Key West

Key West is the southernmost point of The United States. After Key West one can swim 90 miles to Cuba. Key West is mile marker zero on U.S. 1. Now being a woman, I couldn't understand how this was really part of the United States (at least not the mainland). When men have to build a 7-mile bridge in the middle of the water to connect to it, something tells me this was supposed to be an island. This always amazes me about men. They force their will on nature. If women ruled the world, I honestly don't believe there would be any skyscrappers, bridges, tunnels, I would like to hope there would be no wars either. However, I'm not sure about that one. I'm not saying we don't appreciate the above things, it's just that I don't believe we are driven in the same way to create and build these types of things. I'd much rather have a green tea and sit and talk with a good friend then build a 7 mile bridge to get to an island.

Anyhow, with all that being said, I did say to Steve -"This is not part of the mainland, why did they build this bridge out here?" He pointed out that Key West is very important strategically to the military as it sits at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico which in very earlier days we needed to protect from invasion. So there you have it. There is a big naval air base there among the tourist attractions.

It's very pretty, quaint, tropical, touristy, etc. It feels much like browsing around on the Cape or Martha's Vineyard, (and Long Island where I grew up). This is a kinda quiet week after most school's vacations last week, so I imagine the traffic and cramming of people into this small area when it's really busy, might also make it feel like the Cape!

So would I reccomend Key West or the Keys in general to people? Well if you really like boating, and know how to take a boat out on your own, and if you really like fishing, then yes. If not - No. Go to the Bahamas, the Carribean, etc. We are loving it because of my sister and her husband who have a boat, know where to fish, and have been coming here 3 or 4 years now.

Yesterday was a great day out on the water. Doreen and Ray's good friend (Jim) who has been fishing these waters for 35 years, took us all out to the protected, extremely tricky to navigate waterways of the Everglades. These are many beautiful islands out in the Florida Bay. One could easily ground the boat and have to get towed out and fined by the Parks Dept. for screwing up like that. Jim really knew what he was doing and took us on a priceless tour.

The most beautiful spot was this sargasso grass area with sand bars all around us - tough navigating-and hundreds to thousands of birds nesting. We were fortunate enough to see WHITE Pelicans. These are very unusual, and only nest here in the winter. The most amazing experience I had (really a feeling) was when everybody was silent for just a minute or so. The incredible "hush" on the water, with a gentle whistle of the wind, the water lapping at the sides of the boat and a little bit of noise from the birds was like nothing else I've ever experienced. I hope someday, I can go back to such a place and just sit quietly for as long as I want. Of course this was tough with the kids.

This is one of the spots where we fished. The kids mostly, caught 22 delicious red snapper in about an hour. Basically, you put a pilcher on your hook (small, live bait fish, which we net in the shoals in the morning, about 300-400 of these) cast it, wait about 30 secs. and reel in your dinner! The kids had these cheap K-mart poles Jim lent them. Everyone was impressed with the fish they were able to pull in with these. My son caught a 22 inch trout and a 30 inch Jewfish, which is part of the grouper family and is protected. Awesome looking fish, which we released. The snappers had to be 10 inches, and ranged from 10-14 inches for us. My daughter caught a few ladyfish and a decent size barracuda!

That night one of the guys caught a nurseshark off the dock here. That was exciting to see. Ray also caught today a 75 pound Amberjack fish. This is the bigest fish I've ever seen up close, other than an aquarium! It snapped his new pole which was supposed to be able to handle it. We'll all take it to the World of Sports Bass Pro shop that's about 1/2 mile down the road. This shop is supposed to be a destination in itself if you are a fisherman, which I'm starting to feel a little like!

Well, it's 11:30 pm, all this fresh air, sun, excitement does tire one out, but - It's all good!

See you all soon! LPK