The Journey of Gypsy Rhapsody and Minuet in G: FLORIDA ADVENTURE...POST 13

Gypsy Rhapsody

(I am a 1977 Airsteam traveling with my owners, Vannie and Dave.

I love sharing our adventures.)

We have been traveling in Florida since February 20.

The last part of our journey has been spent in the Florida Keys

at the Florida State Airstream Rally on Hwy. 1.
Highway 1, aka "Overseas highway", aka "Federal highway",
aka "The Highway That Goes to Sea", is a modern miracle...in my book.
It's like the Keys roll out the red carpet (it's not red...just sayin')
to all it's visitors that dare to brave Highway 1.
Bridges are a bigggg deal in the Keys, for obvious reasons.
The bridge that everyone freaks out over is
the 7 mile bridge at Marathon, FL.
Guess what, folks, that's a drop in the bucket to me.
When you've crossed the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge (20 miles)
between Lafayette, LA and Baton Rouge, LA
as many times as I have...7 miles is a piece of cake.

We settled into the Sunshine Keys RV Park.

This park is located on Ohio Key...

about an hour from mile marker 0 in Key West.
These are lots of really small keys...and then some slightly bigger ones.
Some of the keys are even man-made. Key West has been enlarged
from a 2 mile x 2 mile key to a 2 x 4 one. How da do dat???

As you can see...we had a pretty incredible spot.

Sunshine, cool breeze, blue water, blue sky, coconut palms...
Florida at its best.!!!

...when we got up in the morning...

...when we go to bed at night...

My days are so peaceful and relaxing.
There are about 180 Airstreams at this rally,
so I have plenty of old friends and new ones to visit with
during the day while V and D do some sightseeing.

Dave is all smiles as he is boarding the bus heading to

Mile Marker 0...Key West. This is a shuttle bus that

picks up it's passengers at designated spots and

drops them off wherever they want...$1.50 for seniors.

What a deal!!!

These are our Louisisana friends from the Acadiana Airstream Unit.

John and Yvette Landry and Sarah Bourque...

All aboard to Key West.!!!

The trolley ride was a must.

It was a 90 minute tour of the island.

Vannie said the bus driver knew all the right places to go,

and they were comfy and cozy.

Maybe I should apply for that job...a Gypsy ride.

What do you think? Don't answer that...I know what you are thinking.

Gypsy's gone bonkers.

The bougainvillea was spectacular...in all colors.

Kinda reminds me a lot of New Orleans.

Not much wrought iron, but very similar...

Doesn't that look like a house on Esplanade in NOLA...

Southernmost Point in the USA..

Only 90 miles to Cuba...

Dave said that it won't be long before

we can hop on a ferry to Cuba.

Bring on the cigars.!!!!

Key Lime Pie...

It seems that you can't go to Key West without

eating this delicacy. Vannie said you could

get it by the slice, on a stick, in candy...

just name it and they had it.

Dave has the sweet tooth.

He said it was a lot like lemon icebox pie...yummy.

No calories when you are on vacation.!!! That's the rule.

The Truman White House

The Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida was the winter White House for President Truman for 175 days during 11 visits. The house is located in the Truman Annex neighborhood

in Old Town, Key West. After visiting this site, V and D walked down the street and found themselves gawking at the beauty of the place. V said it was one of her

favorite times. Peaceful palms, beautiful bougainvillea, handsome homes...

My goodness...I thought President Truman had passed on.

Guess he same back to life just in time to welcome V and D into his house.

Go Figure...

That tree with the beautiful yellow blossoms was everywhere.

Tabebula Tree...they also come in pink and lavender.

It was like a burst of sunshine popping up all over the city.

Pop...Pop...Pop

This Classical Revival "eyebrow" house is a uniquely Key West architectural design. It has a two-story plan with the roof extending down over the second floor windows onto porch columns. The view is somewhat obstructed but the very desirable shade is a bonus. This particular design is seen nowhere else in the United States. There are about forty of these houses remaining on the island.

I wonder if they have names like

exotic natural, mysterious thick, sexy thin...

Lunch Break

When a bunch of Louisiana folks get together,

food takes top priority.

The group agreed on El Meson de Pepe...a Cuban restaurant.

Several had Cayo Hueso Cuban Mix...which was Key West's version

of the traditional Cuban Sandwich. V and D had Lechon Asado...

traditional Cuban roasted pork.

Nobody had chicken because...

...these guys were all over the place.

This is Papa, and his wife and babies were right behind him.

They were walking down the streets,

down the sidewalks, under the tables in the restaurants...literally everywhere.

Vannie said when you would see one as roadkill, you just could not

bring yourself to order chicken for lunch.

The Hemingway house...a must-see in Key West.

907 Whitehead Street in the heart of Old Town Key West

Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote here for more than 10 years.

We moseyed around the house and grounds and

bathed ourselves in the ghost of Hemingway.

Folks, I am introducing you to the pool that

broke Hemingway. At least that is the story that Vannie

came home with. This pool cost $20,000 in 1938. It was a massive pool...

24 feet wide, 60 feet long, 10 feet deep at one end, and 5 feet deep at the other.

His wife at the time was Pauline...she was overseeing the pool project, and

it went wayyyyy over budget. The story goes that Ernest came home and said,

"Pauline, you've spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that!" Then he threw the penny at her. She picked up the penny and embedded it in some wet concrete around the pool.