Moving to Frog Creek

We moved again today, but not very far. We left the Bethel Church grounds where we had stayed during the MDS meetings (after leaving them a donation for using their water and electricity) and moved north a few miles further. On the way we passed this field with both this very Brahma looking cow --

And these ones with fairly long horns --

We drove on up north to Palmetto to Frog Creek RV Park and Campground. I had read on the internet that is was "a campground under a canopy of Spanish Moss," and it certainly is. We are in a fairly open spot, compared to some of the sites, but still are unable to connect with the satellite TV antenna.

A few minutes after we arrived, I saw a Stanley Steemer van packing up their supplies a few RVs down the road. I caught them just before they left to see if we could get on their list to clean Auntie Violet's rug. I was most pleased when the fellows said they could do it right away as they had just finished their jobs. She doesn't have a great deal of carpet, just the front room. It's probably less then a hundred square feet. (The rest of the rig has ceramic tile floors.) They treated all of the spilled coffee spots, then steam cleaned the rest of it. It looks pretty darned good. It didn't take them more then fifteen minutes and they charged me their minimum which was $75.

The carpet was still damp when it was time for supper, though we were running the fans and had all three of our electric heaters on. So we decided to go into town for dinner. The park had a list of restaurants on their map and we saw that Jose's Cuban Cafe was on the list. It's just a hole in the wall -- four tables along the wall and ten or so stools at a bar. It's one of the restaurants featured in Dives, Drive-ins and Diners, the TV show. The first thing when we walked in, they asked if we had been there before. When we replied in the negative, they immediately brought a small dish sample of their pulled pork with two forks in it. It was absolutely delicious!

We each ordered one of their dinners, but brought enough home for lunch tomorrow. There was a dish of black been soup (scrumptious!) and a dish of yucca (which I've never learned to like). On the plate was pulled pork, pulled beef and a ground beef portion with tomatoes and green olives. All served over rice and with a couple of plantains as well! We also shared some of the best flan I've had in a long time.

It was even better then the Cuban meal we had in Key West. I ordered sangria -- not noticing on the menu that it only came by the pitcher! We ended up not only with to-go boxes of dinner, but also with a large styrofoam cup of sangria -- which I am enjoying as I type...

More Key West

Forry and I sent Leslie and Bill off to go kayaking and snorkeling today, while we took the day off to rest. We were both so tired this morning we decided we needed a down day.

Here are some more pictures from yesterday --

This is the guys in the front seat of the electric car we rented --

And this is the place they were looking for --

And this is what they were after --

Frozen Key Lime pie dipped in chocolate --

I finally found out the name of this gorgeous plant we have seen all over Key West. It is a spider lily.

I spotted this interesting shrub across the street from where we had rented the electric car --

It's a Bush Allamanda, a Brazilian native --

While this is the shrub form, it also can be a type of vine --

These are a pair of the Key West natives. Banty chickens have the run of the city and are all over.  I think they keep the ants and other pests down.

After we returned the rental electric care, and as it got towards sundown, we headed towards the harbor and Mallory Square --

A good share of the population, locals and tourists alike, flock to the harbor to watch the sunset --

There were a few clouds in the sky, but it was a beautiful sight --

Leslie had wonderful memories of a Cuban restaurant, El Siboney, she had eaten at fifteen years ago when she last visited Key West. It ended up being a long walk in a very dark residential neighborhood, but we finally found it (we were beginning to wonder about her memory!). There was a long line out the door and we had about a twenty minute wait. It was well worth it! We had a wonderful meal of roast pulled pork, yellow rice, plantains and black beans. The portions were so large, Forry and I had more than enough for our meal tonight.

Key West Butterfly Conservatory

We went back to Key West this morning with our friends Leslie and Bill. This was Bill's first trip to the Keys while Leslie hadn't been here for fifteen years. It was kinda fun to fill them on what we had learned during our week here. We rented an electric car to run around town in -- that in itself was fun and a good way to sight see. We checked out the "official" Southernmost Point in the Continental USA (there is actually a Naval radar station that is further south...) for the obligatory picture.

Then we headed over to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy that we had missed seeing on our earlier trips. In the anteroom they had several plants that were serving as food for butterfly larva.

Then we went through two sets of double doors into the gardens which were very warm and humid. There were literally hundreds of different butterflies flitting about. We did learn that all of the butterflies are farmed raised and that there average life span is only two weeks! This first one is a Blue Morpho, native to Costa Rica --

We bought a $2 chart that pictured two dozen different butterflies and moths, but most of these were not on pictured on it...

This one is another Costa Rican native that was on the chart, it's called a Hecate Longwing --

We went from the Butterfly Conservancy to many other spots around Key West, but it's late, I'm tired. I'm off to bed!

Ernest Hemingway Home

This morning we went back south to Key West. We had bought tickets on the City Trolley when we were there a couple of days ago. So today we took the trolley tour around town --

The trolley allows you to get on and off at various sites on the tour. One of the places in Key West I wanted to see was the house that Ernest Hemingway lived in before he went to Cuba.

 One of the first things you notice in this Bahamian-style tropical house is that there are NO ceiling fans! Hemingway's second wife was into "high-fashion" and she thought that ceiling fans were tacky! The guide commented that it was sort of hard to believe that this chandelier was supposed to be "classier..."

Hemingway did his actual writing on the second floor of this little bungalow behind the main house --

The room he wrote in is just as he left it. Note the small typewriter on the table --
  

Outside in the courtyard was one of the forty-four! six-toed cats that inhabit the house and grounds. These cats are descendants of the cats that the Hemingways owned and have the run of the place. There were even two of them sleeping on the bed upstairs.

The gardens of the house were like a lush tropical paradise. A few of them were actually labeled, including this one, a "Christmas Palm."

 The fruit on it was these interesting seeds --

Also in the garden was this rather interesting cat watering fountain. The pot is a large olive oil jar while the base is actually a urinal that Hemingway rescued when one of his favorite bars was remodeled. Evidently his wife was appalled, so had the pot added and the base tiled to make it "more respectable."

After the tour, we were allowed to go back into the main house and take pictures. I was intrigued by the living room with its multiple screened doors to the outdoors. This made for a nice breeze through the room -- even with the "fancy" chandeliers instead of fans...

We saw many of these sorts of peddlers' carts around the city as we rode the trolley around. This one was selling all kinds of nice, but very expensive, hats --

While this one had all kinds of sea shells, from the size of conch shells on down --

Truman's Little White House

There are a couple of "must-visit" places in Key West. One of them is Harry S Truman's Little White House.

The land the Little White House is on was deeded to the State of Florida by the Navy. It was originally the house of the commandant, but was remodeled for his use after President Truman decided that vacations at Key West suited him well.

Unfortunately, this is as far as you can go with a camera --

The streets of Key West are beautifully landscaped. This pretty flower has nasty thorns on its stems -- 

I've never seen this plant before -- even in a florist shop. It is gorgeous!

This is a banyan tree on one of the downtown street corners --

We had wanted to go to a Cuban restaurant for dinner, but the most highly rated one is closed on Mondays. So we headed back home and went to Mangrove Mama's which is right across the road from the turn to the KOA. We both had seared scallops and yellow rice which were delicious. I can't say the same for the carrots (though Forry thought they were great...)!

And you can't be in the Keys without eating Key Lime Pie! (too bad the point disappeared before I took the picture...!)