More Key West Pictures

 

Second day in Key West. 

Woke up to sunrise, and possibility of rain.

The resident Iguana was out watching the sun come up too.  The house didn't look so bad - we all slept pretty good in spite of a storm that poured rain and rocked us with thunder and lightning until about midnight.

We decided maybe instead of going exploring on our own, battling traffic, trying to find a parking spot, and wondering what we were looking at, we should take a city tour.

Lots of interesting buildings - most with a story.

Like "Sloppy Joe's" - one of Hemingway's favorite bars,

 

and of course, Hemingway's house.

The government paid for this building for headquarters, complete with snow load ready roof.  This in a place that has only seen one 40 degree low temperature in its recorded history.

The aquarium is in the middle of

Mallory Square, one of the trolley stops.

You can still buy a sponge here, even though the sponge industry was wiped out by red tide in the early 1900's.  It never returned from Clearwater, FL, where it was relocated, because of new rules and regulations.

 

There are still 44 cats in residence at the Hemingway house.  This cat watering hole began its life as a urinal.  Mrs. Hemingway decorated it as best she could to disguise its origin and even brought the vase from Italy and made it into a fountain that flowed into the watering dish.  All the tiles around the edge made it quite a work of art.

Our guide through the Hemingway house seemed to be auditioning for a role.  Even the ticket taker at the gate seemed to be trying to look like Hemingway. 

Last tour stop - Monument to the southernmost spot in the US.