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"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

JULY 2, 2006 - CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE

I was up and at them early today. Yessir, 8:00 AM was the latest I slept in. Weather was just right - except for the dripping humidity, which soaked my clean clothes the billionth of a second after I stepped outside. Oh well. I needed to explore some more. I decided to catch the Trolly Tour bus tour. I see these folks in Boston all the time, and in fact, actually took one of the tours in Boston with Mary. We did this about year 15 of our going there with the 1st Michigan.

I was not disappointed at all. I learned more about the place than if I had gone around the island by myself. Why does the church have several different kinds of bricks on it? Because the bricks were brought in as ballast on the sailing ships and they couldn't bring in enough to do the entire building. It created an intersesting pattern, especially on the long walls of the church. Why are six toed cats called Hemingways? Because he had one for lunch at least once a week.

There, that ought to get the rumors flying. The truth is that he took a liking to the things, and the ancestors of his original cats are still living at the home. There were a couple that I would have put down, just because they were so freaking old. One of them was 20 years old, or about 400,000 in cat years. He looked it, too. Apparantly as a cat ages, the ol' thyroid goes, and they become anorexic looking. As most of you know I am a recovering anorexic, and I believe that I have overcome it completely.

The Hemingway house is in pretty much the same condition as he left it, minus the blood stains. (that was not fair, he didn't off himself at the house) His second wife lived there, after he took his soon to be third wife to Cuba to live. Many of his personal belongings are still existent at the house, however. It was interesting to walk the grounds, though and to get an idea of how he lived. His writing studio was on the second floor of a small building at the rear of the main house. He wrote 12 of his novels up in that small room.

After going on the Trolley Tour, I continued on the rented bicycle to explore the old town. I had been near Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" but it was too crowded to get in for lunch. I went back for dinner. I parked the bicycle two blocks up from the bar, then walked down. I sat at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville eating a Cheeseburger in Paradise while drinking a frozen margarita. Can it get any better???? YES, if the lady at the other table was prettier. Like another Buffett hit, "The Weather is here, Wish you were Prettier". This is my last evening here, and along with Charleston, I will be back to see more of Key West. Oh, I went to the Blond Giraffe to have one of the island's signature slices of Key Lime Pie. WHOO HOO. It was nothing short of fabulous, to say the least. I think Karen G needs to come down here to see if she can improve on her already legendary key lime pie creation.

The neat thing about taking the Trolley Tour is that it is possible to get off at various stops and get back on. Using this feature, I was able to explore most of the island. There are some neat homes on the island, including a set of identical twin homes that a wealthy sea captain built for his daughters. They were built identically so that they would have nothing to argue about. It seems that they were always arguing about one or another sister got this or that better than the other one. Even thought the homes were the same, they still argued bitterly. You see, ONE of the homes was on a corner lot…….. I would have burned them both down, or sold them.

Many of these homes were built in the early 1800's. How could they have withstood so many hurricanes? They were prebuilt in the Bahamas because the wood supply was there. They were disassembled there, shipped to the island, then reassembled using wood pegs. To this day, the homes will twist and shake and shudder in hurricanes, but they haven't fallen because of the unique construction techniques.

There is a 160 mile long reef about 8 miles out from the island of Key West. This creates an ocean barrier that prevents the island from having its own sand. So, the town buys its sand from south America and has it imported so that there are beaches around the island. All three of the beaches, are really man made affairs, because of this. Sand is made from constant wave action and the crushing of shells, rocks, etc.

I like the place, to be honest. I am not too sure of some of the "bars". I saw one lady who was a verifiable knockout. The only problem was that I don't think it was a verifiable lady!!! Tonight one of the bars is having "Live Entertainment". Rainbow colored flags are flying outside the place today. Oh, there was a feather boa - a burgundy one - wrapped around the sign. The show starts at 9:00 PM. "Should I stay or should I go".

I must also mention the Mel Fisher museum. Mel looked for 16 years for a Spanish shipwreck from the early 1600's . He found it. He made untold millions and his investors were able to reap many benefits financially too. The amount of gold artifacts was astounding. Another quietly enjoyable diversion took place at the Butterfly House. I spent quite a long time in there taking pictures of the many species of butterflies and birds that inhabit the place. I seemed to be the center of attention for one of the butterflies who just loved the color of my shirt and wouldn't leave me alone. He was easily smashed with my camera, but I have to wash the shirt.

I'M KIDDING, I'M KIDDING.

I walked around with a hitch hiker for about ½ hour, before he found somewhere else to go - and that was to land on the front of some other guys' shorts. At least my shirt was naturally yellow ALL OVER…….

Photos of today will be posted in another submission.