Observations

Jane had described Key West as a “kind of honky-tonk place” and whilst I knew what she meant, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Checking into our cool, waterfront hotel overlooking the moored yachts, our initial impressions were turned right around when we stepped outside and had a little mooch through the town, for the rest of it is indeed a very honky tonk kind of place!

One of the first things we noticed, was that chickens and roosters roam freely in the streets.  These colourful birds seem to be overlooked by everyone else but this was the first we knew of it.

Of course, this is a popular seaside resort, so there’s all the trappings of such a place right outside the door, including the tacky souvenirs and pirate museums, the T shirt shops and, naturally, a Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Though Jane was looking for a mitbringsel to take to a brunch hostess at the weekend, for some reason, she couldn’t find anything suitable here

For whilst the edible souvenirs of Key West are focused on the fruits which bear its name,

other souvenirs which could be more useful were rejected, too.  Would this huge and rather scary sponge man tempt you to buy a sponge, anyway?

The purchases we made were of a more fragrant variety, because having sampled the Key West Lime salt scrub in the small shop around the corner, our hands smelled divine!  I’d noticed the stuff in the visitor centre bathroom earlier, where, instead of a soap dispenser there was a bowl of salt scrub and a teaspoon and though it didn’t smell anything like as lovely as this one, I liked the way it left my hands soft and smooth. One pot of Key Lime Salt Scrub sold to the English lady!

Onward then, through the T shirt shops and the bars, one of which had a sign which read, “You can’t drink all day unless you start early” (and there was evidence to show that some had taken that advice a little too enthusiastically), we made our way back down Duval Street to the waterfront.

Along the way, I noticed one of these, blue-edged labels on every rubbish bin, each one with a different, encouraging message.  When I could get close enough to take a picture (a couple of bins were the focus of attention from people rather more interested in the contents than the blue edged labels stuck on the side), I did.  I’ve googled to try to find out more about what looks like some kind of creative project online, but drawn a blank.  If you discover what it’s all about, please share!

By now, in the late afternoon, people were beginning to collect around here, the place to watch the sunset. We settled into four comfy chairs and braved the chill to watch and wait as the sun went down.

Well, we needed sustinence, didn’t we?

There was plenty of activity to keep us amused.  Several old yachts sailed out of the harbour and made swift progress in the strong breeze.

Right in front of us, a man was setting up his show, too.  We watched as he made several trips, bringing a wealth of stands, boxes and assorted equipment for … well, for what?  We thought those looked like animal cages behind him.  Perhaps there were to be birds?  Hmm, we thought not – those stands don’t look like perches.  Maybe music?  But a single tambourine was the only instrument in sight.  We began to imagine more exotic creatures; marmosets perhaps?  Jane suggested performing seals?  Who knew?

Meanwhile, as we chilled out (literally!) the sun went down and the show began.

The zoom on my camera meant we could identify the somewhat crazy man who was starting his show, too.  For this was Dominique, the Cat Man and we had a prime view of his Cat Circus!

We couldn’t really hear much more than a few words, but it was enough!

Because, of course, the main event was taking place over to the left, where one or two small clouds added interest to the sky as thousands of camera shutters captured what looked to be a pretty spectacular sunset.

Sitting, chilled to the bone now, we willed it to hurry up!

As soon as the sun had sunk beneath the horizon, we were off, back into our super-comfy hotel rooms to thaw out before dinner.  Of course, we were delighted we’d held out and stayed to watch the best free show in town, but oh my, were we cold!

And though I didn’t get my shot of a pelican flying across the sunset, a yacht sailing by at an opportune moment will just have to do. 

Along with another forty or fifty pictures taken within that ten minute timespan, that is!

Just down the road

Today, we drove through the Florida Keys to Key West.  On the map, it looks like a short drive from Allan and Jane’s home, but actually, it’s around 170 miles – a good drive.  It was our first time here and we didn’t really have much idea of what to expect but looked forward to some stunning seascapes and wide, open spaces.  To me, Key West conjured up images of Ernest Hemingway and of fishing, particularly from those boats with high chairs on them.  How accurate these mental pictures were, I had no idea, but I was about to find out.

