Fun in Key West

Hurray!!! I've been to the edge and back!!!

The edge of the lower 48 states, that is.  Key West, FL is the furthest south you can go in the contiguous 48 states.

Notice we didn't get our picture taken next to this buoy.  It's cute and all, but it's not the southernmost point. Fun fact... this is actually not a buoy... it came out of a sewer somewhere in Key West and the city had it painted to look like a buoy so they could replace the sign that used to be there... the sign that kept getting stolen. LOL

This is actually the southernmost point that a civilian can access (below). Doesn't look like much, does it?

Yep, pretty much just a pier, surrounded by water.  But we walked a bazillion miles to get there! So that has to count for something.

After that LONG walk in the heat (can you believe it was in the upper 80's the day after Christmas?), we were tired and parched.  So we stopped at Haagen-Dazs for a smoothie and a local delicacy, frozen Key Lime Pie on a stick.

Sounds crazy, but was actually pretty good.  I just tried really hard not to read the label.

And this massive burger thing here in the corner pic is M's lunch at a sidewalk cafe.  No need to see my equally huge philly cheesesteak and fries platter too.

Yes, we were very full when we left.  No, we didn't eat much else that day (except the smoothie and key lime pie on a stick).

I hope our almost 4 mile hike to the southernmost point and back helped balance out our caloric intake. Either way, it was YUM.

The streets were jam-packed with interesting people.  I tried not to people watch too much, but it's really hard not to.

We escaped the crowd for a little while and wandered over to the "Little White House", President Truman's winter vacation home.  They have it fixed up as it would have been when he stayed there, back in the late 40's.  The tour guide showed us around the home and told us many interesting tidbits of information about the house, the furnishings, and President Truman.  (For example, I never knew he played the piano very well, loved classical music, never went to college, and read as many books as possible.  I also didn't know that his wife was not allowed to share a room with him; it was thought that the First Lady might be a security risk and might overhear confidential information.)

Bummer though... they didn't allow pics inside the house, but here is the outside anyway.

I got a big kick out of this sign... Mile 0!  I have to wonder, is there a Mile 0 in every state?

The only things I would have changed about our trip.... I wish we would have gotten there just a couple hours earlier, so we could have check out the shipwreck treasures museum... and next time, we will definitely rent a scooter, or bikes, or SOMETHING.  My feet were killing me!