Day 207, March 5th, 2010
There were several things we hadn't had time for the last time we went to Key West. So Sharon and Reg and John and I caught the 8:12 bus again down to Key West. John and I were wearing light fleece sweaters, thinking it would warm up as the day went on. It didn't. It was pretty chilly, not too bad while the sun was shining but got downright cold when the sun went down.
However, we had a great day. We started off with a breakfast buffet on Duvall Street. Then we visited the Custom's House Museum. Lovely statues surround the building by J. Seward Johnson. Very much in the genre of Norman Rockwell. They are really charming. There are more inside too. Other local artists are featured in the museum as well. Also displays on Ernest Hemingway and Babar (the artist has a home and works in Key West every year).
Then we walked over to Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum. Its all about Mel Fisher's discovery of the Atocha treasure. The ship went down in the 1600s. Mel Fisher started looking for it in 1969 and 16 years later found it on the sea bottom in 19 feet of water just past the 3 mile limit in International waters. Gold and silver coins and all sorts of precious artifacts. Amazing. Reg had read the book some years ago, so he really was excited to get a chance to look at it. Sadly Mr. Fisher lost a son and daughter-in-law during the discovery process when their boat was lost in a storm.
We walked around the beautiful Mallory Place - a lovely public area looking over the anchorage.
The we visited Harry Truman's Little White House. This house used to be a duplex, part of the officer accommodation for the Naval Base in Key West, but was converted to a lovely summer home for Harry Truman where he spent 6 months of his presidential office and ran the country in 1949. He grew very fond of Key West and loved the relaxed life style. He went back several other times for extended vacations before his death. Other presidents have also spent time there: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Clinton, and others. It was also used by Collin Powell for a Mideast summit. There is still a private suite there which is used for dignitaries today. It was closed as part of the Navy in 1974, bought by a private individual, and then gifted back to the US Government because he felt it should be kept as an important historical landmark. Its been renovated and furnished as Harry Truman and his family would have used it in 1949 with many of his personal items. We really enjoyed this tour.
After eating fishing chips at "B.O.s" which is just a funny little shack outside, and getting gradually more and more freezing cold, we caught the bus back to Marathon, arriving home at 10:00 p.m. It was a great day.
There were several things we hadn't had time for the last time we went to Key West. So Sharon and Reg and John and I caught the 8:12 bus again down to Key West. John and I were wearing light fleece sweaters, thinking it would warm up as the day went on. It didn't. It was pretty chilly, not too bad while the sun was shining but got downright cold when the sun went down.
However, we had a great day. We started off with a breakfast buffet on Duvall Street. Then we visited the Custom's House Museum. Lovely statues surround the building by J. Seward Johnson. Very much in the genre of Norman Rockwell. They are really charming. There are more inside too. Other local artists are featured in the museum as well. Also displays on Ernest Hemingway and Babar (the artist has a home and works in Key West every year).
Then we walked over to Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum. Its all about Mel Fisher's discovery of the Atocha treasure. The ship went down in the 1600s. Mel Fisher started looking for it in 1969 and 16 years later found it on the sea bottom in 19 feet of water just past the 3 mile limit in International waters. Gold and silver coins and all sorts of precious artifacts. Amazing. Reg had read the book some years ago, so he really was excited to get a chance to look at it. Sadly Mr. Fisher lost a son and daughter-in-law during the discovery process when their boat was lost in a storm.
We walked around the beautiful Mallory Place - a lovely public area looking over the anchorage.
The we visited Harry Truman's Little White House. This house used to be a duplex, part of the officer accommodation for the Naval Base in Key West, but was converted to a lovely summer home for Harry Truman where he spent 6 months of his presidential office and ran the country in 1949. He grew very fond of Key West and loved the relaxed life style. He went back several other times for extended vacations before his death. Other presidents have also spent time there: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Clinton, and others. It was also used by Collin Powell for a Mideast summit. There is still a private suite there which is used for dignitaries today. It was closed as part of the Navy in 1974, bought by a private individual, and then gifted back to the US Government because he felt it should be kept as an important historical landmark. Its been renovated and furnished as Harry Truman and his family would have used it in 1949 with many of his personal items. We really enjoyed this tour.
After eating fishing chips at "B.O.s" which is just a funny little shack outside, and getting gradually more and more freezing cold, we caught the bus back to Marathon, arriving home at 10:00 p.m. It was a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment