Key West Travelogue - 5

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It was Sunday and soon it would be time to leave this island paradise and go back to the din and the daily chores. The day started pretty late for me as is the case always. (I'm never an early riser). After about an hour's time, I was all packed and ready to check out of my hostel. I returned the pillow and blanket at the front desk and dumped all my stuff in the back-seat except for my camera. I still had quite a bit of time at my disposal and I decided to explore a little bit before I left.

So, I walked along this narrow road which was just outside the hostel and saw some amazing houses on both sides of the road.



Then I walked past this amazing pink coloured building. A sign outside the building said that it was the Southermost Motel in the US and there's no other motel which is further south than that one.



Finally, when I reached the end of the street, I came to this monument. It is supposed to be the southernmost point in the continental United States. The country of Cuba is just about 90 miles which means its closer than Miami which is about 120-odd miles to the north. :-))



This picture (below) shows the view from the back of the southernmost point looking towards Cuba.



The best part about visiting Key West is the drive. It is so amazing. Its an out of this world kind of experience. String of islands connected by a single road with lots of bridges over the blue ocean and one bridge as long as 7 miles. Its just one of a kind drive.

The best part is that just before each bridge there is a small picnic area and a beach where you can just chill out and take the sun. Something like this place below.



The first bridges to connect these island keys were railroad bridges build by a person called Flagler. Most of these bridges were destroyed in a major hurricane that struck this area in 1930s. You can still see remnants of the old bridges alongside the new bridges, like the picture below.



Here are some of the pictures that I took while I was driving on the Seven Mile Bridge. Hope you like them.








The Key West trip has been so far one of the highlights of my long and extended US stay. Its been nearly 2 years since I first came here and its absolutely unbelievable how time has literally flown.

I always wonder what would it be like to visit the same place again sometime in the future say 3-4 years down the line. Would I still have my memories from my earlier visit? Would I still remember the activities I indulged in during my last visit? Would I still feel the same level of excitement that I felt earlier?

I dont know the answers to these questions but I sure would like to find out by visiting them again.

Key West Travelogue - 4

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The break at Starbucks gave me an opportunity to call up my friends and talk to them. I called up my roommates and when I was talking to them I could hear a lot of background noise. Then suddenly it dawned on me, today was India's first cricket match of the world cup against Bangladesh. My friends were explaining to me about the sorry state of the game and how minnows like Bangladesh were showing us how to play cricket. In many ways it was good that I'd decided to come to Key West during that weekend, because it got me away from the pathetic cricket match which we ended up loosing miserably.

Anyways, the hour at Starbucks went off really quickly thanks to the many phone calls made to many different friends and hearing from almost every person about the sorry state of affairs of the India - Bangladesh game. I paid for the coffee, took my battery and charger and left.

Parasailing is a big adventure activity that almost everyone indulges in, when they visit Key West. I had seen pictures and videos of it and I realized that it would not be prudent to take my expensive digital SLR camera along with me when I was parasailing. So, I quickly rushed back to my car, dropped off my camera, went to the pier and waited for the parasailing boat to come.

Since, it was quite windy that day, many parasailing operators were closed. Only a few handful were operational. After a 15 minute wait, I saw a boat come-in and dock at the place where I was waiting. I could sense the nervous energy flowing through me. Its a very interesting feeling - a feeling which I havent felt since 2001 when I indulged in Bungee Jumping in Vienna.

The boat operators said that I'd have to wait longer. Apparently a few more people had registered for parasailing. So we waited. Although the wait was only 10 minutes or so, it seemed like an hour. Thats what the nervous energy does to you. Finally, two more people arrived and we all climbed aboard the boat and ventured out. I made a deal with the boat operators to take a video and some pictures of me doing parasailing since I hadnt brought my camera along. Of course I had to pay 20 bucks extra for it.

I was nominated first to go and one of the boat operator gave me a life-jacket and a harness to put on. Although the wind had died down a wee bit, it was still so strong that I found it difficult to stand upright. So donned on the life-jacket and the harness while being seated and just waited. My heart was pounding away like a high speed bullet train and the wait seemed endless.

