A Good Drive in the Country

Perhaps, I am old before my time. But, I must admit that I enjoy a good drive in the country. I like to wander the unfamiliar roads looking for unexpected points of interest. Furthermore, I keep a list of special drives around the USA that I intend to complete. Well, check one off the list. I have been to Key West before, but I flew into it. This time, I did it right. I flew to the Florida mainland and drove out to Key West. I wanted to see all of the Keys, from Key Largo to Islamorada to Marathon and finally Key West. This post highlights my drive on scenic Highway 1 (a.k.a. Overseas Highway) and my stops at all the little slices of Americana.

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Highway 1 in the Keys is about 100 miles long from Key Largo to Key West. Much of the scenery was as expected…i.e. beautiful blue skies over an endless sea. But, what I did not expect was the amount of land. There are about 800 individual keys along this stretch of highway. Sure, there was a magnificent 7 mile bridge over the ocean stretching from Marathon to Key West. But, there are plenty of other times when you saw no ocean. You were just driving in a some Florida city/village. And, that’s OK by me. I am not really a ocean/beach person anyway. My trip was about the stupid things I found when I got off the highway.

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The reality of blog missions is that there can be failures. But, rather than dwell on it, I pass along my failures for your entertainment. First, there was the 1951 classic movie, “African Queen,” with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. The characters basically went on a harrowing river adventure in Africa upon their boat…the African Queen. In Key Largo, the actual African Queen boat still exists. Well, its does exist. But, it was absent during my visit. See the first picture above for the African Queen on the day of my visit.

Secondly, old folks out there can remember watching “Flipper” on TV in the 1960s. Basically, it was like “Lassie,” but with a dolphin. In real life, the main dolphin of the show was named Mitzi. Also in real life, Mitzi is dead. Her final resting place is in Grassy Key in Marathon. I wanted to pay my respects and see what kind of grave a TV star dolphin gets. Nope. It did not happen. Flipper’s grave is within the Dolphin Research Center. So, to see the grave, you have to pay $30 and hear an entire program on the research center. There was no way that Flipper’s grave was worth $60 (me and Carol). Thus, blog mission failure #2. Now, on the the successes…

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In the category of my Favorite Statue in the Keys, the winner is Betsy the Lobster. This house sized, spiny lobster is in Islamorada which ended up being one of my favorite areas. However, I am probably biased in my favoritism towards Islamorada because of Robbie’s. Robbie’s is part dive bar, part shanty town, and part marina. The main attraction for bar is the tarpon feeding. For a mere $4, they give you a bucket of bait fish. Then, you go out on the dock and try your hand at hand feeding the tarpons…

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When feeding bait fish to tarpons, there are a couple approaches. Approach #1 is to not get near them. Stand on the dock and throw them in from a distance. However, if you choose this approach, the pelicans identify you as the weakest antelope. The pelicans will swarm you and attempt to help themselves to the tarpon meal. The preferred method is to lay on the dock and try to hand feed the tarpon. But, be forewarned, these tarpon are aggressive. They leap out of the water to take the fish. I doubt that they differentiate between hand and fish. As a bonus, the sharks occasionally come to feed as well. I tried to feed the sharks, but the tarpon are too aggressive. If you get the fish anywhere near the shark, the tarpon leap over them and take the fish. Oh well, its all just fun at Robbie’s.

Eventually, my drive in the country led us to Key West. There is no denying that Key West is a interesting and unique place. I will limit my blog offerings to a few stops that were Carol’s favorites…

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For me, the best butterfly habitat and conservatory ever is in Key West. The butterflies were everywhere. If your wife makes you visit butterflies, this is the best option. Also, no trip to Key West is complete without visiting the Southernmost Point in the USA. However, there is always a line to get pictures. Do not bother with the line. You can do a selfie from a distance with the buoy in the background. Lastly, I took my wife to see the crazy parrot lady. Its just some lady’s personal residence. And, her backyard is a parrot jungle. She takes in rescue parrots and rehab/trains them. Just put $10 in a jar. Then, walk into her backyard. Next, she shows you how she trains the parrots. She will never stop telling you about her parrot training. This only ends when you politely excuse yourself and thank her for her time.

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If you are going to take a country drive in the Keys, plan for a sunset. Its what they do. Mallory Square on Key West is the most famous spot to celebrate the sunset. However, its always crowded. There are many other options. On the far west end of Marathon is the Sunset Grill. It had a pool bar, marina, and most importantly, available tables. The sunset was spectacular. And, this seems like a timely point to end this post as well. Have a wonderful day, PT

I hope you have enjoyed “A Good Drive in the Country” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks

If you like that drive, check out this drive https://travelingwithpt.com/time-to-revisit-route-66/

Here is a list of some of the best drives by state https://news.yahoo.com/60-most-scenic-drives-america-144500791.html

p.s. Carol marks the end of our excellent Highway 1 adventure

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