Checking Out Key West

With 2 days to use for exploring the area before we have to begin work, we thought that a trip to Key West would be nice. One thing that wasn't mentioned yesterday was that our campground is not physically located on Big Pine Key, but on a small island just before it and it occupies almost the entire island. The short bridge going west goes to the Bahia Honda State Park, and then another short bridge to Big Pine Key. The distance is less than 5 miles and our mailing address is still Big Pine Key.

While talking with one of our neighbors here, she indicated that there was an excellent flea market on Big Pine Key and we should try it out. Of course, we were up for that and so we stopped on the way to Key West:

It was very good and we bought a few small items and also had some lunch before moving on. This flea market is only open on Saturday and Sunday, so we figure we probably will not get here again for awhile since we will most likely be working those days.

Key West was only about 35 miles from us so the trip was a fairly short one. As we entered the town we saw the huge marina that has become famous:

and it was a beautiful way to be introduced to the town. It is a tropical showplace with old, historic and beautiful homes, that were built in the 1800's and have been turned into hotels and bed and breakfasts:

We made our way to the end of town and also the end of US 1, and stopped at a popular landmark:

We parked close to this landmark and took a stroll down Duval St, which is one of the most popular in town. There were all kinds of shops, hotels, bars and restaurants along this street. We captured these shots of a couple of hibiscus plants that were indicative of the beuatiful blooming flowers that were everywhere:

It's easy to see why this is such a popular vacation spot. I'm sure we will return to see the other popular landmarks.

We stopped at a Publix grocery store in town on the way out and picked up one of the Homes and Land magazines just to see what property values were like in this town. Wow! You can't buy anything decent for less than about $1.5 million, and homes that are on the water run $2.0 million and up - if you can find one for sale. There's no economic pinch in this area.

We would like to explore some more today, but we have to get ready for work tomorrow. That means that laundry has to be done and we also have to fill out the forms for work and read the corporate "stuff" that we were given. It looks like we might get to try out the pool and check out the fitness center though. One thing is for sure - this is very different from anything we've done before...