Finally the boat was stopped and the boat operators started opening the para-sail. I climbed on to the elevated section at the rear of the boat and my harness was hooked onto the para-sail. Then in a few moments before I could realize what was happening I was airborne. I shouted screamed not in excitement but in fear but I wasn't coming down, I was just going up and up and up...



This is the video taken just after I was airborne. The most amazing thing is that the boat is moving at nearly 90 degrees to the rope which made the parasail wobble really bad. You can make it out 6-7 seconds into the video by the direction of water after-flow relative to the rope direction. Honestly, It was scary.

All the more so because I had kept my glasses on and was worried. My eyesight is so poor that, if I remove my glasses I can see clearly only upto a distance of 1 feet and anything beyond that is a blur. Unfortunately I wasnt carrying a second spare pair and if my glasses were to fall off, I wouldnt have been able to drive back 180 miles. So I was kinda extra cautious.

As I gained more and more height, the wobble kinda reduced and I could feel the wind gushing past my ears. Of course because I had kept my glasses on I was able to enjoy the magnificient arial view of the blue atlantic ocean, the small islands, distant ships and my small white boat. At the behest of the boat operator, I mustered courage to free both my hands and wave out to him so that he could take some good pictures and video footage.



After having been on the top for about 10 minutes or so, I felt the rope being pulled down slowly and I was half-sad and half-relieved that I'll be back down again. Actually, its a very sinking feeling when you see that you're suspended from something and you look at your feet and see them dangling in mid-air.

The journey down was uneventful and surprisingly wobble free and I was absolutely overjoyed and relieved when after about 20 minutes or so, my feet touched the boat deck again. Now it was my turn to watch as the couple did their parasailing stint.

I couldnt wait to get back to the shore, because the time was nearing 06:30 and I had to go to mallory square and see the sunset and the sunset celebrations. The couple finished parasailing and we all headed back towards the dock again. As soon as we reached the dock, I literally thanked the boat crew in a hurry, paid them 10 bucks tip and rushed towards my parked car. By the time I picked up my camera and headed towards Mallory Square, it was about 07:00 pm and crowd had just begun to gather there for the view of the sunset and the sunset celebrations. I picked out a spot overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, readied my camera and started cliking.

Here are some of the sunset pictures and a picture of a juggling act performed as a part of the sunset celebrations. Please feel free to download and use the pictures in any way you guys want.






The one below is my absolute favourite. When I saw the preview for the first time after clicking the picture, i absolutely couldnt believe my eyes. This is my current desktop background picture.



This one below is a jugglery act performed on Mallory Square as a part of the sunset celebrations.



And finally, the last rays of the sun.



Watching a sunset spectacle always leaves me in a melancholy and a ponderous mood. Subconciously I've come to associate sunset with the ultimate end - death. Somehow, I forced myself to walk back to the car and I just sat inside feeling kinda lost and empty - feeling as if there's nothing more to see, nothing more to do.

I drove quietly back to the hostel and just crashed into bed without eating anything.

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Key West Travelogue - 3

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I continued along the same road and came across this magnicient cottage. I am a great fan of wonderful poetry. Usage of fanciful words, artistic vocabulary and articulate writing have always fascinated me ever since I heard my father narrate wonderful poems of John Milton and Alfred Tennyson.

The moment I saw this I was instantly reminded of one of Robert Frost's most amazing poem snippets. Most of you might be knowing what I'm referring to. For those who don't here it is.

"The woods are lovely dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep..."

I kept moving on along the same road and I saw this small house which was the birth-place (if I could call that) of Pan-American Airlines. It was founded in 1930s in Key West. Read more about it here.



Walking further along the street, I came to a dead end and I decided to turn left and walk along that route. It was then that I saw this white coloured building called Little White House. The plaque outside the historic building said that it was used by president Harry Truman as his winter residence.



Continuing further along the Little White House road I came to a place called Fort Zachary Taylor.



