March 15-17 - Trek to Key West

Headed down to Key West Friday morning through some "gator" land.



Arrived about 5PM and checked into a lovely B & B about two blocks from
Duval Street (any closer and one would not have been able to sleep). Took in
some sights Friday evening and had dinner down by the harbor away from the
party on Duval.

On Saturday I first headed to the East side of the island and saw the
Southern-most point of the Continental US.

Next stop was the Key West Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters on the way to
take the tour of the Ernest Hemmingway Home and Museum with close to 50 cats
in residence.

The tour of the Harry S. Truman Little White House was quite informative, I
even managed to get a little history lesson.

Took one last walk along Duval Street to have a drink at Sloppy Joe's
(Hemmingway's favorite hangout) and take in all of the crazy people and
outfits.

Managed to log in 6+ miles walking around, so I took a break before heading
out for dinner.

The trip back to Naples on Sunday included a detour to South Beach in Miami
Beach. Let me just say "Oh My" - it was so over the top.

March 1st - The Everglades

The weather today was cloudy and a bit chilly, so it was off to explore the
Everglades. The Everglades is the first national park that was created
solely to protect an ecological system.

We took a boat tour of the Ten Thousand Islands and coastal mangrove. We saw
many birds including a flock of white penguins, and were treated with a
visit from some dolphins who at one point "surfed" in the boat's wake. The
highlight was the Osprey with a clutch of baby chicks chirping away.

On the way back to Naples we were amazed to see hundreds of acres in flames
for a controlled burn. It looked like a scene out of an end of the world
movie.

The weather is supposed to start warming and clearing up - but I really
can't complain since this is only the third chilly day since my arrival in
mid-January - how quickly we get spoiled.