March 10 Saturday Day 13

Well today is our last partial day in Key West. Yesterday we heard about the local Flower Society’s garden tour. Four houses are on the itinerary. We pickup the tickets at the orchid show at Fort Martello, where I almost backed over a little MG, but his hollering stopped me and it became a near miss.

The first house was a beauty; it sat on the corner and had a butterfly garden that surrounded that corner. There was matronly lady of age whom recognize Aunt Vi’s name, we will take that at face value. If the last house was being sold for 2.7 million, this one was 5 million. Many full grown palms of semi-rare status and plenty of orchids. A swimming pool of good size, an outside eating and sitting area that was out of a fashion magazine. If we could all pool our money we could buy it and I would maintain it!!

The second house was designed and built by the Fairchild’s whom have a botanical garden in Coral Gables which is where we are headed too in two days. They had a real unique ginger palm tree, supposedly one of two in the country, the other at Coral Gables. There was a royal palm from Cuba that differs from the local by the bulging of the trunk in multiple spots not just a smooth upward trunk. Supposedly a sign of lack of water.

The third house had more of the same, palms, ferns, orchids, and neat pots for plants. We have noticed that most pots are the dark blue.

The last house was the 2.7 million dollar one, small by the other standards but managed to have a swimming pool in it. They had a little cabana alongside it for what looked like a guest lodging. Again many plants, on the neighbor’s mango tree was a gecko that was eating one of the fruits. Again, I could manage this.

We were given an address for a pottery place, after cruising the blocks they mentioned we came up empty handed. Come to think of it, the only planters we ran into are for orchids.

Oh yes, time for lunch. We headed down to Mallory square with the thought that we would eat at the Conch Republic Seafood restaurant. It was shown on the Paula Deen boy’s show a couple months ago. Turns out it was a good place. We started the heavy noon lunch with two key lime pie margaritas, smooth with a bite and a graham cracker crust around the lip of the glass. We then split a 10 oz lobster with a vanilla bean infused drawn butter along with rice, and steam vegetables accompanied by an order of deep fried conch that was accompanied with a orange marmalade with a hint of horseradish. Off the open air seating area we watched the pelicans being fed fish from a local. Again three foot tarpon’s were cruising the area. We walked slowly to our car as Shirleen drove out and off the island.

The trip through the Key’s was uneventful, but we did notice the old train bridge that had had the old road that we had taken built on top of it, now viewed from the new causeway. Along many of the bridges were people fishing from purposely built or old highway concrete abutments. Along with the people mergansers waiting to spot fish for lunch.

Well we got back to the town of Florida Keys and that is when the fun began. We had intended to go to the alligator alley again, but the turn I should have made was not and I thought we could pick it up later. Thoughts are not actually. We got off on a turnpike and asked the attendant for directions, which we followed twice because of 6 lane confusion with two turn off’s. We got another attendants directions and low and behold we were headed north out of Miami. I notice a sign Pembroke Pines, I said to Shirleen, isn’t that where your cousin Jerry S. lives, we were there two years ago. Now I know we are far north out of Miami and not where I thought we should be, but out of the gloom rose a sign that said hiway 75 to St. Petersburg, that’s the way we are headed. By this time it is dark and the alligator crossing signs make you wonder how it feels to run over one? Half way across the state we see what appears to be a long drawn out fire line. As we got closer we could see the swamp burning viciously for many miles into the swamp. One TV camera on a boom truck and a fire vehicle further up were the only sign of emergency vehicles. Looked like they were waiting to see what was happening.

We arrived in Bonita Grand Crossing and found a place to sleep and eat. We ate at a local plaza pizza house, Marsala Pizza Bonita. A nicely made crispy but thickish crust toped with tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil, accompanied with a glass of Chianti and cabernet. jerr
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