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The drive down US-1 passes through most of the inhabited Florida Keys
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You're never far from water
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In many places,the original railway bridges still stand.
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Some are now fishing piers.
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The blue-green ocean water is awesome. The marketers call it "azure".
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The colors come from protoplankton, which in turn feed all kinds of fish
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Water-oriented activity is extremely popular in the Keys
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Most of the keys are uninhabited, but people still go to them . . .
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When the railroad was being built, Pigeon Key was a popular work camp - no mosquitos!
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It's rare to see a shrimper out in daylight - the best shrimp around here are caught at night
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In Key West, this was Hemingway's favorite hangout.
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This historic mansion is now the Hard Rock Cafe
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This is the second oldest house in Key West, and shows it
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We HAD to go to Jimmy Buffet's place
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We didn't sit at the bar, so we're probably not officially parrotheads
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A "Conch Cruiser". Most are just creatively painted.
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This one took it to the max.
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Ernest Hemingway lived on Key West from 1928 to 1939
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He bought and restored this lush estate in 1931 - built in 1849, it lay vacant after the owner died in 1889
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Today it's a museum
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Hemingway was fascinated by polydactyl cats - those with more than the usual number of toes
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Most had 6 or 7 toes on their rear paws. There are about 50 cats on the estate today
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Hemingway did most of his writing in an office over the pool house
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As writer's studios go, this one probably has as many creative vibes as any
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After their divorce, Hemingway's ex installed this pool, which Hemingway mistakenly believed he'd paid for.
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"Might as well take my last cent", he yelled. Here it is, embedded in the pool deck.
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Hemingway figured a lot of his income went into that urinal from a local bar, so he took it home and put it in his garden as a watering trough for cats
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There are lots of free-roaming chickens on Key West
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Most are descendents of released or escaped Cuban cockfighting birds
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This was springtime - lots of chicks around
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The Key West Lighthouse was moved closer to town after the beach eroded from under it
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Key West has about 40 "Eyebrow Houses" - the eaves extend like an eyebrow over the 2nd story windows to keep rain out
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Fixer-Upper - just $1.5 million makes it yours
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Best Key Lime Pie in Key West, they say. We liked it. . .
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Lots of public art on the streets
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Wyland, the local artist who paints these murals, has also done some on the Oregon Coast
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This coastal schooner was used to lay and maintain undersea cables for 35 years starting in 1939.
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We rode these trolleys to get a feel of Key West. As you can see from bis name-plate, this is where Santa spends his off-months
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The luggage porter is another statue.
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Supposedly the furthest south you can get in the Continental US - a "must get" shot for tourists
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If you count the miles down, this is the end of US-1. If you count them up, it's the beginning.
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Tourists! They'll take pictures of anything!
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The bricks don't match because they're repurposed ballast from many sailing ships
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Sponging was a major industry in Key West once . . .
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More public art . .
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This was the only cigar factory to survive the great Key West fire of 1886.
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Since that fire, local law requires that all roofs be non-flamable. Tin is the prevailing choice . . .
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Shipwrecking was also a big industry - salvaging cargo from ships that hit the offshore reef
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This was on our must-see list. The story of Mel Fisher's half-billion dollar treasure find is compelling . . .
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Some of the recovered gold is on display - bars and ingots
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And gold chains - lots of chains. Jewelry was taxed less than bullion, so they made chains, which could be spent by the link, as cash
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They also found silver
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And jewelry
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Some of it surprisingly delicate
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And the more mundane - pots and pans and tools
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And silver coins - the famous "pieces of eight" - each weighed an ounce. It was the first universal currency, accepted anywhere
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Before and after - lots of relics were encrusted with all kinds of stuff
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One exhibit talked about the slave trade - this is a "loading diagram" of one slave ship
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A copper kettle used to make mush to feed 250+ slaves - it's the only one known to exist
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Judy wonders if that's how the pirate lost his hand . .
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The old Customs House is now home to a delightful museum
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On the porch, a delightful statue (the foreground one)
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The most interesting display chronicled Key West's boozing-gambling-bordello days.