It was a state park and I decided to go and explore. I paid the 5 dollar entrance fee and I was told that it housed a fort which was used to store ammunition during the American Civil war and it also had a beach.



Walking on the beach - at the edge where the ocean water caresses the beach sand and pulls away the sand below your feet - was a wonderful feeling. It made me nostalgic and melancholy. Why? Because I wasn't able to share this wonderful experience with my near and dear ones. And suddenly I was missing them really bad.

Half-way through taking pictures at the beach, my camera just died on me and suddenly I realized my folly of not having charged the camera battery over-night. I literally felt like kicking myself. So I glanced at my watch and saw that it was close to 03:00 pm. I had not eaten anything at all and my stomach won over against the urge to explore further.

I quickly retraced back to where I'd parked my car and rushed inside the nearest restaurant and ordered a sandwich. Unfortunately my choice of restaurant was bad and service still poor. I had to literally fight with the waiter to tell him to make a vegetarian sandwich. He was so pissed at me that he said I cant help you and sent another waiter to tend to my request.

The bad experience at the restaurant didnt bother me for long since I was excited about doing the parasailing. I quickly finished off my sandwich and went into the nearest Starbucks to get my favourite Cappuccino. There I got a brain-wave. I still had nearly an hour before my para-sailing and I decided to just sit at Starbucks, enjoy my coffee and also charge my camera battery. :-)))

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Key West Travelogue - 2

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So at around noon I stepped out of my dingy little hostel, took my car and parked at the other end of Duvall street. This is what Duvall street in Key West looks like.

If you've read my earlier post, you would be knowing about the club Rick's. I took a picture of it and here it is. Just where the Bud Light truck is standing if you proceed to go inside there's another club adjoining Rick's called Dirty Harry's. Thats where the wet T-shirt contest took place.

Also, note in the picture below the sign outside Rick's. It says "The most beautiful ladies in Key West come through these doors". And trust me, its most definitely true.

Walking around Duvall street I was contemplating what to do and I saw this tour operator offering boat tours and adventure activities like para-sailing, jet-skiing etc. I decided to get a boat tour and also indulge in para-sailing.

After some amount of bargaining, I got a pretty decent deal to get a speed boat tour and para-sailing both for around 60 bucks. I was quite happy. The boat tour was supposed to start at 01:00 and the para-sailing at 05:30. That gave me little time to explore on my own.

I walked around and saw this oldish looking Harbour house designed by Key West architect Peter Pike.

Just to the back of the Harbour house is the Mallory square where everyday a number of performers showcase their acts and acrobatics during sunset. Just to the right of the Mallory square there's this restaurant which offers a wonderful view of this island. It houses the homes of a number of celebrities including Madonna, Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey. The houses cost upwards of 5 million USD. (WOW!!)

Walking around the hotel, I came across a small dock where a number of speed boats were docked. I really liked one of those speed boats and took a picture of it. The name of the boat is Sea Rocket. You can get more pictures of it here. Later I realized this was the same boat in which I was supposed to get a tour. [:-))]

The sea rocket is an amazing speed boat. We toured a number of islands that were inaccessible by road, including the celebrity homes' island, Fleming Key - an island owned by US Navy, Wisteria Island and a few more. The maximum speed we reached during our tour was 60 miles per hour. The tour guide who was also the pilot informed us that although the sea rocket was capable of speeds over 60 miles per hour, it was the maximum they can go because its a limitation imposed by the US coast guard.

The tour got over in about 45 minutes but it felt more like 25. Now I had around 3 hours at my disposal to do some more exploration on my own and also have food before my para-sailing started. So I walked along Duvall st and took a turn somewhere.

I've always believed that the best way to know a new place is to get lost in it and find your way out. So, thats what I did. The turn I took led me to some wonderful historic sites. The first of which is shown in the picture below.

Thats called the Pirates' well. It was the first source of fresh water found in the island of Key West in the 1780s. I thought - wow its amazing how they've preserved the location and made it as a tourist attraction.

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