I Need A Little More Time

Have you ever visited somewhere and wished you could stay a bit longer because there was so much more to see and do than you realized? I have. Quite often in fact. One of those places is Key West, Florida. I had the privilege of visiting there several years ago and found it fascinating, especially the history. We arrived by cruise ship and spent the day on foot exploring as much of the island as our time allowed.

One of the things I discovered right off the bat, was a Civil War monument. Say what? A Civil War monument way down here? Sure enough.

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

During the American Civil War while Florida seceded and joined the Confederate States of America, Key West remained in U.S. Union hands because of the naval base. Most locals, however, were sympathetic to the Confederacy many even flying Confederate flags over their homes. How odd that must have been right? Sidenote: I think, like so many other Civil War monuments, this monument has since been removed or “repurposed” to appease the “sensitives.”

Anyway, moving on, here’s an interesting fact that I learned after visiting: Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, active during the Civil War, contains the largest collection of Civil War cannons ever discovered at a single location. Who would have guessed this? This is why I need to go back. Stuff like this intrigues me. I had no idea. I would think something like this would be located in South Carolina or Alabama or one of those more prevalent battle states. The fort was built to protect the harbor. Thus the cannons. We missed the fort entirely on our trip. (It was on the other side of the island.)

Photo credit Wikipedia

We discovered that little gem of a monument on our way to The Little White House. That’s right, an actual sometimes functioning Presidential White House. I repeat, this “home” was actually used as a functioning white house for some former US Presidents while in residence. The house is full of furniture, artwork, dishes, books, and other things used by those former Presidents.

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

When we toured the home, we weren’t allowed to take photos, but we did have an informative tour guide and enjoyed a lovely couple of hours at the property.

We also toured the Hemmingway House but cut our exploration short because there was a nasty and violent thunderstorm that pretty much drove everyone inside and made it impossible to “look around.” We got stuck in the gift shop for a very long time. We finally ran across the back lawn and back into the main house but other guests were trying to have a tour (and seek refuge) so we squeezed our way back outside to avoid the crowds.

Photo credit Google

Unfortunately, we did not get up to the actual writing studio, which is not part of the main house. Behind the main house is a courtyard with a pool and another small cottage. The writing studio is located over what is today used as the gift shop, which used to be the pool house or perhaps the kitchen, I’m not sure which. We had to climb an outside iron staircase to get up to the studio, and it wasn’t deemed safe enough to do that with all the lightning. And the rain made the steps really slippery so we couldn’t have just dashed right up. On site personnel encouraged everyone to stay inside because of the close proximity of the lightning. Next time.

Photo credit Google

We did see a whole bunch of the six-toed cats though. There’s one on the prowl in the photo directly above. You can also glimpse the pool through the trees on the right. The cats are “protected” because of their genetic “defect,” and get to roam freely all over the property. I didn’t get but a couple of photos because there were people everywhere and the rain was really bad so the pictures wouldn’t have been good anyway. Here’s a couple just to give you a taste of our adventure.

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

Photo by P. Rickrode (2016 I think)

Here’s a link if you want to read more about the cats. It’s fascinating.

https://www.hemingwayhome.com/our-cats

So Key West is on my “bucket list” of places to return because we enjoyed it so much the first time, despite the deluge. Side note, on our way back to our cruise ship, we were wading in knee-deep flood waters. Good times. Hopefully next time we visit we’ll stay a little drier. Also, we had a delicious lunch at a tiny sandwich shop before the storm blew in. We’re going to try to find it next time we’re there. It was so charming.

Do you guys have a place or two that you hope to get back to because you didn’t have enough time the first time you visited to see “everything?” Have you visited any places and discovered some interesting little tidbits that you “never knew?” I’d love to hear about your exploration and plans to go back.

I’ve got some exciting things planned for the year that only my newsletter followers will know about. I promise you’ll only get 6 newsletters for the entire year, so I won’t clutter up your inbox. Here’s the link if you want to sign up and be the first to know things: http://bit.ly/JansenSchmidtNewsletter

Word of the Day: Collop

Fun fact about me: I need to get a better camera.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, March 2022. Images by P. Rickrode, Wikipedia and Google.