Day 6 of 2019 Florida Spring Break, leaving Key West

Sixth day of my spring break Florida road trip. After visiting some attractions in downtown Key West (which I picked “Ernest Hemingway Home”), I would be leaving the beautiful island of Key West for mainland Florida, which didn’t go as planned.

Bahia Honda Railway Bridge


Bahia Honda Railway Bridge

Channel and Forests from Hotel Balcony


Channel and Forests from Hotel Balcony
We had been so busy staying outside that we didn’t use this hotel balcony with its refreshing views throughout our entire stay.

It was a stormy morning as we were loading up our cars with luggage, which wasn’t the most pleasant morning workout. Even more to our dismay, it seemed that the rain turned into a drizzle just as we were finishing packing.

While I was in Dry Tortugas the previous day, my friends had visited Ernest Hemingway’s Home, which they highly recommended. So I said goodbye to them in the morning as they set off for Everglades, where I planned to join them later in the day.

As for my visit to Hemingway Home, I only managed to find parking a few blocks down the street, followed by a stroll in an uplifting drizzle.

Start of US Route 1


Start of US Route 1
Actually, my apartment was along US route 1 in Maryland in March 2019.

Fallen Flowers

 Fallen Flowers
Fallen Flowers
Quite a beautiful scene.

Houses

 Row of Villas
Row of Houses and Villas
They were so unique here.

That’s when I found this lovely chicken family hanging out.

Babysitting

 Babysitting
Babysitting Babysitting
Babysitting

It seemed that the mother chicken was in charge of looking after the babies. A few hours later, I found a male chicken by himself down the block, which chicken feminist would certainly describe as gender inequality.

Fowl


Fowl

Crane


Crane
There were just all kinds of birds in Key West.

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

During my visit, Hemingway Home was charging a special “spring break” rate (only a few dollars) for students. They were cash-only, which my friends told me earlier, so I paid ATM a visit on my way here.

It’s a small home with a lot of visitors, so they organized guided tours for the house and some of its surroundings.

House


House

The house was built by Asa Tift, a famous salvager in Key West in the 19-th Century, which, given how treacherous the surrounding waters were, was a quite lucrative vocation. The following fountain at the entrance was designed by him.

Ship-Shaped Fountain


Ship-Shaped Fountain
The fountain design was to replicate Ironclad Warship. During the civil war, Asa Tift was asked by the Confederate Secretary of Navy and a friend of him, to help the confederate build a naval force quickly and economically. Unfortunately, Tift and his brothers were not paid for their design and labor.

As for Hemingway, he and his newlywed wife Pauline arrived in Key West in 1928. Due to delay in delivery of a Ford Model A, they stayed in Key West for an extended period of time. The island fishing life offered Hemingway inspirations for writing, and they decided to stay here for the long term.

Kitchen


Kitchen

Bathroom


Bathroom

Hemingway was intrigued by the six-toed cat brought by Captain Harold Dexter, so Dexter gifted him with one. Nowadays, the many descents of that roamed the entire house. (It seemed they were more owner to the house than the people tending them.)

Cat

 Cat
Cat
Six-toed cats that were unique to the house.

Cats on Bed

 Cats on Bed
Cats on Bed

Passage

 Passage
Passage

Pool


Pool
At the location of Hemingway’s famous boxing ring, which had been relocated a few blocks away. The pool was constructed during 1937-1938. Since the city didn’t allow dynamite to be used in excavation, the work had to be done by manual labor and was thus massively over budget. Until 1944 when Key West had fresh pipe water, the pool was filled with salt water from a pump, which incurred high maintenance as the pool needed to be drained every couple days.

Then there’s this pool, which was another highlight of the tour, in addition to the cats. Despite it was Ernest Hemingway himself who planned the pool, he had been complaining about expenses relating to it. It’s rumored that he told his wife that the pool had consumed “all but his last penny”, so she “might as well have that”. And indeed there was a coin embedded by the pool.

Penny Embedded in Cement


Penny Embedded in Cement

That concluded the guided tour, yet the house offered many other areas for exploration.

Writing Studio


Writing Studio
Hemingway once commuted here from his bedroom through a catwalk on the gallery roof. The catwalk’s damaged and now the studio was accessed from a narrow staircase and was thus off the guided tour.

Garden with Bench

 Garden with Bench
Garden with Bench

Lunch Room for Cats


Lunch Room for Cats

Cat Cemetery


Cat Cemetery

Wedding Arch


Wedding Arch
The house and its garden still hosted wedding ceremonies till this day.

A quick conclusion of Hemingway Home, the living heritage of a wordsmith full of personality.

Key West Lighthouse


Key West Lighthouse
Built rather inland, at the island’s highest point.

It was noon when I got back to my car. After a quick lunch at Subway since my food columnists friends weren’t with me, I headed back to Florida mainland.

Streets of Key West

 Streets of Key West
Streets of Key West Streets of Key West
Streets of Key West
Where I wound my way through its checkerboard streets in the same manner as yesterday: using alleyways and avoiding as many traffic lights as possible.

North Roosevelt Boulevard

 North Roosevelt Boulevard
North Roosevelt Boulevard
Right next to ocean.

Road outside Key West

 Road outside Key West
Road outside Key West Road outside Key West
Road outside Key West
Before Big Coppitt Key, Overseas Highway was a four-lane thoroughfare like this.

Big Coppitt Key

 Big Coppitt Key
Big Coppitt Key
An island close to Naval Air Station.

Saddlebunch Channels

 Saddlebunch Channels
Saddlebunch Channels Saddlebunch Channels
Saddlebunch Channels Saddlebunch Channels
Saddlebunch Channels

Sugarloaf Channels

 Sugarloaf Channels
Sugarloaf Channels

Approaching Summerland Key


Approaching Summerland Key
A line of welcoming palm trees.

