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There we sat at the edge of Marathon Key in a parking area at the beginning of the Seven Mile Bridge. The rain that had been accompanying us for the whole drive had finally broken and, while the dark clouds were still threatening, we were determined to complete the last part of the drive with the top down. The only problem was it was the first time we had ever rented a convertible and we had no idea how to get it to go down! We had done the obvious things like releasing the latch and pushing the button that had an image of the car with the top opening on it, but all we got was a warning that the top was not secure and a beep. As any modern, tech savvy person would do, we pulled up YouTube on our phone and watched as a helpful person walked us through the steps. Armed with our new knowledge we walked around to the tiny trunk and removed all of the luggage that we had so carefully shoe-horned in a few hours before in Miami and then we hooked the top divider into its notches, thus eliminating any useful space in
the trunk. We pushed the button and the top effortlessly opened and fell into the space that our luggage had occupied – It was going to be a ragtop day! We shoved whatever we could fit back into the trunk and then we put everything else in the back seat. We would be completing the ride with the top down, but we were going to look a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies doing it! We eased our brand new, silver, Super Sport Camaro back out onto A1A and let its power rocket us up to speed as we headed west on the Seven Mile Bridge.
It had always been a dream of mine and Maria’s to drive a convertible from Miami to Key West, but for some reason we had never taken the time to do it. We had gotten married a month before in a simple ceremony under the live oaks and Spanish moss on the grounds of the Brunswick, GA courthouse and we decided to do something special for our honeymoon. When we arrived in Miami our exciting, top-down drive seemed in peril when the helpful person at the rental car counter told us that
they didn’t have any of the Mustang Convertibles that we had reserved. She first tried to upgrade us to an SUV and we told her that we needed a convertible and that we would wait. About twenty minutes later she waved us over and offered to upgrade us to the BMW, but we opted to wait longer. Another twenty minutes passed before she waved us over again. She was smiling as she said “I have a convertible for you.” She told us that she was giving us the first convertible that came in, which happened to be one of the best cars in their top-end collection – That is how we ended up in the hotrod Camaro. The steady rain forced us to keep the top up as we left Miami and followed A1A into the Keys. We stopped at a restaurant called Snappers on Key Largo where we enjoyed some delicious seafood while we set our clocks to island time and watched the boats bob up in down in the adjacent harbor. From Key Largo we continued west. Plantation Key, Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys, Long Key, Fat Deer Key, Marathon – They were all places I had heard
about songs and books by Jimmy Buffett and others and it was exciting to finally be there.
The wind was blowing through our hair as we put Marathon Key behind us. The seven-mile bridge was a narrow two-lane bridge that, as the name suggested, bridged the seven-mile gap between Marathon Key and Little Duck Key. To our right the water stretched off toward the mainland, though it was too distant to see. To our left the crisp horizon merged with the storm clouds in a way that looked like an impenetrable wall. Beyond that imaginary wall was the mysterious and off-limits land of Cuba. Sections of the old seven-mile bridge ran parallel to the new one, which gave us some interesting scenery to look at as we drove. The older span was a storied bridge that was apparently so narrow that cars had to slow down to pass each other. The old decaying sections of the bridge had been closed to cars years before, but it was still open in places for foot traffic and as a means of reaching Pigeon Key where an old railroad settlement and science station was located. Some sections of the old
bridge were completely gone and other sections were slowly being reclaimed by the sea, spending the last years of their existence supporting huge nesting colonies of local seabirds.
When we reached Little Duck Key we knew we were getting close. Next came Bahia Honda State Park with its deserted beaches and a picturesque section of double-decker trestle bridge and then Big Pine Key, with its famous population of endangered key deer. Our excitement was building as we crossed over a small bridge at the edge of Stock Island and arrived in Key West! We followed a road along the north edge of the island to the historic district where we spent a few minutes admiring the amazing Victorian houses as we searched for our bed and breakfast. We got checked in to The Gardens Hotel, where the friendly staff upgraded us to a room with a king-size bed and then they walked us through the beautifully gardened grounds to an out building where our beautifully decorated room was located. We spent a bit of time getting settled in and then we set off to explore the fabled town at the end of the road.
