Thursday, May 13, 2010

Trolley Tour & Key Deer

We were on our way to Key West before 8:30 this morning to tour the town on a trolley. It's a get on, get off all day at any of their stops. We enjoy learning about the history of the area and hearing the local lore whenever we take a tour like this. Here are a few photos from our tour.

This is Mallory Square and still on our list of things to do is attend the Sunset Celebration which is held there every evening at...well...sunset of course. Mallory Square is just off Duval Street which has tons of shopping and historic sites from one end to the other. Rich quickly made friends with the Conch Guy at Shell Warehouse!










We toured Ernest Hemingway's house and did see some of the resident six-toed cats. The photo of the lighthouse was taken from the second-floor balcony of his house...I loved the arched glass walk-out windows on both floors and that huge balcony. It's a great house.
We had a delicious cheeseburger and fries at the Hog's Breath Saloon which was recommended by Amber & Ross...thanks you two! After lunch, we got back on the trolley and toured much more of Key West. The southernmost point of the Continental U.S. is in Key West and do they ever make a big deal of that! We saw the Southernmost House, the Southernmost Irish Bar, the Southernmost Gift Shop, the Southernmost Hotel, the Southernmost Real Estate Office, the Southernmost Furniture Store, and on and on...we had some laughs over that. Here's Rich at the Southernmost Gift Shop and both of us at the Southernmost Point of the Continental U.S.
There was so much more but it's impossible to put it all in a blog post. This evening we loaded the girls in the car and drove a couple of Keys north to Big Pine Key and to No Name Key where the National Key Deer Refuge is located. 
Our timing was perfect! During our one and a half hour drive throughout the area we saw 25 to 30 Key Deer! They are very small deer; all look like fawns but are actually full grown. At one point we saw six together, including a buck with a rack which was a very rare sighting! They are so nearly tame that they don't balk at cars and didn't even react to Bella's barking. Here are a couple of shots of these beautiful, dainty creatures.
See the rack on this little guy?

3 comments:

  1. So many cool pics!!! It is nice to "see" a lot of the places that we saw while we were down there. We did not take many pics in the Keys. =( Grr... Guess we were too busy with the wedding that we attended, bars (spent hours in a little piano bar down there), and sleeping after 23 hours straight on the road to get there. =) Looks like you guys are having a great time! I am jealous. I sooo want a vacation. Maybe a mini one will happen this summer.

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  2. Hmmm... Realizing that recent comments are going to make you think that your innocent niece is a lush. So not true!!!!! ;) It was all based on influence of friends! =)

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  3. Oh, innocent niece of ours.This afternoon we started at Margaritaville with...wait for it...margaritas. The bartender, was also giving me the leftovers of a couple different drinks from the blender...what a guy. We spent some time at Sloppy Joes...strictly research...comparing margaritas. And after sunset finished the evening with my first (and last) Mojito. Don't blame your friends, it must be the Keys because I NEVER drink...really. I won't be blogging tonight though...it's snooze time!

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