Key West: the very bottom of the USA

Typical architecture in Key West

Yet another port in Florida, Key West is a very pretty place, but oh so hot!

Vibrant colours contrast with the white buildings in the old town

Many celebrities and other wealthy people have holiday homes here, but August is not the time of year they visit.  It is a winter playground, as is Miami.  Nevertheless, cruise ships turn up and many people live here all year round, as they do in hot places in Australia.

I expect many all-year-rounders stay inside during the day if possible, just like they would in England in winter.

Shuttle bus

The cross breeze was beautiful

Being America, we appreciated the opportunity to take a ride on a shuttle bus with an electronic hoist at the back.  It worked perfectly as a hop-on-hop-off bus.  We took the full 90-minute tour around this small island, just one section of Florida Keys.  The cross-breeze kept us comfortable and the tour driver was articulate and informative.  He handed out – or more accurately threw – prizes of cheap plastic ponchos – to passengers who were the first to answer questions about the island.  John won one for knowing that Tennessee Williams wrote Cat on the Hot Tin Roof.

Iguana

At the back of a motel, we saw some iguanas.  Not as large as the "dragons" in Komodo, however.

Many famous Americans lived in Key West at one time or another, including poet Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. Oprah has a holiday house on a small neighbouring island.

First settled in 1828, Key West has some beautiful old homes, many of them painted white.  The city has a real buzz to it, with many young people taking the heat in their stride.

I was glad of an ice-cream or two, as were many of our fellow guests.

A good place for a photo or three

The shuttle bus took us past the USA's most southern point.

HIghway 1

Here is the start of America's Highway 1.

The evening breezes were most welcome.  A perfect summer's evening.

A seaman - statue at the Museum

My turn now!

Called: Pondering the benefits of exercise

I think John could win this race

At the dock

Due to the strength of the Gulf Stream, our Captain cut our time short by two hours – still a late hour for us of 9:30pm – so we could reach Limon, Costa Rica in time, 36 hours later.

More about Miami, Florida

Bad luck if John wanted to shower

Whilst we didn’t see much of Miami on the Sunday (19^th August) when we reboarded Sea Princess, we did take some photos and recorded the shortcomings of the bathroom.  I expect the Miami Port Holiday Inn did have a properly accessible wheelchair bathroom, but as we booked just the day before, it was not available.

View from our window at 1:30am

The night photos were taken about 1:30am.

  The day photos simply showed us a big city with palm trees everywhere:  I’m sure we did not do Miami justice.

Same view at breakfast time - we could see our ship

All of this is necessary for us to travel by air

We had pared down our luggage to the minimum for flying but there are items we cannot do without.  Whether we cruise, fly or travel by train or bus, the ramp, pull-apart travel shower chair, medical appliances and pharmaceutical goods and clothes are indispensable.

Shower and toilet in C314 on Level 9

Never enough bench space for John's many tasks

Compared to the motel bathrooms, our Sea Princess bathroom is quite adequate, although I still need to “pardon the French” when John bangs into things as he cleans his equipment. This is a time-consuming task he prefers to undertake himself, not just for his own satisfaction, but also to allow me to do my own thing – much appreciated.