Key West was a place that I had wanted to visit for a long time. Its shady, wind-blown streets, historic charm, and laid back island vibe had inspired many of my favorite writers and musicians to create some of their finest work. Jimmy Buffett’s island sound had its roots there and many of his wonderful songs and stories have been set in its bars and beaches. Hemingway called the place home for part of his adult life, penning some of his best-loved stories there. The place had been home to pirates and smugglers and treasure hunters and it still attracted an eclectic crowd. We spent our first night getting acquainted with Duval Street and its surroundings. We walked all the way to Mallory Square and celebrated with the masses as the sun disappeared in the western sky. We watched the beautiful sailboats cut across the horizon as the sky went from red to purple and then settled on midnight blue. Afterwards, we walked past the beautiful old customs house and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and then made our way past a few lively bars, including the famous old haunt of Hemingway’s and Jimmy Buffett’s, Sloppy Joes. We spent the
rest of the evening slowly walking down Duval Street. We stopped into an open air restaurant and enjoyed some conch fritters and veggie burgers while we listened to some great music coming from an adjacent bar, we stopped in at Margaritaville Café to browse its shop and then we took in the crowd as we strolled back toward our hotel. We had expected to find a noisy, somewhat rowdy crowd on Duval Street, but it actually had a pleasant, laid back atmosphere and we instantly loved it.
We had only planned two nights in Key West, so the following day was a whirlwind of activity. We started with a wonderful breakfast in the dappled sunlight on the veranda of our hotel’s gardened grounds. After breakfast we set off to explore. I really wanted to see the Hemingway House, so that was first on my list for the day. Maria was less fond of Hemingway’s writing and didn’t really care about the house until she heard about the huge colony of polydactyl cats. We found the lovely stone structure on a quiet street across from the picturesque Key West Lighthouse. The home was hidden behind a tall wall
and thick vegetation, so we didn’t know what to expect when we turned the corner and walked up the main walkway. The beautiful yellow, two-story façade rose up out of the manicured gardens and beckoned us to explore.
The house was made of stone and was surrounded by a wrap-around veranda and covered balcony. The windows along the veranda and the balcony were tall arched openings with dark yellow storm shutters and billowing white curtains. We found our first cat lounging in the sunshine on the veranda. Maria quickly fell in love and we paused to say hello. The cat intrigued me. I had never encountered a polydactyl cat and, to be truthful, I hadn’t even heard of a polydactyl cat until we started planning our trip. Despite what the name made me think, the cat had no resemblance to a flying dinosaur. It looked just like every cat I had ever seen. The difference was in the details. While most cats have five toes on their front paws, polydactyl cats have six, which made their front paws look enormous and somewhat human like – The extra toe looked a lot like a thumb. A quick look
around revealed several more cats, most of which had the polydactyl trait. We continued our walk around the house. I was enthralled with the home’s architecture and its connection to one of my favorite authors. Maria was enthralled with the cats, though she also seemed to enjoy the house and its lush grounds. We spent over an hour exploring the Hemingway house. We perused the bookstore while a cat played with the bobbles on the counter. We sat with another cat in a shady spot beside the historic pool. We admired the studio where Hemingway did his writing, which was decorated with several hunting trophies from his trips to Africa… and more cats. We walked through the amazing rooms in the main house with their antiques and historic photos and their billowing white curtains. The cats were there, too, and they ignored the signs that asked us to not sit on the furniture and they felt that the antique couch made an amazing scratching post. Upstairs one of the cats slept peacefully in a depression in the center of the bed in the main bedroom. The cats were everywhere!
While it may seem strange to the idle
passerby to have nearly forty polydactyl cats inhabiting every nook and cranny of one of the most historically significant houses in Key West, they were actually an important part of the Hemingway House experience. The cats were descendants of a white polydactyl cat named Snowball that a sea captain had given to Hemingway in the thirties, which gave them a special place in the fabric of Key West. Museum houses normally make me a little sad, leaving a strange longing for the past in me, but the cats and their humorous antics added life to the home and provided a tie to Hemingway and the home’s history. We said farewell to the house and the cats and we set off in search of lunch, pausing to talk with a street artist as we went. After a wonderful lunch at an Israeli sidewalk café and some shopping, we made our way back to the hotel to spend the hot part of the day lounging in the pool and exploring the hotel’s wonderful gardens.
That evening we sailed into the sunset on an old two-mast schooner as we took part in the dance of sails that happened every night
off of Key West’s western shore. The schooner was beautiful and we got to help raise the sails as we left the harbor and put on a show for the revelers at Mallory Square. We stayed out until well after dark as I shared tales from my sailing days with the crew and enjoyed the sea breeze. Maria had not sailed on a tall ship, so it was a new experience for her. We pulled back into the slip and set off in search of dinner. We eventually found what we were looking for in another sidewalk café on Duval Street and then we headed back to the room – Our last day in Key West had been busy, but pleasant.
