Summer in the Florida Keys - Part Two

Friday, February 7 - 23
    

Our very generous campsite

     We arrived at our southernmost destination two weeks ago:  NASKW (Naval Air Station Key West) Sigsbee Beach Annex.  We are “dry camping” which means we have no electricity.  But with our battery and propane we have everything except air conditioning and the microwave oven.  The first week was too hot and humid for us central coast Californians.  But there are always cool restaurants for lunch, the cool camping office for wifi, and on weekends, a bracingly cool pool at another NASKW annex.  After a heavy two-day wind and rain, the temperatures cooled off to the

Dave's Life Is Good t-shirt

high 70’s and the breeze picked up so we are more comfortable and enjoying life more.  Or maybe we are just acclimating!  Unfortunately we had to take down our tent canopy when a gust broke a piece of it.  But we have enjoyed it's shade and wind protection for many days!

Best meal: filet, southern beans, red potatoes, salad

    

     This place is full of surprises.  One is that the keys are coral rock, so there is very little sand.  Another is that the pace of life is very, very slow.  People drive slowly - often from necessity because of the congested, narrow streets.  People are very helpful and friendly – tourism is the main industry today.  The history of Key West is fascinating – we have accumulated bits of pieces by frequenting the many museums. Although our campsite is at the edge of the Gulf and we have been to beaches both gulfside and oceanside, we don’t swim. (too cold, Man o’ War jellyfish, rocky bottom, etc.)  There are beautiful roosters crowing all over the island - originally brought here by Cuban cock-fighters, they are protected here and flourish.  We have enjoyed worshipping for two Sundays at the beautiful St. Paul's Episcopal Church.  As modern as it appears on the outside, there are beautiful, old-world style stained glass windowsn..We have been introduced to Pickle Ball - does anyone know of a place to play this in Monterey???

      We were told that it is a different culture down here.  Some of that culture probably revolves around Duval Street, Mallory Square, and the many restaurants and bars.  But bar-hoppers we are not!  However, since we spend a lot of our time at the campground, we have discovered the “winter camper culture.”  Most of the folk at our campground have come here year after year, not just for two  weeks like us, but for three to five months.  So many folk have made friends down here that they reunite with year after year.  While we have met really nice folk, we probably will not come back to Key West.  There are too many other places to visit in our US!

Jay and Julie visited for a fun day!