Tuesday, Jan. 28 - This is our third night in Key West, a lovely evening, warm, comfortable except for the no-seeums, which have found Gail. She reacts to the little devils badly, as some folks do, so it makes it tough to sit out after the sun goes down. Sounds like home with our mosquitos.

We've had a fine time here, especially since our r.v. park is close enough to town that we've been able to bike in and all around the place. The ride in is very nice, a large part of it along the ocean-front, and then we're close to down-town. The town is of a size that we can get to virtually any site of interest on our bikes. And so we've done the highlights: visited Hemingway's home, the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, dropped by the Truman Little White House, roamed around Duval Street (the where-it's at part of town), had lunch at a nice beach restaurant, spent some time at the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, which is right in town,  had a beer at Sloppy Joe's (Hemingway's regular watering hole). We did pretty much everything we wanted to in our two days, and got in about 30kms on our bikes to boot.

Hemingway's house was very interesting...and packed with visitors, as there were three cruise ships in town. So we did the tour, met the 50 plus 6-toed cats that live there,( all descended from one cat that the Hemingways had as a pet), saw the writing studio where much of EH's best work was done, learned about his 4 wives, his interests in various manly endeavors, his depression (which finally led to his suicide), and enjoyed the excellent home that was created out of a derelict building. Well worth the visit, if you're ever here.

If you're a beacher, there are several very fine beaches to spend time on. The bikini bottoms seem to get briefer and briefer, this old guy noticed. But only out of the corner of my eye. The State Park has a fine beach, with good food service and facilities, plus walking trails. And we must highlight the Eco-Discovery Center, which is free, and provides an excellent overview of the Keys, the Coral Reef, and the creatures that inhabit the region.

We have to mention one sad incident. Two sites away from ours is a woman whose old cat got out of her r.v. She's had Junior as a pet for 14 years, and was totally despondent that he somehow got out and has been lost. She was wandering about the r.v. park, calling for him, weeping, even offering a $500. reward. We listened to her story, and wandered the park trying to spot the runaway, with no luck. She claims Junior has been with her through tough times, as she's on her own in this big A class r.v., has lost family members, including a child, and Junior has been there for comfort. We put some of Junior's food out at our place, and no luck. Actually, another little stray came along and ate it all up.
This morning, the lady was nowhere to be seen, so we don't know how this story ends. Was Junior found? Did he come home on his own? Did fate deal him a nasty end? Did he get out to go away to die, given his declining health? Tune in to the next installment. We'll try to get answers for you tomorrow, before we head back to Key Largo.

Speaking of which, the drive from Largo to here is quite interesting, as there are beautiful views when crossing over the bridges, with water on both sides at times. But for a lot of the drive, we were going through built-up areas with loads of strip malls. So it's a mixed bag. And the difficulty was that there were very few places for an r.v. to pull over to take in the views. We'll do better on the way back, now that we're aware of the situation, and know a couple of places we can pull in and take a look around. It is a beautiful area to visit, with lots to do, so if you can afford it, come for a visit.

That's it for now. I'll post a couple of pics. First, Gail dipping her toes in the water at the State Park; Second, a cruise ship on its way out from port; third, Gail having a beer in front of Sloppy Joe's; and fourth, the studio where Ernest wrote some of his best stuff. More later. Stay tuned.