KEY WEST

The Overseas Highway is a modern wonder. It is the road by which visitors from Florida's mainland can cross countless coral and limestone outcrops through the Florida Keys. The highway — the southernmost leg of U.S. 1 — follows a route that originated in 1912 when Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad from Miami to Key West. The railroad ceased operations on the Miami-Key West link in 1935, following extensive damage to the roadbed by severe winds and erosion and the economic decline caused by the Depression era.

Construction of the Overseas Highway was an incredible engineering feat. A total of 113 miles of roadway and 42 overseas bridges, leapfrogging from key to key in a series of giant arches of concrete and steel, were constructed. In 1982, 37 bridges were replaced with wider, heavier spans, including the well-known Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon.

One of the 42 bridges making up the Overseas Highway.

Green water, blue sky.

Road work on Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West. Construction helped us slow down and adapt to "Island Time".

The results are beautiful. Newly planted palm trees always seem to have these supports.

Our hosts for the duration. 

Sigsbee Park is one of the campgrounds the Key West Naval Air Station operates. No reservations are permitted. We were welcomed and shown our choice of sites in the dry camping area. It was a 4-7 week wait for a site with hook-ups. all this for $13 a night.

We're not antisocial - we just got a little afternoon shade this way. That's our picnic table to the left.

Cooling breezes come right from the Gulf down this road.

Down that road was the beach and picnic area, right on the Gulf of Mexico.

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Katie and Linda enjoying "Island Time".

The arc of the rainbow seems different this far South. We are only 70 miles from the Tropic of Cancer.

Key West has a large population of feral chickens. They have legal protection.

Tropical vegetation is quite colorful.

A 100+ year-old Kapok tree in the front lawn of a government building.

There is a queue waiting to snap their photos at the Southernmost Point.  Carole didn't wait. This woman ...

is joined by a man for their turn to pose in front of the buoy.

Sunset at Mallory Square is an obligatory Key West experience. Performers abound.

Vendors are giving out samples - unusual samples.

Musicians play for tips.

Card sharks 'entertain' the people.

People sell things you'd only buy on vacation.

Some of the performers are exceptional. We watched The Red Trousers Show for a long time. Here is their web site with a video. The Red Trouser Show.

A crowd always gathers at Mallory Square for the sunset.

A friend of ours, Lorna, showed many sides of Key West on her beautiful blog. Lorna's blog.