Key West

Key West is literally the end of the road south, especially on US 1.  And for those of you who have driven down recently, you noticed that there are constant improvements under way, repaving, widening and reinforcing.  Never mind the laying of a huge pipeline.  Hopefully by next winter, all of that will be completed and depending on the volume of traffic, which can be heavy at times, the trip will be easier, faster and smoother.

We arrived at Boyds Campground on Stock Island a week ago and will be here until April 5.  The campground is well situated, on the water, about 5 miles from Duval Street where there is much tourist activity.  Lots of people bring boats.  The parking spaces are tight and parking a big rig is quite possible but there are fewer spaces available.  Good swimming pool, many campground activities and very friendly and helpful staff.  Lots of folks from up north especially PA, OH and MI.

We attended a special event at the Truman Little White House one evening, a spectacular review of the USO with two entertainers of very high quality.  That historic, presidential retreat offers a lot as does Key West in general in terms of opportunities for artists, and writers, galleries, lectures and outdoor sports and water activities - boating, fishing, snorkeling, diving, etc.

One of our favorites has become the happy hour at Half Shell Raw Bar, on the dock near where the Ft. Myers express ties up. That's a large catamaran hydroplane that makes the trip in 3 hours if any of you are up that way and want to visit Key West without driving down.  We are looking at the possibility of four months down here next winter.  Seems we have become real snowbirds.

Disney, Ft. Wilderness and Miami, FL

To all of you who want to go to Dizzyworld, Ft. Wilderness is a most adequate campground.  Just be sure to get a big enough space and Loops 1400 and 600 seem OK.  Our spot was 621, convenient to bus stop, dog park and plenty big enough.  If you keep closer to the edge on the driver's side backing in, you have a bit of extra pavement on the patio side and the slide-outs still work just fine.  There is no WiFi which is amazing in this day and age but you can get a cable connection via ethernet.  I was there to attend a national conference, need the internet for work so it was a bit frustrating at first, especially since the cable guys had to come out and fix the connections.  I will not comment much on Disney except to say that at lot of their systems seem antiquated, paper records and the like, many employees seem retired and incompetent and the whole place is way too contrived, corporate and controlled for my personal tastes.

We pulled out Sunday morning, zipped on down to Miami via Sun Pass and are currently at Miami Everglades Park on a grassy parking spot in the middle of some very attractive farmland.  There are a number of people who spend the winter here and there are 37 super sites that probably have concrete pads and at least their WiFi works fine. There is a paved hiking, biking, walking trail around the perimeter of the park, and it's quite long, just short of one mile.  The park is 34 acres, 300 parking spots, a very nice swimming pool, etc.   Of course, the weather right now is superb in the 70's and 80's, clear skies and a day of catching up and some shopping lies ahead.  Stay tuned for the next installment from Key West.