— the trip down route 1 was very nice. Especially considering I was driving a convertible sports car :> Marlo insisted that I stop at a place called Robbie’s. At Robbie’s you can feed the tarpons. She has done it before and said that it would be fun. It was. They are HUGE. To make it even better she was home on the computer watching Robbie’s Tarpon Webcam… we got to do it together… kinda… aren’t we cute… ralph! Anyway feeding these tarpons was not as easy as all that. First of all they are about 3-4 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds. The other obstacle is that the there are pelicans everywhere and they are even more aggressive then the fish. They reach through the screened-in area and try to steal the fish. The minute you start watching for the pelicans a four foot fish jumps out of the water and scares the crap out of you. It is way more fun for the people watching. It was fun though. After another guy feed them. He explains that the water is cold so they are not as active. In the summer they jump right out of the water after the fish… I’m not so sure that would be more fun…. They have kayak rentals and jet skis and fishing trips and all that here. It was a festival-like atmosphere.
I get back in my sweet ride and hook up ANB (ausi nav bitch, the garmin) and she tell me that I have a long drive ahead. She is right. It takes over two hours. I decide then what I am going to do with my extra day. I decide that I am going to stay overnight in Fort Lauderdale so that I will be close to the airport. It should be cheaper too…
The drive is enjoyable for the most part and uneventful. I drive over all of the bridges and the sun is shining. I have applied sunscreen and have the floppy hat on. There will be no fried crispy head this trip. There is a lot of construction and it is a two lane road. I have to keep telling myself that I am not in any hurry. Still slow people don’t make me happy. I practically did the speed limit the whole way!
I finally cruise into town. Route 1 circles around to the gulf side and then across the bottom… I think… :> I drive around the island checking things. I then head for my room. An Island Oasis. It is a very niice quaint bed and breakfast a good distance off of the main drag. I get settled into this lovely room… I think I might have forgotten to take pictures… hmmm. Anyway, I check the local map and then I spy the “pool” just outside of my room. Well the pool is actually a spa. It is about 12 feet square and very warm. I change and jump right in. I even found the timer that controlled the jets… nice…
Now if you are in a monogamous relationship and not drinking and traveling alone… Key West might not be for you… I still had fun. I had been watching the “Keys Channel” on and off for several days, so I knew the places that I wanted to hit. There was “The Bull” and upstairs was the “Garden of Eden” and then of course “Sloppy Joe’s”. I stopped into all of them several times. They were amusing. There was also an Irish bar with a funny guy on guitar.
I walked around the island from the southernmost point of the US to the lovely Sunset Pier. I watched the beautiful sunsets both days. There is a big deal each day with street performers and what not. It is the same acts each day. There are cruise ships that dock during the day and they must leave by sunset or they get fined. There are several sunset cruised that sail everyday and they sail right across the sunset at just the right time so people can click away.
The second day I wanted to rent a bike or a scooter… I decided on a bike. I thought some exercise might be good for me. I probably rode twenty miles or so. I rode around the whole island and then some. Not long after I got my first bike the peddle fell off… nice… I limped it back to the shop and got a new one. I then peddled myself over to an art museum that was actually in a fort. I saw it on the KeyTV. It was a lot underwhelming. Then I rode down to the beach and then around through the entire streets closet to the shore. I also rode off the reservation to where the locals live. It was not too bad. Then I rode through Fort Jefferson. It had some nice beaches and picnic areas. There was also a bunch of artist creating their works of art. One was making a road to nowhere, one was making a compass out of natural elements, and one was making a fort out of salt blocks… I considered stopping to help one of these artists, but… nah, I rode on. I rode through the docks and walked some and watched the cruise boat tourists. I then attempted to ride all the way around the rest of the island, but ended up back at the first museum… not to be denied, I turned the other way and continued my trek. I dropped the bike off and walked back to my room. I changed and headed to the hot tub. There was a French couple in there that looked like they had some ideas… they left shortly after I got in… sorry.. she only spoke French and he spoke both English and French. He had a weird wander eye that was a little freaky. They were from Paris and had nothing to offer in way of insights except that the weather was bad when they left… thanks… there was a small from in the hot tub that he was afraid of… I made a frog’s leg joke that he frowned at… not really sorry that I scared them away.
I showered and grabbed the car and drove up close to Sunset pier. I had a good lay of the land now and knew where to park and where to g. I watched the performers and the sunset. I grabbed a bite to eat at The original “Margaretville”. I had a Chicken Caesar. It was awful! How do you screw that up… they managed…
Then I cruised through Sloppy Joes and headed back to my room for a bit. The night life does not start until after 10:00 so I read and hung out and searched for my next place to stay. I ended up using Priceline and getting a great deal at a place on the beach in Fort Lauderdale for $99. It was the Sheraton Yankee Clipper.
I went back out at 11:00 or so and things were no more amusing. The Garden of Eden was a little more interesting, but not that much. I called it a night after a while and went to bed.
The next day I got up and made it in time for the continental breakfast… this is the second time. I have been rising earlier while I have been homeless and jobless… hmm… anyway there was a couple eating breakfast. He was a real estate sales person that like to repeat himself and she was from Japan. Fortunately they left. I asked about how Priceline and Expedia worked for them. Apparently they pay to be listed and they have to update it twice a day… looks like someone was slacking on updating Expedia. I offered to configure the wireless router (a hate routers that are called Linksys) but she was not the owner so she did not approve it. I was going to do it anyway before I left it, but I did not.
I had packed everything up, or so I thought and was sitting in the car asking Hertz if I could drive in the Sun Pass lane for the tolls. They were fairly clueless… BUT the delay was enough for the house keeper to run out and bring me my phone charger that I had forgotten!!!! Ahhh, what a bonehead…