We woke to the sounds of construction the next morning. We had been regretting not planning more time in Key West, but the noise made our decision more appealing. We headed out for an early morning walk before breakfast. We walked past the lighthouse and made our way to the southern most point for our requisite tourist photos and then we walked back among the old homes that filled the historic district with charm. We took
a quick swim before we ate and then we had another lovely breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we packed up and loaded the car and then we said farewell to the friendly staff at the hotel. There was one last thing for me to see before we headed east, so we parked the car in a deck at the west end of the island and then we split up. Maria went to do some more shopping in the breezy shops near Mallory Square and I set off to explore the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.
The museum was another pilgrimage of sorts for me. I had been enthralled with lost treasure and sunken galleons for my whole life. The story of Mel Fisher and the Atocha was the stuff dreams were made of. He arrived in Key West in the sixties and spent years searching for lost shipwrecks. He found his first success in northern Florida when he helped discover a portion of the storied 1715 fleet off of Sebastian Inlet. Later he discovered the wreck of the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that went down in a hurricane in 1622 with an exceptional treasure aboard. He and
his crew spend years on the trail of the Atocha’s main treasure. There was hardship and heartache along the way, yet he persevered. He was famously optimistic saying, “Today’s the day!” at the start of every day. In July of 1985 he was finally right. One of the divers on one of his vessels swam a little out of the search area and found a reef of large silver bars and gold and emeralds that made up the bulk of the treasure in the Atocha’s hold. They ended up bringing more than 400 million dollars worth of Spanish treasure up from the wreck and they set off a firestorm of legal challenges and media coverage that lasted for years. Eventually he was victorious and he and his investors retained ownership of the treasure. The bulk of the treasure was sold off to fund the search for the remainder of the ship, including the fabled stern castle treasure where all of the church gold and emeralds were located. The most important treasure from the wreck was collected together in the maritime museum in Key West, where it dazzles dreamers of every age, myself included. I spent over an hour walking through
the small museum. There were weapons and items from the daily lives of the sailors, there were countless coins of silver and gold, ornate jewelry with huge emeralds and filigreed gold, long, heavy gold chains, golden bowls… I had not seen a treasure so large since I had been in the treasure room of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul several years before and I had the same wide-eyed reaction to Atocha’s splendors as I had in Istanbul. Two of my favorite exhibits were sitting side by side in one of the last rooms of the exhibit. The first was a recreation of the stack of silver bars and treasure as it had been found on the ocean floor. The bars were original and they were huge and they were all stacked neatly in the center of the room. The other display was one of large rough emeralds that were in a dark display case and they were illuminated from below, glowing a deep green. The treasure continued on the second level of the museum, with a collection of artifacts and coins salvaged from other famous shipwrecks and it was very interesting to read the histories of those ships.
The Maritime Museum was a nonprofit organization that highlighted the best of what was found on the Atocha. Attached to the museum was Mel Fisher’s Treasures, the commercial side of the operation. It was there that you could peruse and purchase actual treasure from the Atocha and other famous shipwrecks, like the Margarita, or the 1715 fleet. I spent another half hour dreaming of lost treasure as I looked through the cases filled with silver and gold. I couldn’t afford anything there, but one of the salesmen was nice enough to spend some time with me anyway. He explained the different groups of coins to me as we talked about the investor program. When we reached the case with the gold doubloons he pulled a large angular doubloon out of a plastic sleeve and set it in my hand. It was from the 1715 fleet and it was for sale for more than fourteen thousand dollars and I could feel the lure of lost treasure as it sat heavy in my hand! It was a wonderful way to end my time in Key West! I pulled out of the parking garage and drove out into the warm morning sunshine. The
top was down, I had my hat on and all was well. I picked up Maria at mile marker zero and then we said farewell to Key West and headed east along A1A.
