September 10 Crossing America

Key West Sightseeing

At the insistence of our gracious hosts Judy and Tom we are stayed a day in Key West to sightsee.  First order of business was to have breakfast at Peppi’s Bar and Grill as my classmate Dick said was a must stop, Judy and Tom highly recommended it too.

After breakfast we rode to a local beach where I dipped my tire in the Atlantic Ocean and if I figured it right the Gulf of Mexico intersects with the Atlantic?

Dipping my rear tire in the Atlantic and probably the Gulf at the same time?

Then we rode to the “Southernmost point in the USA”.  This act completes my goal to go from the North West corner of the US (San Juan Islands) to the Southernmost point, next will be to connect the final dot when I manage to ride my bike to Richmond, Virginia.

Mark and me at the Southern most tip of USA

Our whirl wind tour of Key West took us t to the Eco Discovery Center to learn how the Keys were formed as well as the various types of reefs surrounding the Keys.  Be sure to check this  Center out if and when you get to Key West, it’s a great hour or two learning experience.

After the Eco Center we stopped at the US Coast Guard display where they have both a WW-11 Cutter ship on display and a new state of the art Cutter Ship.  We settled for taking pictures of them as it was a cost us $8.00 actually board them for a tour.

New Cutter at the top, WW-II at the bottom is actually half the size of the new.

Continuing on we found ourselves in old downtown Key West and Mallory Square where we walked around window shopping and people watching.  Interesting how few clothes folks wear in Key West.  Another point of interest is the proliferation of wild chickens roaming around Key West.  If I lived here, there would be frequent fresh fried chicken on the dinner menu.  We learned the chickens were a result of the Island’s former history for having “Cock Fights” (a fight to the death between two male roosters) but was banned and the chickens were set free to roam and propagate.  The latter they have done
quite well and still are as witnessed by Mark.

Judy had told us a “must do” was to take the Conch Train tour of the city as it would take us to all the important sights while the driver would serve as a tour guide giving us a brief but good history of Key West.   To our dismay and  meager budget the two tour companies charge $26.00 and $27.00 respectfully.  One of the tours was leaving just as we learned this tour was out of our price range.  Mark realized the PA system combined with the open air passenger trailers we could easily hear what the driver was saying by following it.  I thought that was a great idea as it would also give us an opportunity to get some riding time in as well so we were off.  The driver was a good sport an even had all the passengers turn and wave to the “Lance Armstrong” want-a-be following them.  At the end of the tour I did thank the driver for allowing us to follow him and even gave him a gratuity.  He was appreciative and told us to be careful following the next half of the excursion as not all the drivers like having a bicyclists follow them.  I thanked and we fell in behind the next driver leaving the depot for the second half of the tour.  This time the Old Guy lived up to fitting the image of truly an “Old Guy”.  This second train had three teenage girls sitting in the last car facing rearward toward yours truly.  I commented to them how fortunate we were to be following such beautiful young ladies.  To this they or so I thought they began giggling, whispering and
blushing.  I thought to myself how typical of young girls.  However after
following them for about 20 minutes I realized that the girls were no longer
facing rearward but were straining to look to the front and side of the car not
wanting to see this “Old Guy”.  Suddenly it dawned on me to check myself to see if maybe there was a bigger reason for their actions.  Now it was my turn to
blush as I discovered this Old Guy was doing a version of the Chinese proverb “Wun Hun Lo” as I was in street shorts instead of wearing my riding bibs.  How embarrassing, I’ve actually become an “OLD GUY” and with this  revelation I told Mark I’d had enough SIGHTSEEING or should I say  showing for the day.  It was now Beer-time.  I had to have a couple beers to forget what had just happened but alias it will be forever in my mind the day I became an OLD GUY.

Partially recovered from my “Old Guy” experience it was near time for the festivities to begin at Mallory Square, a nightly ritual of vendors and  performers entertaining the tourists.  As luck would have it the sky opened up and it poured fourth buckets of rain.  Probably rained 2 or 3 inches in about an
hour, go figure as the average annual rainfall for Key West is only 39 inches
but that’s the luck of the Old Guy.  Not all was lost as I was entertained by a young couple during the downpour.  I’m guessing they figured they had the street to themselves so he began taking pictures of his gal in various poses while she provided him with ample booty to shoot.   Noticed for his last shot he had to take a real close-up of her not so hidden treasures.  Ahh, the added benefit of digital cameras, those pictures would never be developed well developed maybe but not returned when I was their age.   As a final note as the couple walked pass me, I had to congratulate them for allowing me to witness their photo session.  They smiled in return but didn’t even blush.  To  paraphrase the Russian comedian Smirnoff Yakoff, “Key West, what a wonderful city this is”.

By the time the rain stopped all I had time to do is watch the vendors and performers set-up as I needed to get to Tom and Judy’s place for our final dinner together.  Tom is a great cook and I was looking forward to seeing what delectable dish he prepared for this evening.  He didn’t disappoint either as
we had homemade Lasagna with fresh green peppers, onions and garlic in it as
well as some of the best Italian sausage.  As I write this I’m salivating at the memory of this fine meal.  Tom also has a great selection of wines.  We helped him depleted some of his selection as the four of us polished off 3 ½ bottles of very fine wine.

Judy, me and Tom. Great hosts and great wine what better can there be.

Yet anothergreat stay with fantastic folks!  Before retiring for the night we took pictures, enjoyed great conversation and the joy of being with new friends.  Tom and Judy invited us into their home at the request of Dick S. my high school buddy I stayed with in Denver.  Thank you to Dick for connecting me with such nice folks.   Of course, a REALLY BIG THANK-YOU goes to my newest friends Tom and Judy for a wonderful stay.

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