Key West Dairy 6

KAnother day of sight seeing. The southern most point in the United States. We are 90 miles from Cuba and 150 miles from Miami. Tourists line up for two blocks to have their picture taken next to the marker, so the two people in the picture are just unknown tourists. We didn't want to wait in line!

.....the ever present roosters!

Famous Duvall Street. This is the main drag in Key West.

The end of U. S. Route 1, Mile Marker 0. