Day 84 - 28 February

We got serious about land touring today and stopped by the visitors center at Big Pine Key on the way to Key West to learn about what there was to offer us. This was our first excursion into the heart of the Conch Republic and we wanted to be certain we didn't miss anything. So, we picked up a handful of brochures and the first thing we learned was about the $200+ rooms in Key West. We decided Hotel Windreka was the best deal, so we planned to drive the 50 miles back to Marathon from the end of US1 and Mile 0.

The first stop on our trip south was at the Florida Keys National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. The refuge is a federally protected habitat for a number of endangered creatures and plant life. Trivia question: The term "hammock" is used frequently to describe some locations. What does "hammock" mean? Answer: tropical hardwood forest...or at least that's what we think.

The Key Deer Refuge is over 84,000 acres located in the Lower Keys on 25 islands. The Key Deer is a sub-species of the Virginia white-tailed deer and the current population is estimated at about 750. Read about the National Refuge at: http://nationalkeydeer.fws.com/. We visited the Blue Hole site visitor center which is an abandoned limestone quarry that is filled by rainfall and salt water that flows in through the surrounding limestone. We didn't see any crocodiles, but we did see an iguanna and watched a sea eagle at work fishing in the blue hole.

After our stop at the Key Deer Refuge, we headed directly for Key West and stopped at the Welcome Center just off US1 on the northeast edge of town to enquire about a place to park, a place to eat lunch, and pick up a map. We found a garage at $10/day on the edge of the historic waterfront, parked and walked around the waterfront to find Alonzo's. After lunch we headed for an Old Town Trolley stop for a guided tour of the town to help us decide what we wanted to see when we returned tomorrow. We've had good experience with Trolley tours (http://www.historictours.com/) at other locations and the cost of the Trolley and the more famous Conch Tour Train was the same. Also, the Trolley tour consisted of one car full of people and the Conch Train tour consisted of several "train" cars full. We felt as if we got more personal treatment.

After the Trolley tour, we headed for Mallory Square to scope out what the "Sunset Celebration" is all about. The Square is located on the northern edge of Duvall Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico where tourists can watch the sun setting each night. The tradition includes arts and crafts exhibitors, street performers, food carts, psychics, etc. beginning two hours before sunset. We don't know how long the celebration goes on since we left right after sunset to drive back to Hotel Windreka in Marathon. Maybe tomorrow when we return for some more touring we'll stay longer.