Key West Day 1

Day 45 - Key West - Sunny mid 80's:

Ben got up early and took the ferry over to the mainland for a run. While he was gone I got up and retrieved our breakfast basket. They place it on your porch each morning with assorted warm muffins, fresh fruit, orange juice, and a newspaper. It was a real treat! Once Ben returned we headed out to the pool. The pool was outstanding. It had a waterfall and we also a zero degree entry which means it's just like walking from the beach into the water...there are no steps, you just walk right into the water. We laid out and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time for lunch. We had sandwiches and then headed to get the ferry to the mainland.

When we arrived back on land we headed right over to the Conch Tour Train. It was a great introduction to Key West. We were able to learn about the history and get a lay land without having to walk it all!

Things I learned:

1. The original custom's house is where the hearing about the USS Maine was held.
2. Key West has the second largest Banyan Tree to Hawaii.
3. Key West as more 19th Century architecture than the rest of Florida as a whole.
4. Sponging was one of the many million-dollar industries that Key West has seen come and go. (they actually have a sponge store where you can get REAL sponge).
5. There is a park in town that has a GORGEOUS Mahogany tree that was split in two by a hurricane. Rather than die the tree continues to grow in two directions.
6. The Meadows is an area of Key West where all of the houses were built by shipbuilders. This is clear due to how the area was constructed. All of the houses are very close together just like bunks on a ship. They were also built without nails so as to allow the houses to sway with the wind...clearly it worked as these houses are still standing in the face of Florida hurricanes. They also all have tin roofs so that they could collect rain water for drinking as well as protect from fire.
7. I wrote down that Key West was created in part by the Red Mangrove Tree. (I'm not sure how maybe this would be a good project for a student...I may be mistaken but I do know what Key West has increased in size though).
8. Key West did not have water piped in to them from the mainland of Florida until 1941.
9. The business of Shipwrecking made Key West one of the richest places per capita in the US at one point.
10. Key West is further south than Cairo by 287 miles.
11. The highest point in Key West is approximately 16ft above sea level.
12. There are no natural beaches in Key West due to the Coral Reef surounding the islands. Beaches need waves in order to be created and the reef causes the waves to crash too far out from the coast. Therefore all the beaches have sand shipped either from the Bahama area or the Miami area.
13. A large number of houses on the island are built from the remains of shipwrecks.
14. Most of the porches have blue ceilings. This is for two reasons. The first is that it is belived that it would trick evil spirits into thinking that it is the sky and not a house so they stay away. The second was that it tricks bees, hornets, and other bugs into thinking that it is sky and so they do not create nests there...it REALLY WORKS!

After we finished our tour we made our way over to watch the "sunset." Naturally there were too many clouds and so we didn't actually see the sunset. From there we head to B O's Fish Wagon. Becky had reccommended the fish sandwich there so Ben got that. He enjoyed it very much! We then spent time walking the famous Duval Street. We stopped in at a number of local spots to listen to the live music. I was amazed at how many different restaurants and bars had live music!! It was great.

Once we had enough of the streets we hopped back on the boat for another trip back to the island. Ben hit the pool and hot tub while I did some work on the computer in the room. We watched a bit of TV before heading to bed to rest for the next days adventures!!