Just Hangin'

The main reason we are where we are in January/February is the weather. It's nice to see the sights and Florida attractions, but we are very satisfied to sit around and do what we'd do at home...read, cook, walk, and generally hang out...just not in frigid temperatures. The warmest spot to be right now is Key West, so we have been camped right outside of town for the last seven days. Some days it was too hot to walk during the day, so we'd take evening strolls. We've only driven into Key West three times so far (it's a bit too far to walk).

The first trip in was to pick up our mail that our wonderful neighbor, Karen, packed up and mailed to us. The second time we did some shopping...OK, I did some shopping, and Bill read a magazine outside of the stores. Later that evening we had dinner with Jim and Patty Bertier, who used to live in Harford County, but now reside in Key West.

Today we took our third trip in and had a great time. We toured the Audubon House, which is a misnomer, because John James Audubon never lived there, in fact he may have never visited there. He did visit Key West in 1832, though, and spotted and drew 22 new birds for his "Birds of America" folio. The house we toured belonged to a sea captain, and when the home was scheduled to be demolished so a gas station could be built, a wealthy family succeeded in buying and restoring it. For some strange reason, the benefactors decided to pay homage to Audubon, and many of his first edition prints, are showcased in the house. All the furniture and household items were from the 1800's, and I enjoyed seeing the antique quilts.

 I particularly liked the baby quilt. The blue pottery piece is a "baby feeder".



We also toured the lighthouse museum and walked to the top of the lighthouse (no longer in the water) where we had a great view of the town. Here's a view from one of the windows...you can see the cruise ships in the distance.

 

Speaking of cruise ships, we walked past two as we walked along the shoreline.

 

 

There is a restaurant every few feet in Key West, and we took a chance and had lunch at Old Town Mexican Cafe. We are very glad we did...delicious!

I'm sorry about the weather our friends and family from Maryland and points North are experiencing...really, I am! This is the view I woke up to as I sipped my coffee in shorts and flip flops:

And now, it's cocktails for the sunset...