19-02-20 It's my Birthday! Wednesday

We enjoyed a lazy morning, and after we were both showered and coffeed-up, we walked down to the end of the marina's road, and headed to the 7 Mile Grill.
The bus to Key West stops right out front. (Note: since it was my birthday, BOTH Rick and I got the $1/ride Senior discount!)

 Soon after we had ordered drinks,
and then we got a couple of "to-go" cups, the bus pulled up. So much fun, chatting with, and getting advice from, other tourists and locals.  The hour + bus ride seemed to take no time at all.

 Once on Key West, we followed our own map, modified by the fellow-bus-riders.
"Key West, Florida is a small 7-sq mile island in the Florida Keys archipelago.   It is home to the southern-most point of the continental US, residences of famous Americans, beautiful pastel Caribbean-style homes, dozens of bars on the famous Duval Street, and great beaches and snorkeling spots.  Due to its small size and high density of sights, it is an extremely walkable city "  (from ahappypassport.com April 2018)
Life-size statues line the back of the red-brick 1891 building that was once the customs house for the island.
Key West Cemetery: 
 with monuments to Cubans martyrs, victims of shipwrecks,
and a Navy Memorial -- to the victims of the sinking of the USS Maine. 
We wandered down, along with the chickens, that run wild on the island, to the 
(not actually*) Southernmost Point of the Continental USA
 *there's a private island, and a navy base, each are a tad more south, but nobody seems to care.

 We walked by Ernest Hemingway's Home, and admired the Key West Lighthouse from the outside.
Then we found our way up Duval St. with cool indoor/outdoor bars & restaurants, bakeries, ice cream & coffee shops and art galleries.  We never found Sloppy Joe's bar, but I know we were close to it.
We ended up at the waterfront near Mallory Square, at a recommended restaurant, the Half Shell Raw Bar!   Fantastic!

 Rick's appetizer


 Although I've heard that "60" is the new "40", unfortunately for us, "9 o'clock is the new midnight", so we took the 7:30 bus back to Marathon, arrived at 9:30 (there was construction on a bridge), and were in bed by 10:00 pm!    It was a wonderful birthday celebration!

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