In contrast to the stormy condition of the ride to Key West, our drive east was sunny and warm. The bright blue sky and the warm sun set the sea aglow in a thousand shades of turquoise and blue. Several small green islands dotted the blue expanses and beckoned me to explore – If we had a boat I would have done so. We paused at a lovely waterside restaurant and enjoyed some delicious fish sandwiches as we watched the huge iguanas bask in the sun and large schools of fish swim by in the crystal clear water. We reached the Cheeca Lodge on Islamorada in the early afternoon. We walked into the grand wood-paneled lobby where a friendly person checked us in. A short time later we were in our room overlooking a deserted concrete lagoon lined with palm trees and lush vegetation. The room was luxurious and we knew that we had made a good choice. We settled in and ended up
spending the rest of the evening at the lodge swimming and walking along the manicured beach or on the long fishing pier. It was a beautiful place.
We were up early the following morning. One of the reasons we had come to Islamorada was for the excellent snorkeling in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It was supposed to be the best and most accessible in the Keys and we were excited to get in the water. We met up with the snorkeling tour that was leaving from the lodge’s pier and we set off into the lovely morning light. The reefs they were taking us to were inside the main line of coral, which they hoped would mean clearer conditions – The storms that they had been having had ruined the snorkeling conditions all week. We stopped the boat over the reef and we were unable to see the top of it less than six feet below. The chalky blue water meant zero visibility. The guide said he knew of another place on the other side of the island that would have clear conditions, so we reluctantly headed there. Despite our bad luck with the visibility,
the boat ride had been a lot of fun with big, bouncy waves and cool salt spray, so we were all having fun. We passed through a lush channel between two of the keys and then we turned east and anchored near a break wall that formed the mouth of a small harbor. The guide admitted that it wasn’t the most picturesque location on the surface, but that the clear water would have a lot of life to see. He directed us to the stone break and told us that most of the life would be there.
I was the first in the water and then Maria followed me in. We swam through the clear water for about an hour. The seabed was covered in thick grass with the usual debris you would expect in an inhabited area, including an old lobster trap right under the boat. We spotted a lot of small fish along the rock. About ten minutes into our swim I found a three-foot nurse shark in a small hole in the stones. It paid us no attention, but Maria didn’t stick around long enough to see it – It was her first time
snorkeling with a shark. She swam ahead as I stayed to point the shark out to one of the children snorkeling with us. I left the shark and swam after Maria pausing to take a photo of a lovely little jellyfish. As I was watching the jellyfish I felt a tug at my fin and I turned to see a wide-eyed Maria staring at me through her mask and pointing into the gloomy water. We surfaced and she said she had seen a shark that was bigger than her. It had been swimming toward her when she saw it and then it turned and went away. We looked for the shark for a few minutes and then we surfaced and she described it. She perfectly described a large nurse shark and I set her mind at ease by telling her that it was one of the harmless varieties. We didn’t spot much else from that point. A few other snorkelers had seen the shark too, so the location ended up being pretty good.
We arrived back at the lodge just before lunchtime. We decided to drive down the road to an Oceanside restaurant we had seen from
the boat. Like many of the places in the keys, the restaurant didn’t look like much from the road, but its location and interior made up for it. We enjoyed another fish sandwich while we listened to Jimmy Buffett and took in the view. After lunch we walked along the dock and took in the scenery along the shore. We spent a few hours by the pool and then we set off again. We decided to do an afternoon kayaking trip through the mangroves of John Pennecamp State Park. We arrived in the park with about three hours to spare. We quickly got set up in a kayak and we set off through the crystal clear channels in the mangroves. We spent about two hours gliding through the narrow mangrove tunnels. The trail took us through channels so narrow that we struggled to keep from snagging our paddles. In other places our path opened up into wide channels that allowed larger boats to pass. All along the way the water was crystal clear and we could easily see fish swimming below us. On three occasions we spotted large rays directly below us and we paused to watch their graceful movements
for a while. Eventually we emerged from the mangroves into a large bay and we paddled back towards the dock. It had been an amazing outing and a great way to spend the afternoon. When we turned in our kayak we learned that the snorkeling trips had not operated for several days and they had been canceled for the coming days as well. We figured that the snorkeling trip we had planned at Looe Key for the following day had also been canceled, so we called and confirmed our suspicions as we drove back to the hotel.
Dinner found us back at Snappers on Key Largo. It was the restaurant that we started our time in the keys with and it did not disappoint. We managed to get a table right on the water and we enjoyed a huge meal as we sat and listened to some excellent music from a local singer-songwriter named Billy Davidson. He played his music from a stage set up on a pontoon boat beside our table and it had a strong island vibe that we instantly loved. We ended up spending a few hours sitting there and it was the most
decadent meal we had in the keys with an amazing fish main course, appetizers, more appetizers and a few pieces of excellent key lime pie. It was a grand dinner and a wonderful cap to another excellent day in the keys.
