It was early in the morning when our ship entered the harbor of Key West. We had a coastguard boat guiding us in (notice the gunner on the bow). Across the harbor is the island of Sunset Key with all private homes along the shore, condos in the center with a large swimming pool and two tennis courts. To the left it faces the ocean and to the right the Gulf of Mexico. Obviously you need a boat or take a ferry across.

After we docked, Sharon and I walked to the Little White House. It is away from the usual tourist traffic in a quiet part of the city. The building was the favorite place for Henry Truman where he worked and relaxed for many days of his presidency. The tour of the house (no pictures allowed) took about an hour with a guide who was full of stories and details. For example, it was Henry who decided that the seal of the US President should have the eagle's head pointed away from the arrows, symbols of war.

From here we walked through the neighborhood to Duval Street, the main drag with traffic, tourists and bars galore. One of the best known is Sloppy Joe's.

Beer is their main brew, so I had to try one. It was close to lunch time and we asked the bar tender what she would recommend. 'Go to the Hog's Breath,' was her reply. So we did. It is another bar where they serve good cheeseburgers and other healthy sides such as fries. But what the hay, we were on vacation.

After lunch we wandered around town some more, did some shopping and went to the Maritime Museum. The exhibits dealt mainly with the pirate days and the recovery of the most valuable sunken galleon in history. It is the story of Mel Fisher and his crew who, after searching for sixteen years, found the wreckage of the Achota, a Spanish ship that carried tons of silver bars and coins. To read about the details go to the web site http://melfisher.org/plataexhibit.htm

We also tried to take a trolley around town, but it was getting to late for the 1.5 hour tour, so we headed back to the ship.
The following morning we arrived in Miami where we had to stay another night at the Double Tree before we could go back to the Bay Area. That was when we took a cab to South Beach.

We rented a couple reclining chairs with an umbrella, took a couple dips in the warm ocean and watched some of the younger ladies go top-less. That was not too bad, but when a group of older, black lesbians sat next to us and started a game of football, where one team wore full bathing suits and the other only the bikini bottoms, it was a bit difficult to watch. It certainly was the most unusual game of touch football I ever experienced.

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