Key West - December 6 and 7.

From the Everglades we headed south for the drive to Key West. I had been there before, but arrived on a cruise ship, so hadn't done that amazing drive down Route 1 to it's end. Actually, we didn't get onto Route 1 until Florida City - prior to that we were on the 997, which went through small local towns and orchards - a great drive.

Key West is beautiful. There seems to be a building covenant of "white, colonial", which is what most of the houses are, at least in the touristy part of town. When we left we drove through the poorer parts of town (didn't know there were any in Key West) and found normal, run-down houses that didn't look at all "Key West". But Key West Central, in the touristy areas, is gorgeous. We walked most of the area on foot the evening we arrived, including the tourist length of Duval Street, the main shopping strip. Had an awesome meal at a Cuban restaurant, and poked around the shops and art galleries.

On our second day our friends Cathy and Rick, and 11 of their family, arrived at Key West on a cruise ship from Miami, so we headed down to the pier and met them there. What a treat! Not seeing them for 10 years, and then twice in a week. Because there were so many of us we managed to do a deal on a tour bus that ended up costing us $14 each instead of $28. And the best thing was, we went on a heated tour bus! Not as "authentic" Key West as the Conch Train, but there was a wind blowing that had come all the way down from snow-bound New York, and the people that did go past on the Conch Train looked MISERABLE!

I can't recommend these tours highly enough - not only do you cover the entire area in an hour, but you get lots of interesting stories about the place too. Like the rich man who built his house, decided the porch was too hot for comfort because of the position of the sun, so moved the entire house acrfoss the road. It is the only odd-numbered house on that side of Duval Street. Or the woman whose effigy of her kneeling, naked, with her hands bound behind her, is on the 1966 tomb of her husband Archibald Yates - because that was the way he liked her best. She also had two smaller naked women placed at the foot of the tomb to symbolise his philandering.

After the Sanders Clan headed back to the ship, Mum and I headed to the Key West Shipwreck Museum. It's funny - I was there in about 1999, and never dreamed that I would one day be back there showing Mum around. Brilliant. After a late lunch we then headed north again for Fort Lauderdale, and to brace ourselves against getting up at 5am the next morning to head back to the West Coast.

More photos from Key West.