The following morning we checked out of the Cheeca Lodge and headed off into the unknown. We had planned our Looe Key snorkeling trip for that day and we had considered returning to Key West from there, but with the snorkeling trip canceled we didn’t see the need to drive all the way back down there. We looked at the different accommodations on Key Largo, but without the ability to snorkel we didn’t really have any reason to stay. In the absence of better options we decided to return to Miami and explore a bit of what that city had to offer. Neither of us had ever been there, so we were certain we would be able to find some entertaining things to see and do. As we drove east Maria looked at different options for places to stay. As she read we learned a bit about the art deco history of South Beach and decided
that we would need to take a look. Since it was Thanksgiving all of the fancy art deco hotels were full or priced out of our range, but we found one nice sounding hotel that had balconies in Miami Beach, just up the road from South Beach, and they had rooms available. We followed A1A all the way into the city perfectly timing our arrival to coincide with rush hour. We pulled up to the valet only parking area of the Grand Beach Hotel with about an hour of sunlight left. The gleaming white lobby and the friendly staff welcomed us and after a few minutes we were in our room looking out over the Miami skyline as the sun set in a brilliant burst of red and purple behind the city.
We spent three nights in Miami and we had a blast. We didn’t expect to love Miami. When we arrived our expectations of South Beach were of large, heartless hotels overflowing with rowdy partiers and over-the-top stars behaving badly at all hours of the day and night. Those expectations led me to leave the car parked and take the bus into town on the first
night – A decision Maria didn’t let me live down afterwards. Instead of cruising South Beach in a convertible hotrod, we arrived at the Lincoln Street Mall on an overcrowded bus after nearly loosing a game of Frogger as we crossed the street to the bus stop. Instead of rowdy, stumbling drunks we found stylish people filling the sidewalk restaurants and a pleasant, incredibly friendly atmosphere. We sat under an awning and soaked up the warmth from one of the portable heaters as we ate an amazing meal and watched the colorful crowd go by. We spent the rest of our first evening taking in some of the great architecture along the pedestrian way – Miami was proving to be a highlight of our trip.
We spent the next two days exploring all that South Beach and the surrounding area had to offer. We rode bikes along the breezy ocean-side promenade, we walked along the cold, deserted beach, we admired the beautiful art-deco hotels and dreamed about the fancy cars. We ate several amazing meals ranging from delicious sandwiches in crowded sidewalk sandwich shops and noisy, bayside grills all the way up to our high-end seafood platter
that we shared in one of the fancy Lincoln Avenue restaurants on Thanksgiving. We even cruised around town in our convertible like the fancy people did. On our last day we drove out to Key Biscayne and explored the lighthouse and the lovely coast surrounding it – The museum in the old keeper cottage talked about the difficulties of living in such a remote place, but Maria and I agreed that the home and its quiet piece of coast would have been a perfect place for us to live. It was on the last night in town that South Beach started showing us its wild side. It was Friday night and there was no parking to be found. The streets were crowded and everything was noisy. We were glad that we had arrived on a quiet weeknight, but it was still interesting to see South Beach’s party side and it was a lot of fun watching the well-to-do revelers try to pilot their rented Lamborghinis in a straight line. About the time we saw somebody stall their Lamborghini in front of us I discovered something important about our car – A set of paddle shifters behind the steering wheel that
I had mistaken for radio controls (it is embarrassing for me to admit that since I am a recovering hot-rodder) unlocked the full power of our Super Sport Camaro and, much to Maria’s chagrin, I played like the rich kids did. I suppose it was a good thing that I hadn’t discovered the shifters until the last night, but I am glad that I did – I had been shocked by how under-powered the car was, but once I learned how to drive it the car earned its SS emblem proudly!
We checked out of our hotel the following morning and drove back into South Beach for one last meal in Southern Florida. Around lunchtime we handed over the keys to our convertible hotrod and went inside the airport to wait for our flight home. It had been a grand trip and a wonderful Honeymoon. It was an amazing romp through Jimmy Buffett’s and Hemingway’s Florida and there was no question in either of our minds that we would be back.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Congratulations on your marriage!!!
Belatedly since you just posted this blog...we await the blog about the wedding. I loved the keys, which we visited several times as my parents and sister and her family lived there. Thanks for the memories!