Wow! What a day! What a long day!

Poor old Peri got abandoned again for 12 hours while his people, who he loves cherishes and protects to the best of his ability ran off and had a good time somewhere without him.

Guilt!

We got back into Key West by about 10 o'clock in the morning and found the parking space that Snooze had recommended just around the corner from a hardware store, where we were able to buy our second water jerry can; an kitchen supply store where we were able to buy a stand for beer can chicken (this is so that we won't have to rely on the can sticking out of the chicken's backside to keep it upright); and a bakery that Snooze had recommended for really great fresh baked bread. We bought a loaf for him and one for ourselves.

Then we took a short hike into town.

Along the route it became very obvious that there was so much to see in this place that we needed a guide to help us decide what we wanted to concentrate on during the one day that we were here. The obvious answer was the world famous Conch Train. This is a small car made up to look like a locomotive pulling up to ten cars for passengers and we couldn't have made a better choice. Our guide, Bob, was very good indeed and we were certainly able to see a lot more of the city than if we relied on our own two feet to get around. We saw the old city which was the part of Key West that was there originally. The new city was that which was created when the Navy dredged out the channels to make them deeper for the larger ships and created new islands which in turn solidified into simply an extension of the original mangrove islands doubling their size. We saw those parts of the city which were first established by Cubans creating tobacco empires in the United States. We saw the African American communities where they first came down as workers and then gradually became businessmen and millionaires in their own right.

I hadn't realized that Key West was the richest city in the US per capita at one time and that was mostly due to wrecking. When I first heard that I was more than a little shocked, as in the UK wreckers were criminals who deliberately lured boats onto the rocks to plunder them of their cargoes and murder their crews. Here in Key West, however, they were regulated by the courts and were strictly on the up and up. In fact they were looked on as heroes as their primary mission was to rescue the passengers and crew, and then the ship and cargo. In reward for which, the courts assessed them a share of the value of the ship and cargo. There is a really well done museum set up on the Key West waterfront honouring their memories and their contribution to the history of the city.

We were shown the Bull and the Whistle, two pubs on top of each other on Duval Street. The Bull is a normal street pub and the Whistle is a sort of pool hall with a balcony overlooking Duval. What is most interesting is that there is a third bar, the Garden of Eden, on the third floor. This is a clothing optional bar! No. We didn't have a chance to check it out. Next time in the Keys, perhaps.

We passed by the Hemmingway house which had been converted into a museum after his death. The tour guides gloss over the fact that his death was suicide, but as he was a favoured son I guess they can be forgiven. Several presidents including Hoover, Coolidge, and Roosevelt all spent time down here; so much so that there is a Key West White House on the tour as well. Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and a couple of other famous authors also made their homes here for a while seeking the ambiance, the solitude and their muse in the narrow, overhanging, freewheeling streets of Key West.

As for more mundane pastimes, I now have a conch horn to blow at sunset; Barb bought some material for some more cabin pillows; and she was able to pick up some bridal party gifts for a wedding that our daughter Kayt is in. These were actually for the bride to give to her wedding party so Barb will be reimbursed, but even I thought that they were nice gifts. I'm sure that the ladies will appreciate them.

As we were leaving Key West Barb did mention to me with a slight note of disappointment that we didn't see a single transvestite or flagrantly gay person on the streets. Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe now it is so accepted that the gay community no longer feels that they have to flaunt their lifestyle as a sort of offensive defence mechanism. I sure hope so.