Key West, Florida – The Road Goes On…

Did we find the perfect solution to see Key West after all! As good doggy parents we left Pepsi in the air-conditioned van on our campsite and took the bus to Key West.

The super-nice bus driver dropped us off close to the trolley stop where we purchased tickets for the 13 stop hop-on/hop-off tour as well as tickets to see the Hemingway house.

Since we were early enough we did not have to stand in line to get into Hemmingway House. We had a very nice and knowledgeable guide who didn’t just tell us about the house, Hemmingway’s way of life, his four wives and the six toed cats but made reference to his literature and historic facts.

Hemmingway was very much into boxing and had a boxing ring in his garden. His second wife, quite upset about his one year reporting assignment with a very dear colleague (soon to be wife number 3), had a large pool built to replace his boxing ring. This was the first pool ever in Key West and cost a fortune. Hemingway was furious when he came home with his new boxing gloves and found a pool instead of his boxing ring. He accused his wife of spending his last red cent and threw a penny on the ground. His wife had it permanently cemented into the patio in front of the pool and pointed it out at all of her parties after their divorce.

We had a late breakfast at the Six Toed Cat and then hopped on the trolley for the remainder of our tour of the island.

Key West is full of Hemingway stories and the famous bar Sloppy Joe’s is one of them. The owner of Sloppy Joe’s was upset at a $1 a week rent increase at his original location so he purchased another property down the street with Hemmingway’s help and the night of his lease expiry asked his customers to pick up their drinks, chairs and even the bar and move them to the new location where it continues to be to this day.

There are two kinds of animals roaming the streets that you don’t normally find in other cities. Chickens, roosters and iguanas. Iguanas are not protected by the city but chickens and roosters are. The question of why did the chicken cross the street is very real here.

Key Lime pie is of course another feature of the Keys and the place that makes the best pies (according to our guide) is Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shoppe. Kermit can be seen advertising his pie on the street.

Key West is most southern point of the US and is full of the most southern places – most southern house, hotel, restaurant, etc. A buoy marks the most southern spot and tourists line up to have their picture taken here. The actual most southern point of the US is on a military base, but civilians obviously aren’t allowed there.

At 3PM we took the bus back to the KOA where we had spent last night. By sheer coincidence this is the most southern KOA in the US.

As it was Sunday night, there was a special chicken dinner available in the pub. All proceeds go to the KOA kids camp to benefit kids with terminal illnesses.