Monday, March 18, 2019

2019 IBA JAX Pizza Party Adventure - Day 7, March 18, 2019

We had big plans for today so it was easy to jump up out of bed at 6 am.  We were headed for Key West, woohoo!!  Yippee Skippy!  I've never been there and was quite excited about the trip.  We wore street clothes under our gear and packed our sandals so we could walk around without sweltering.

It was about a 130 miles from our hotel to Key West and there was only one road to get there, US1.  The temperature was close to 70 with a bit of a cloud cover.  Perfect riding weather!  Oh joy, I got to see the sunrise over the Keys, what a treat!  Then it was just pretty much slog along at the posted speed limit which sometimes was 55 but mostly 45.  So it took a while to get there.  No problem, we figured we would arrive in Key West just about lunch time and that's what happened.

Our first agenda item was a photo of the Southernmost Point in the US Marker.  We were sooooo bold.  I just rode my bike up there and parked illegally while Eric snapped my pic!  Shame on us, lol.


 From there we rode down the street past Duval and found a place to park the bikes and get into our walking clothes.  We scored on a great place to park, paid the $9 and tagged our bikes so we wouldn't get towed.  You can only imagine the strange looks we got as we peeled off our gear, hahahaha.

Just a block up the street we found this photo opportunity that I just couldn't pass up.  Hahaha, yes, we're having fun :-)


Love the architecture!  We had previously looked at staying on Key West but you know what?  I can spend $400-$500 on a lot of other things than a room for the night.  So, we just took pics of some of the fancy pants hotels ;-)

 Pink and purple bicycles, what's not to love?  We saw tons of peeps riding rental bikes and scooters and golf carts as well as the little tour train and open air buses.

 There were chickens everywhere.  Really, everywhere.  Here is a hen with her chicks, cute!


 We walked out to a pier to check out the water views.  Lots of pelicans and other birds.

 Beach front cafe where you could rent a lounge chair and umbrella for the hour or for the day.

Seagulls on the wall.  Rather artistic don't you think?

 Okay, shame on me but I put my sticker on a post.  Hey, all the posts on the pier were covered in stickers so I didn't really feel bad about putting mine there.


We spied a big sailboat way out on the water!  Cool!

Across from the pier was this lovely hotel.  Bet it's a nice place to stay ;-)

 Then of course we had to take pics of the over sized Adirondack chair because we like good silly stuff :-)


We had to do some tourist trinket shopping.  We didn't buy here but we did end up with the requisite stickers to put on the bikes and a magnet for our garage freezer.

We walked back to the Southernmost Point in the Continental USA, stood in line, and finally got our opportunity for pictures.  Good fun!




 There was a long line of peeps waiting at the Marker to take a picture.  Fortunately, it went fairly quick and peeps were considerate, helping each other take photos and such.


Took this pic of Eric at the Marker location.  A statue of Bishop Albert Kee.  Until his death in 2003, Bishop Albert Kee welcomed visitors to Key West's Southernmost Point Marker, acting as a smiling ambassador for the island while selling fluted, pink-lined conch shells beside the iconic landmark.  



Here is one of the trains that take people around the area.  If we ever go back to Key West, we will take one of the tours.

Chickens everywhere.  Here is one cocky rooster right outside the restaurant we stopped at for lunch.


We had lunch at the Ocean Grill on Duval Street.  Lunch was Lobster Roll and Fries.  Can you say YUMMY!!!!  Okay, it looks small.  That's because we shared one saving room for Key Lime Pie later ;-)

Outside the restaurant were some parrots perched in a tree.  Couldn't resist the photo op.




 After lunch, we hit a cheap tourist junk shop and got our stickers and magnet.  Then back to the bikes where we geared up and headed out.  By now it was about 80 degrees and I was so happy to get on the highway after riding block by block to get out of the historic district.  Whew!  Hot!

The air felt good as we picked up speed.  So, of course, it was a reverse slog up US1 back to our hotel.  Fairly uneventful, we were happy to get to our room and get out of those clothes!  Have to tell you, we were on high alert for all the fucktards and their shenanigans.  Fucktardians pulling in front of us, cutting us off, no signals, stupid stuff.  Yup, high alert!  No mimosas or cocktails for us at lunch.  ($7.95 never ending Mimosas were hard to pass up!!)  However, we had lovely cocktails waiting for us in our room.  All is good.

We had a wonderful, fun, giggly, touristy day.  I'm so glad we took the time and made the effort to go to Key West.  I now have my requisite photo, stickers and magnet.  Bonus, we had a delightful lobster roll and even some Key Lime Pie on a stick ;-)  It was a great day.

Tomorrow we're going to the Everglades and taking an airboat tour.  Should be fun so you should check in tomorrow and see what happened.

Cheers,
Cletha


5 comments:

  1. We've never been to Ocean Grille but know right where it is. KW is fun, but yes wise to not drink when leaving out and up US1. That's why we park where we stay, and use bicycles for our time when we're down. Looks like you're getting a good tour around Florida!

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    1. Oh yes, a great tour! Having tons and tons of fun. No drinky until parked for the night, always! Cheers and hugs!

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  2. I told you it would be a slog. But it's so worth it. The cemetery is actually a cool place to visit along with the Hemingway house. All the more reason for a return trip. It's really cool to arrive there on a cruise ship. No hot motorcycle gear to shed. Have a great trip home!

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    1. LOL, yes a slog and yes so worth it! I'll remember the cruise trip for next time :-) Yes, I think we'll probably go back, spend a few days and take the tours, visit the sites and museums and eat lots of good seafood!

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