Key West Florida

Trip Start Feb 15, 2008
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16
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Trip End May 31, 2008


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Flag of United States  , Florida,
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I had a 32 hour stopover in Miami, Florida and I had planned to enjoy it in authentic American style by taking an auto trip. I had arranged in advance to rent a Chrysler convertible. If I were renting this car in Australia the term 'Luxury' would have been used, but this is America and fully optioned is fully standard in the land of the stars and stripes. It had power everything including the seat and the roof, so all I had to do was the retract the roof, set GPS coordinates, switch on the cruise control and I was cruising off over the Florida Keys to the famous Key West.  Key West is 207 km Southwest of Miami and is accessed by the Overseas Highway. It was originally accessed by a railway which was constructed in 1912 but was destroyed by a hurricane in 1933. The line was rebuilt by the government in 1935 as a highway. The Overseas Highway, running from the mainland to Key West, connects all of the main islands and is one of the longest overwater roads in the world, with 42 bridges, including one 7-mile (11-km) span.
If taking this trip keep an eye out for 'The Waffle House' on your right as you pass through Key Largo The Crysler convertable I hired
The Crysler convertable I hired
 . The waffles are fantastic!!!
Key West itself has a relaxed feel about it. It's really touristy but what would you expect? I arrived just in time to join a snorkelling trip on a sailing yacht. It was a nice trip, the snorkelling was ok, not a great deal of coral or fish to see but a beautiful way to spend the afternoon and the sails were raised and the engines did get switched off making it a true sailing experience, and there was beer (if 'bud' classifies as beer) on the return trip.
The local treat is Keylime Pies. It's like a line flavoured cheese cake, but they are really good, I guess they must grow limes in the area. I stayed the night in the Key West Youth Hostel which meant that I had now entered the point in my trip where having my own private room was no longer an option. The hostel is without a doubt the most affordable accommodation in the area. It's quite clean and has a nice relaxed friendly feel to it.
The following day it was back to Miami International Airport for my overnight trip to Madrid, Spain.
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Comments

wendy999
wendy999 on Mar 26, 2008 at 03:24AM

Hi Brad
Great to keep up with where you are. Maybe you should contact Getaway and ask if they need a new reporter. Wendy B

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