We woke to bright sunshine this morning but the scene through the window was a little misleading because there was a stiff and rather chilly breeze.  Not that it worried us in the comfortable car though.  Having driven through the lengthy Miami suburbs and the southern tip of mainland Florida, the road narrowed to just two lanes, then one single lane in each direction and I looked for the water.  Actually, all I could see at this stage was the concrete central reservation, painted a swimming pool blue which was very much in keeping with the palette of the landscape.

Shortly afterwards, though, the road rose high enough for me to see over the barrier and sure enough, there was the water and one or two – or rather more - mangrove swamps.

Realising that I had no real concept of where we were in relation to anywhere else, we stopped at the Visitors Centre and I took a photograph of this beautifully clear map.  There was quite some way still to go.

We made a couple of stops so that I could hop out and take a photo here and there.  We were following highway number 1 – well, of course we were, because there wasn’t any other.  This was it.

In places it was easy to see how shallow the water is around here, in fact in places the sandbanks were plainly visible above the water level.

The road was well maintained and in a few places, fairly traffic free, though in others we were in a single lane convoy, all travelling together with one destination in mind,

The remains of the Florida East Coast Railway, built in the 1920s but destroyed by a hurricane in 1936, appeared alongside the road.  Quite an amazing undertaking to try to build a railway in this place, don’t you think?

We just kept on driving, occasionally spotting rather interesting features ahead, for example the Seven Mile Bridge.

The view from the top was rather interesting, with the remains of the railway and the electricity supply running alongside the elevated road.

It was the mid afternoon when we finally arrived in Key West, then.  Allan had booked us rooms at the Westin hotel, right on the waterfront and we were lucky to have the most marvellous view from our balcony.  The yacht “Outta Here” parked right outside our window, was too big to fit in the photograph and was creating quite a stir down there on the quayside.  For now, though, it was time to catch our breath, to close the window and to set out and see what’s what in the town which had taken so long to reach.

I’ll share some of the curiosities we encountered in the next post so you can get a flavour of this very individual place.  For now, though, it’s time for bed.

Goodnight from Mile 0 on Highway 1!

Shall we do lunch?

In Palm Beach?

Yes please.  Because, thankfully this is confined to the more northerly states.  Here in Florida today it was around 70F, pleasantly warm, we thought.

So, after an orientation tour and running a couple of errands on the way, we headed to the ocean.

 

All looked so placid, it was hard to imagine that a few hundred miles north of here, the snow was falling and another Winter storm had blown in.

Here on Worth Avenue – the Rodeo Drive of Palm Beach – life was good.  As we walked along, we scrutinised the people passing by; the face lifts, the reconstructions and the toupees.  One young woman walked towards us looked rather different, somewhat eye-catching, even, and we remarked on the card she was carrying ostentatiously.  I wasn’t brave enough to take her photograph as she walked towards us but waited until she’d passed us by and turned around to snap.  There she is above, with the blonde ponytail, dressed in black.

She was working as a model, advertising a jewellery store and yes, she was dripping with the stuff!

We were heading to Taboo for lunch and going inside, we entered the world of the smart people; the ladies who lunch and the elderly elite of the town.  The most ridiculous toupee so far was to be seen on an adjacent table, too, which proved quite entertaining.

Then, who should come in and “work the tables” but the model we’d see earlier.  Sure enough, she was advertising “jewellery that accents your style” and presumably, they sell purple plastic handbags too.  I thought it a bit of an imposition that, whilst sitting and enjoying a relaxing (and delicious) lunch in a great restaurant, someone is permitted to solicit for business.  First time I’ve seen anything like it.

After lunch, we explored the small piazzas and courtyards which could be accessed from Worth Avenue.  We strolled into a rather interesting art gallery where we were fascinated by the work of Carole A Feuerman, who creates “hyper-realistic” sculptures.  Several of these pieces were on show there and we spent some time admiring the detail and learning more about the artist. Oh, and I nearly forgot, there was an original Andy Warhol Mao print on the wall, too!

