More Key West

On the original shoreline and next to the Waterfront Theater stands the
Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden which opened in 1997. Its full of statues of former famous residents including Earnest Hemingway of course.

This moving statues of "The Wreckers" stands near the entrance.

Some of the birds in the area think the statues make nice perches.

I had really wanted to take a trip out to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles west of Key West.

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first discovered this island chain in 1513 and called them Las Tortugas, meaning The Turtles, for the great number of sea turtles found there. The latter name, Dry Tortugas, was intended to warn seafarers that the islands contain no fresh water.

On Garden Key, the largest island in the group, is Ft. Jefferson – once envisioned as the largest link in America’s coastal defense system. Its original purpose was to control navigation into the vast Gulf of Mexico and protect the Atlantic-bound Mississippi River trade from piracy. Begun In 1846, it used 16 million bricks - making it the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere - although it was never actually finished. And, of course, the imprisonment of Dr. Mudd there added to its fame.

The catamaran which makes the 2 hour trip at a cost of $145.

Unfortunately for us the winds were around 20mph all week meaning high choppy seas. We were advised that it would be a very, very uncomfortable trip and that there would be no snorkeling. So we opted to cancel. Darn.

A Walk Around Downtown Key West

We took a walk around town to take in the sights. One man had quite a menagerie on the sidewalk (including an albino python) and charged $3 to take a photo.

Statues outside the Art Gallery.

A statue outside the gift shop of the Mel Fisher Museum.

Anchors outside the Mel Fisher Museum.

Fake cannons outside the Mel Fisher Museum. We found the whole town WAY overpriced...with the little over an hour Conch Train ride at $29 each, small museums at $12 each, four hours rent on a little electric scooter at $99 (plus a fee everytime you stopped to park it) We opted to just walk around instead.

The beautiful grounds of the Audubon House.

Audubon House.

One of the better shops.

Most of the shops were full of tourist gimicks, tee shirts and high priced jewelry.

Sunset at Key West

On my second evening in the Keys we headed for Key West and sunset on Kendall Square. We decided that this guitarist needed a fashion makover. And a trip to the laundromat.

There were also boats full of tourists gawking at the tourists on the square.

There were several other entertainers...including this boring sword swallower (the black outfit in the middle) who spent half an hour explaining what he was going to do.

The best of the bunch, hands down, was the high wire man who knew what he was about.

But we were there for the sunset and it didn't disappoint.