FLORIDA: Key West or 'the most southern point'

If you take a look at a map you will notice that Florida is mostly shaped like a rectangle reaching down to the Caribbean and South America. Because of this unique shape it's also called 'the panhandle'-state. The United States of America end here with a line of small islands, the Keys, connected by the Oversea Highway and a few of them are so tiny that you can always see the waterfront. After we drove there by car we decided to change plans on the way and only made it to Key Largo, the first of the isles. Here are some impressions:

As we stopped at Key Largo's visitor center we discovered that there would have been 100 Miles more to go, which would have taken 2 hours. Though on our way to Miami and further north that day, we clinched to book a tour and go by ferry a couple of days later.

The ferry needs 3 hours to get from Fort Myers, where we had our main residence, to Key West.
It has some suites and tv screens on the inside, but you can sit or stand outside, too.

There is alot to see in the harbour...

and it's only one kilometer to the city centre and another one til 'the most southern point'.
Though you can also take a ride on one of the fancy vehicles like a trishaw, for example.

To make this trip more relaxing one can also check into one of the hotels for a night or two...

though unfortunately there is no beach I could recommend.

All around the harbour the water is very clear and you can see the fish swimming around. Here it's a rather different picture: there are tons of grass or hay or something like that which even builds big piles and fills the air with a strange odour :( As friends come back here the following year they still can't find a better beach.

Some young folk, maybe springbreakers, didn't care and just placed themselves on a concrete base.

On our way to the lighthouse we passed the best house in town ;)

And, everybody who doesn't know who this famous person is/was, has to be punished and forced to enter :)

Well, every day comes to an end and we are able to view the sunset on the open sea. So close to the equator it's a quite short but very worthy closure.

Next posting: See you later, Alligator! or The Everglades