Day 61 - Florida City

Key West

Today I drove down along the Florida Keys all the way to Key West, the Southernmost point in the US (they say continental US but I think unless you count PUerto Rico which is not officially a state yet it should still be the southernmost. Anyway, I digress)

You know Key West is different when the first person you speak to is the lady in the visitor centre and she has a parrot on her shoulder:

I was a bit unlucky with the weather (it rained) so I ended up stopping to buy wrapping paper for my big Christmas present wrapping marathon tonight. That was ok though because they're  not really known for their beaches so it's not like I would have been lounging all day anyway.

I went to the Eco something centre, where they show you a good video all about loving the Keys and I saw this guy:

Parking is notoriously difficult and expensive in Key West so I did spend most of the day worried my car might get towed but it seems the Keys love my car more than Chicago did so it was still there when I got back. I went for a very mainstream wander around town and really enjoyed it:

I also went to the official (though not real) southernmost point which is marked by a big buoy. There was actually a queue of people waiting to get their photo taken! (I do love the photo behind the photos) As I was waiting a group of people on a scavenger hunt asked me to join their photo so I asked them to join mine.

It was hilarious how many places claim to be the "Southernmost" of their kind, even when they are clearly duplicating claims:

The surrounding area

Because of the rain and clouds I decided to skip the famous sunset celebrations that take place every evening in Mallory Square in favour of driving back over the Keys in as much daylight as possible and I'm glad I did:

Love me a good causeway, I do!

Little desert islands

This looks like a nice bridge doesn't it?

Think again! Mind the gap!!

Other things I saw in Key West

All the bikes (a lot of them are rentals) have these huge high handlebars - love them!

Apparently world famous bench

There are chickens EVERYWHERE!

So many things here are lime green

Flipflops for your wine. Obv.

At first I thought these were teeth and it was a dentist's office. Then realised they were dolphins...