Feb 28
After lunch Don and I caught the 1:00 shuttle to town. We walked Margaret St to Reynolds St to Atlantic Ave and up the boardwalk past Higgs Beach to the West Martello Tower where the Key West Garden Club maintains a lush tropical garden amongst the ruins of an abandoned battlement. Oh lucky day for us. The Orchid Club was hosting a plant and food sale so there were orchids everywhere! We wandered brick pathways through brick arches, doorways carved in towering strangler figs, past brick ovens and settled on seats in a gazebo overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Lovely, cool breezes wafted over us. This wonderful garden was full of winding paths that led through various garden 'rooms', each with a different theme. I was in heaven and Don was happy to sit munching a cheeseburger provided by the Orchid Society. My chicken salad was exquisite. We dined by a babbling waterfall in this fabulous garden, memories from way back of my Dad selling burgers for the Lions Club surfacing. On the way out I stopped to inspect a vanilla orchid and bought a couple vanilla beans, the scent staying with me as we hoofed it up White Street. We spied the Key West Wildlife Center across the street and stopped for a visit. Greeting us was a snowy egret arrayed in his breeding plumage (as told by a knowledgeable veteran). It seems he is a frequent visitor to the facility, as are the variety of tropical birds strolling or roosting on the grounds. The cages held a Mina bird, red shouldered hawk, pelicans, sea gulls, royal terns, turkey vultures, to name a few. Rounding the last corner we spied a blue heron, several ibis, a hawk in a tree, and several mare egrets outside the cages. Time was getting on and we had to step up the pace to make the 4:30 bus, which leaves anywhere between 4:15 - 4:30, depending on how many people are loading up for the trip back. Two blocks away I spied the bus pulling in and started running, really a half limp run, lol, and caught him before he took off, as there were no passengers for the return trip. At the Publix stop I ran in to get some of the Florida strawberries Melissa had shared with us. They are in season now and soooo good. A great day for tired explorers.