Blogs from Key West, Keys, Florida, United States, North America - page 7

The fam and I usually do a January getaway every year. We really don't have a choice as Tennessee is completely gray for most of December through March. (Howevs, this year we didn't get below freezing til just this week I think... so it was actually about the same temperature back home as it was in Key West, especially since Key West was going through a SEVERE WINTER BLAST. It was like 45F, chill out Floridians, that is NOT cold LOL) ANYWAY, we left for the airport at 6:00am on New Year's Day. Never gonna do that again. Hungover/still kind of drunk from NYE, barely 2 hours of sleep, and food poisoning. It was not a fun day for travel, but when it only takes 4 hours to get to the beach, I really can't complain. ... read more

Gilles Labruyere sent another nice cartoon - it summarizes my trip completely accurate: icebergs are everywhere. But here in Key West, they melt faster. I plotted in the meantime my trip so far, and we are by far on the most Southern point here (24'33"), and DDN is closer to the equator than ever. And the most Northern point so far was Ilulissat (69'14"N), so we have changed latitude quite a bit. Today we start heading back North, Regina finds it too hot here. But apparently, Key West is one of the colder spots in the US at the moment, a heat wave seems to be in the mid-west. We'll see... ... read more

We Drove...and drove...and....opps...ran out of land! We drove down and across the Florida Keys. The Keys are a set of islands south and west of the tip of Florida. Many of them are connected by bridges, 48 bridges actually. The bridges were originally built by a guy named Flagler. He had them built for trains. His idea was that if he could get people to the islands, they would spend money and they did! Unfortunately, a big hurricane took out some of his bridges. When they were rebuilt, they were built for cars and trains. So, his plan worked and people came, and people spend money! Many wealthy people fell in love with the islands and built beautiful homes on the islands. They also built many hotels along the beaches. One of the keys, url= http://www.fl ... read more

Leaving Sanibel we down through the Everglades down to Key West. What a Longgggg drive. I am amazed at all of the things I remember. The 7 mile bridge is still there, but so much better. It is a long drive down the Keys. We were at a great little B&B across the street from the Hemingway House and next the Lighthouse, plus one block off Duval, Lighthouse Court. Once there, we met up with my niece Stephanie. She has lived there for the last 10 years. The perfect tour guide. We headed over to Mallory Square for Tapas at at great little Cuban restaurant. Then we hung out for the Sunset Festival. Stephanie had to work that night, so we were on our own. Oh, oh! We started the bar crawl on Duval Street at ... read more

Geo: 24.5471, -81.8042Today we traveled all the way down the Keys to Key West which is the southernmost point of the continental US. The trip down the Keys is about 120 miles each way. Key West is only 90 miles by water from Havana, Cuba. The Keys consist of about 100 islands the larger of which are connected by bridges and causeways - one of the bridges is 9 miles long. Key West has a long history having been originally settled by the Spanish. Henry Flagler built a railway connecting Key West to mainland Florida. Unfortunately a hurricane and 18 foot tidal wave wiped out the railway and much of the construction on the islands. For years Key West was only accessed by boat until Florida designated the area as a tourist area. Prior to that ... read more