Summerland Key

 Summerland Key
Summerland Key
An island community.

Then there’s the worst part of my entire spring break trip. It’s half an hour after my lunch and I was sensing some tiredness. So I pulled over to a small parking lot at the side of the road and took a brief nap. And when I was ready to go, I drove over this field of puddles.

Puddles


Puddles

That’s probably where one of my tires got punctured by a sharp object. This is what things looked like a few hours later in a garage.

Puncture


Puncture
The culprit that left me on Key West for hours longer than planned.

Well, the car didn’t feel any different, and I drove on for a few additional minutes, until a warning on my dashboard told me I had low pressure in one of the tires.

Then it’s a long and frantic story. I attempted the tire sealant kit in my trunk, which, probably because I didn’t know how to use it the puncture was huge, didn’t work. (And by the reaction of garage mechanics, I probably shouldn’t…)
Then I called my insurance company (amazingly T-Mobile had cellular coverage in Big Pine Key) for a tow truck. While I waited, they advised me that it’s up to me to find a tire store that carried tires of my size.
So I google searched “tire store” and called, from the closest ones first. After getting denied by two of those, the insurance company guy certainly ran out of patience, and advised me there’s a Ford dealership on Key West, and I should try that. Bingo.

Saddlebunch Channels

 Shark Channels
Saddlebunch and Shark Channels
Back in the mood of scenery watching after many hectic calls with different departments of the car dealer, first with “parts” to confirm tires of my size were in stock, then with “labor” to make sure a mechanic would be available to put them on.

By the way, my insurance covered tow trucks for 30 miles, and that dealer was 29.2 miles from where I ran aground. And my tire was changed just in time before the dealer’s closed for the day. As a result, I didn’t need to spend the night camping on the keys. From such a disaster, that’s a lot of silver linings.

So after a delay of four hours, I left the island of Key West, for a second and final time.

Big Pine Key

 Big Pine Key
Big Pine Key

I even managed to find the valve cap that I left behind a few hours earlier, on a gravel field where I pulled over.

Spanish Harbor Channel Bridge

 Spanish Harbor Channel Bridge
Spanish Harbor Channel Bridge

There’s a parking lot near Bahia Honda Bridge with beach access. That’s arguably the best place to view this icon of Overseas Highway.

Bahia Honda Railway Bridge


Bahia Honda Railway Bridge
Bahia Honda Railway Bridge

Beach


Beach
Amazing sights of trees in the waters.

Then, I was back on the move.

New Bahia Honda Bridge

 New Bahia Honda Bridge
New Bahia Honda Bridge New Bahia Honda Bridge
New Bahia Honda Bridge

Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge

 Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge
Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge
Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge

Openings in Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge

 Openings in Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge
Openings in Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge
So that sailboats could pass through.

Bahia Honda

 Bahia Honda
Bahia Honda

Once on Bahia Honda, I found myself on the tail of a police car. Since Seven Mile Bridge was coming up, I pulled over again to create a gap.

Western End of Seven Mile Bridge


Western End of Seven Mile Bridge
The new road bridge on the right, the old railway bridge converted to footbridge on the left.

Little Money Key


Little Money Key
A private island.

Seven Mile Bridge

 Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge

Seven Mile Bridge


Seven Mile Bridge Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge

Seven Mile Bridge

 Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge
Pigeon Key in the left.

Seven Mile Bridge

 Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge

Marathon

 Marathon
Marathon Marathon
Marathon Marathon
Marathon
A bigger island town, with its own airport.

Ocean next to Highway

 Ocean next to Highway
Ocean next to Highway

Bridge

 Bridge
Bridge

Long Key

 Long Key
Long Key
An island of pretty much wilderness.

Channel #5 Bridge

 Channel #5 Bridge
Channel #5 Bridge Channel #5 Bridge
Channel #5 Bridge

Ocean next to Highway

 Ocean next to Highway Ocean next to Highway
Ocean next to Highway
This proximity between highway and ocean to the right, that a bigger wave could splash onto the cars, was what drew me to Overseas Highway in the first place. Sadly, only a small segment of it here matched what I first expected.

Bridge

 Bridge
Bridge

Indian Key Bridge

 Indian Key Bridge
Indian Key Bridge

Islamorada

 Islamorada
Islamorada
A big island town.

Drawbridge


Drawbridge

Plantation Key

 Plantation Key
Plantation Key

Overseas Highway

 Overseas Highway
Overseas Highway
After Plantation Key the road widened.

In the spirit of adventure, I decided to take a different route back to mainland. Instead of Route 1 / Dixie Highway, I decided to take the detour of County Route 905 / Card Sound Bridge.

County Road 905

 County Road 905
County Road 905 County Road 905
County Road 905

But sadly, apart from that I was a few bucks poorer from the toll of Card Sound Bridge (it did have fewer traffic, probably due to toll), the new route didn’t turn out to be interesting at all, with no views along it apart from lines of trees and bushes.

Road in North Key Largo

 North Key Largo
Road in North Key Largo

Card Sound Road

 Card Sound Road
Card Sound Road

Card Sound Bridge

 Card Sound Bridge
Card Sound Bridge
Card Sound Bridge

Toll Booth


Toll Booth

Card Sound Road

 Card Sound Road
Card Sound Road Card Sound Road
Card Sound Road Card Sound Road
Card Sound Road Card Sound Road
Card Sound Road
It was also getting dark. This set of photos only spanned ten minutes, but they felt quite different.

Avenues in Homestead

 Avenues in Homestead
Avenues in Homestead
Finally back in civilization.

Then I reached our overnight lodge in Homestead and joined my friends, with a legend to tell.

END

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Day 6 of 2019 Florida Spring Break, leaving Key West by Huang's Site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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