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This mural hung in one of the local bars. The bar, in turn, was in a former bordello that was also the town morgue.
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Key West was once a major cigar producer. After a hurricane, most of the cigar makers moved to Tampa
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Made of old chrome car bumpers, it's named "Seated Figure"
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The back side of the museum faces the harbor . . .
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. . . where cruise ships and yachts hang out.
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If you're gonna day-dream, dream big . . .
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After all these years, still the definition of "sexy"
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In 1860, the US Navy began intercepting slave ships coming from Africa and taking them to Key West - rescung some 1432 Africans. 294 who didn't survive were buried here.
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After a storm flooded the original site, they were moved to the main cemetary on higher ground.
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50 years ago, the garden club moved into this old Civil War fort
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Orchids nest in all the trees
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The gumbo limbo tree, often compared to Key West tourists, peeling from sun exposure
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The garden contains plants from all over the world
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From the gazebo, take your pick of gorgeous - a water or garden view
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Didn't get the name of this spectacular cactus
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The "brain cactus" puts on quite a display, even without blooms
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After the fort was abandoned unfiinished, much of it was cannibalized for local shops and residences
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The ruins make a great backdrop for the varied flora
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This huge strangler fig climbs over anything in the way - and it's just 50 years old!
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Spectacular color
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Volunteers spiffed up the infrastructure
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This palm sports some spectacular fruit
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Several surviving fort rooms provide welcome seating and indoor displays
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A beautiful cascade of arches remains at the old fort entrance
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Our view from lunch one day - it was pretty breezy
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To locals, it's "Fat Albert". To the Feds, it's an "areostat", and that belly bulge contains anti-drug-running radar
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Every so often, Fat Albert descends for more fuel to power his electronics
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The Sunset Fishing Pier at our RV park was a good place to catch a sunset
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Some folks tried for fish as well
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When the pelicans come in for the night, it's sunset time!
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We saw a couple good ones
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The best skies were about 20 minutes after sunset
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Our simple cameras can't begin to capture these skies
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But we keep trying . . .
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And trying . . .
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We didn't see any sailboats in the RV park's marina
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Space is at a premium in the RV park
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But some streets are wide and easy to navigate
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The permanent residents go in for lots of lights
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Our neighbors even enhanced a very attractive palm tree
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Goes to show that everybody here is from someplace else
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You can see how those red mangrove roots could build an island by trapping debris
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Florida Key Deer are endangered - there are only about 700 left
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Females are about 2ft tall at the shoulder
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In this visitor center display, you can see that the fawn is only about a foot tall
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We spotted our deer in the National WIldlife Refuge on Big Pine Key, which is also where we saw this gator
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That day, there were lots of kids on a photography outing
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Crane Point nature preserve has protected original "hammock" areas, most of which have been obliterated elsewhere by modern development
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Much of the lush greenery is not native to the area
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This cactus certainly isn't
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Cactus of all kinds flourish here - native and non-native
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Site of an old "solution hole" where early settlers got fresh water. Low water tables have destroyed most of them
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A smallish aviary, run by another volunteer group, rescues local bird varieties
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The night heron poses for us
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The tiny Kestrel is the smallest hawk
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Look up! Mamma osprey has two chicks
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The oldest house in the keys outside Key West, built of tabby by George Adderly in 1903
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Period furnishings evoke the simple surroundings of island life in the early 20th century
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Wow! A "neon" fish
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Now there's a view of an osprey you never want to get in real life
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The Golden Silk Orb-weaver - Banana Spider - can grow to have a leg span of 6 inches. This one was about half that
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Our banged-up bike rack will now hold only one and a half bikes!
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The first bike shop we stopped at had a neat sculpture - but no bike rack
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Gary from Island Bicycles installs our new bike rack
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As we start to leave the keys, a traffic jam and flashing lights - never a good thing
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Motorcycle with a flat tire - pretty much all that was left of whatever happened
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The southern Everglades is the only place you'll find the very rare American Crocodile. We didn't see any
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We end on this plaque we found at the Garden Club building (is that a typo?)