FL: Key West Pt. 2

The next morning, a view of all our wet things we had spread out there on the grass to dry. 

A closer look reveals inquisitive neighbors. 

Inquisitive but not quiet.

The kids and I got up and going early that next morning so that we could explore Key West before it was time to check out of the campground--because once we were attached to the trailer again we  would only be able to head back up the Keys (no campers, trailers, long trucks are even allowed to drive in the city itself; our campground was conveniently on the outskirts). My dad drove us to one end of the main drag and dropped us off, with the plan of picking us up at the other end after we had seen all we wanted to see.

And there was plenty of fun stuff to see!  

Another Cuban refugee boat and learning displays. 

I take pictures of signage that I think I might want to discuss with the kids later, when we have the luxury of more time, library books to read, etc. I'm including these pics in case anyone else is interested in this topic--really relevant to so much going on in our current socio-political world.

And for those interested--the books I'll be using to support this area of leaning so far: Ninety Miles to Havana, by Enrique Flores-Galbis, and Refugee by Alan Gratz.

I find it humorous how we keep running into President Truman, seemingly wherever we go. This seems about as far from Missouri as you can get, and yet, here he was.

There's a fee to have an official tour--but it's free to go in and check out the little museum they have there, which perfectly suited us.  Esp. given how much we were trying to see in a limited time frame!

We left the main streets to check out a Coast Guard museum ship we had seen from the deck of the Yankee Freedom the day before, but got a little sidetracked. . . 

Did I mention we were all hot and sweaty from our walking? Even mid-morning the sun was intense.

I've enjoyed being the fun mom on this trip. I'm usually the practical mom. 

Continuing our walk, dripping but much cooler--and peeking in at Ernest Hemingway's house. Again, it wasn't worth taking a tour, so a few covertly taken photos past the ticket booth were good enough.

We ended our long walk at the marker for the southernmost point of the continental U.S. There was a long line of tourists patiently waiting their turns to have photos with the marker. We didn't care if we weren't capturing a Pinterest-worthy photo moment--eh, this isn't technically the true southernmost point anyway, which is next door on a military base. So since they're calling this close enough, so did we. ; )

Dad picked us up at this point, we collected the camper (and all those still damp swim things), and started our drive back up the Keys. Our time at Key West was over, but not our time on the Keys.