Key West
Switching gears (and directions) from last Saturday's Route 66 trip, Steve Rensberry and I are spending a sinfully luxurious and fun weekend in Key West, Florida, with my son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Nicole Jett.
Our road-trip escape from the winter-oppressed Midwest was uneventful except for finally breaking past the 60-degree mark somewhere around Orlando. When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, I was still dressed for 30-degree Georgia, which we had left behind that morning.
On Friday morning we rode with Tom and Nicole down U.S. 1, the Overseas Highway, to Key West. After the Illinois cold and snow and all the dreary winter days, it felt like we'd arrived on another planet. Our hotel is right on Mallory Square with incredible views of water and sky and boats and people and the pier. Today there is a gigantic cruise ship anchored right off the square in full view out our balcony window.
The long-time nightly tradition of awaiting and then watching the sunset was accompanied by street performers, vendors, and people from seemingly every walk of life. As people crowded the square, I was reminded of the amazing diversity of the human race. The rather pleasant and invigorating cacophany (is that an oxymoron?) of various music, languages, and accents made me think of being on the streets of New York City. Appropriately, the motto of the city of Key West is "One Human Family."
As the sun dipped lower, everyone readied their cameras/phones. What a lovely custom - celebrating Sol slipping down behind the curve of earth for the night.
Our road-trip escape from the winter-oppressed Midwest was uneventful except for finally breaking past the 60-degree mark somewhere around Orlando. When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, I was still dressed for 30-degree Georgia, which we had left behind that morning.
On Friday morning we rode with Tom and Nicole down U.S. 1, the Overseas Highway, to Key West. After the Illinois cold and snow and all the dreary winter days, it felt like we'd arrived on another planet. Our hotel is right on Mallory Square with incredible views of water and sky and boats and people and the pier. Today there is a gigantic cruise ship anchored right off the square in full view out our balcony window.
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| The beautiful Key West beach. |
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| The amazing view from our hotel. |
The long-time nightly tradition of awaiting and then watching the sunset was accompanied by street performers, vendors, and people from seemingly every walk of life. As people crowded the square, I was reminded of the amazing diversity of the human race. The rather pleasant and invigorating cacophany (is that an oxymoron?) of various music, languages, and accents made me think of being on the streets of New York City. Appropriately, the motto of the city of Key West is "One Human Family."
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| The sun begins its slide behind the last cloud. |
As the sun dipped lower, everyone readied their cameras/phones. What a lovely custom - celebrating Sol slipping down behind the curve of earth for the night.
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| Night envelops the hotel. |
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