Cruise Vacation: Part Two

The first port-of-call on our cruise was the strange little island called Key West. It's closer to Cuba than it is to mainland America, and even though it's small, this place has a huge personality. If you ever get a chance to go there, do it! (And if you like to indulge in an adult beverage or two, you'd be interested to know that Key West's self-imposed nickname is "a small drinking island with a little fishing problem".)

The picture above shows just one of the oddities we encountered during our short visit, the huge Kapok tree located in front of the island's courthouse. Look at the huge base; it truly took us aback. We've seen some cool trees in Gatlinburg and even the state park we visited this summer, but nothing like this!

The next oddity we came across was pecking its way across the Post Office lawn--a rooster! Or lots of roosters and chickens, to be exact. Wyatt thought they were fun to watch...

These birds were all over the island and they seemed to have free reign. The locals didn't pay any attention to them, but the dorky tourists (us included) were snapping pictures by the hundreds. According to our trolley driver, the chickens are a leftover from hundreds of years ago when the island became home to many Cubans fleeing the oppression of the Spanish in their homeland. Apparently the Cubans' motto was "Have chickens, will travel."

Our first destination on the island was the home of none other than American writer Ernest Hemingway. Mommy was very excited to check it out as she had taught a couple of Hemingway's works during her teaching days. Isn't this home lovely? Look at those arched windows and that wrap-around balcony! You'd never guess that just across the street from this beautiful residence is a row of public housing. The contrast between the two was yet another oddity that we added to the growing list.

Here are Wyatt and Daddy hanging out on Ernie's balcony. How cool is it to think that Papa himself probably spent time there, just lingering at the railing while enjoying the balmy Key West atmosphere? Just off the balcony, we entered the master bedroom to find a surprise...

Yep, those are two kitties napping on the bed of one of America's greatest literary geniuses. They look cozy, don't they? Nothing odd here, right? Well, take a closer look...

Did you count the toes on that front paw? All SIX of them!? It turns out that these cats are the descendants of the many cats that Hemingway and his wife, Pauline, doted upon. They don't all have six toes on their front feet, but many do. Wyatt didn't care how many toes they had; he was just thrilled to see some "meows"! It was hard to keep him from tackling them!

We spent nearly an hour at the house exploring the interior and the lush gardens surrounding it. Then, it was off to northern side of the island for further exploring...

Daddy went to the Mel Fisher museum and admired many buried treasures that had been found on shipwrecks, including the coins pictured above. If you know Daddy, you know he's a coin buff, so this was very exciting for him. Not as exciting as this, though...

Yep, that's Daddy's hand caressing nearly twenty-thousand dollars' worth of pure, shipwrecked gold. He said he tried to pull it out of its container, but it wouldn't budge. Poor Daddy! So close, yet so far away...

While Daddy was admiring real buried treasure, Mommy and Wyatt did a little souvenir shopping and unearthed a modern-day treasure--Ben and Jerry's ice cream. (Sorry, no picture of this; too incriminating!) Poor Mommy had to eat all of the sweet treat because Wyatt didn't like it. What a trooper, that Mommy!

We truly enjoyed our brief visit to Key West. It was like the island version of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and it definitely did not feel like we were still in America! Mommy and Daddy plan to visit again someday (sans babies, that is :))!

Up next: Viva Mexico!