Strolling back to the car, we appreciated the attractions of this small corner of Palm Beach.  How lovely to come here for ”the season”, to escape the winter up north and to spend the days pottering about amongst the privileged few.

By the time we left, the weather was coming in a little and though we stopped for a photo across the Intra-Coastal Waterway, we couldn’t linger.  I had an appointment to keep.

Nevertheless, I had to have a good look at this place

Situated on a small site in between the waterway and the ocean, this private and very exclusive club was quite the landmark.  As we passed the airport a little further along the road, the private plane on the tarmac suggested that the man himself was in residence.  Maybe another hairstyle to prompt a conversation?

Anyway, it was approaching 3pm and a decision had to be made at the nail salon down the road.

In just over half an hour, Kim had worked magic on my care-worn and rather battered nails, applying Nex-Gen expertly whilst we sat and chatted.

Nice work, Kim!

oh, and just while I think of it

I know, I won't get any sympathy (nor do I expect it!) but, dear me, there must be a better way of processing entry to a country than that which we experienced in Miami, yesterday. After what must surely rank as one of the longest walks from plane to terminal, there was the most enormous queue in the immigration hall, snaking up and down through those tensioned barriers. At the front was a bad tempered, shouty woman directing people to one of more than thirty passport check desks. We were amongst the first from our flight to reach this stage and yet still needed almost an hour of shuffling along, up and down, before we could be barked at with instructions for the fingerprint machine and be welcomed to America (not that those words we uttered). Whist we waited, the queue became longer and longer because people were arriving so much more quickly than they could process them.

With a sigh of relief, we made our way to carousel six, where all the luggage from our flight had already been offloaded and placed on the floor next to one of a dozen conveyor belts. A 747 carries a lot of luggage, for sure, and seeing it laid out like that confirms that many suitcases are pretty similar. Heaven help anyone with an anonymous black bag, because after the turmoil of the arrivals hall, believe me, people were not hanging around at this stage of the process. They had already seen - and a navigated their way through - further queues to reach the massed collection of luggage that was piled on the floor. The baggage hall was noisy, filled with hundreds - thousands, maybe - of people searching for their stuff, finding their way and having collected it all, of deciding which queue to join. Crying children? Oh yes. Tired and cranky adults? Plenty of them, too. In the midst of it all, we came across a small, quiet and bewildered woman, disoriented after a long flight through many time zones, looking for her husband, who had gone off looking for their things. I hope they both found what they were looking for!

I know that America doesn't have the exclusive rights to long queues at immigration. Heathrow can be similarly challenged at times. But as planes get bigger and more of us are travelling; as we confirm and re confirm our travel arrangements and personal details ahead of time, surely there must be a better way? Why not have individual immigration desks for each flight arrival, so that the lists of passengers can be checked against the flight muster (and the details the airline has recorded already?) Those long corridors would be better - cooler - places to wait, wouldn't they?

All I can say after yesterday's experience -probably the worst we've endured - is that it's a good job we love to travel and are able to put such things to the back of our minds and get on with the fun bits. They began the minute we saw Allan and Jane there on "the other side"!

So, where were we?

At home, tying up one or two loose ends and running around like a bit of a mad thing, because it’s been rather a busy week.

It was the kind of week I enjoy most, a healthy, happy mix of work and home, with one or two unexpected diversions which kept me on my toes and which meant that I couldn’t really begin to think about the next thing until the very last minute.

Because there was going to be packing to do.

The kind of packing that involves a summery white handbag, a pashmina and a small folder to collect the ephemera in.   Oooo!

Yes, we’re off on our travels again.  Of course, we knew that there’d not be long in between the two trips; that this year’s adventure is a little earlier than usual and perhaps that could be tricky to manage.  But hey,  we’ve had a bit of practice and manage, we did!

So, putting ourselves in the capable hands of British Airways once again, we are here in the home of our sweet friends in Florida and look, they collect US States, too!  (I’m still looking for Nebraska )

Actually, they collect countries as well and have created a lovely, decorative way of maintaining their lists, too.

So, we are “at home” here for a few days and look forward to exploring some new places in the sunshine.

We have not brought an umbrella!