pensacola Bay and its Navy Yard. The earlier Spanish fort is called the Water Battery because the Spanish built it to skip cannon balls over the surface of the bay to hit ships at the waterline.

NAS Pensacola is the most squared away Naval Station I have seen in decades. They have really put a lot of work into keeping the buildings and grounds in great shape, wish I could have been stationed here.

I saw something at the O'Club that I havent's seen before, two parking places reserved for Veterans, cool.

I went to the beach today only to arrive shortly after a clap of thunder and that meant they chased everyone out of the water for 30-minutes and restarted the 30 clock with ever new clap; I went back and worked on my new trailer door window and drank a Coors.

Gulf to Pensacola

THU June 17

Traded the heat, humidity and rains of New Orleans for a beautiful drive along the Gulf coast to NAS Pensacola arriving just in time to enjoy heat, humidity and rain so hard I had to slow down to 10 MPH.

I headed east from New Orleans to Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport and then back to the Interstate a Biloxi and onward to Pensacola.

I first pulled off to go to the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center that bills itself as America’s largest rocket test complex. I wanted to take their tour but as luck would have it they were closed today for a “NASA Event”.

Please do not take the following comments as in any way diminishing the environmental and economic problems brought on by the Deep Water Horizon.

I saw my first oil spill containment boom from the bridge leaving Bay St. Louis to Pass Christian. It seemed to be deployed as preventative in case the oil moved toward the bay; saw other booms at a couple of other bayous where they opened to the Gulf.

What I did see was a lot of clean beaches and only 2 clean-up workers strolling down the waterline.

I thought Pass Christian was a beautiful town with columned homes facing the Gulf, oh for the money to be able to afford to own and vacation. And afford the hurricane insurance.

In Gulfport MS I did see many workers being trained in how to do cleanup. I knew it was training by their number; they weren’t picking anything up and there were people swimming in the gulf where they were along the beach.

I also saw the broken tree art done by Marlin Miller and Dayton Scroggins,
http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/GCNnewsMillerSculpture012209.htm , and thought about the saying lemons and lemonade.