Thursday, December 30, 2010

Day 5 Florida Winter Vacation 2010

Today we are up and out the door a little earlier than usual.  We have a 100 mile drive ahead of us as we head South through the Florida Keys to Key West Florida.

It is just over a 100 mile drive but it will take about 3 hours because the speed limit is 45 mph and sometimes 55 mph.

7096 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7097 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

Karen and I enjoy driving on Scenic Roads and this Highway has several designations.

7101 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

Along the way we saw several of these Manatee Mailboxes.  We are still hoping to see a real Manatee.

7108 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - manatee mailbox

We drove from Key to Key making our way South towards Key West.  Saw this giant spiny lobster.

7114 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Spinny Lobster statue

A series of bridges and causeways connect each Key.

7122 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7147 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7241 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

7176 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7277 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7235 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

We arrive in Key West and found a parking lot to park the car.

7280 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West7282 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West7284 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West

Lucky for us, right around the corner from the parking lot was the terminal for the Conch Train.  Once aboard the train we got a guided tour of the town of Key West.

7291 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train7315 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back on Conch Tour Train7341 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train

First stop on our tour is Mallory Square, we got off here, wandered around, bought some souvenirs and had some lunch.  Here are some photos that I took as we walked around.

7292 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square7294 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square7297 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square - Great White Heron

7308 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square view from lunch table7306 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square view from lunch table7309 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square

We found the “Mile Zero” marker that signifies the beginning of US 1

7301 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop start of U.S. 1 The Overseas Highway7302 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop start of U.S. 1 The Overseas Highway

We also each had a slice of Key Lime Pie from the Key Lime Pie Factory.

7312 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st Key Lime Pie Factory7314 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Key Lime Pie

Back on the Conch Train we continued our tour of Key West.  We saw Harry S Truman's “Little White House”

7316 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House7317 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House7318 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House

We passed the marker for the Southern Most Point in the USA…  I wanted to get off the train to take more photos, however when I saw the line up of people waiting to take photos, I decided that it just wasn’t worth the effort so I shot these photos as we passed by.  We will have to come back another year at a time when there aren’t so many people.

7328 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker7329 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker7330 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker

This is Ernest Hemingway's Key West house.

7334 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House7332 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House7333 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House

Marilyn Monroe was in town for the New Years Eve celebrations.

7339 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Marilyn Monroe in front of the Tropic Cinema

It is 5pm and we better find our car and head North to our hotel.

To see all of our photos from today, you can find them by clicking on this link to my FLICKR site.

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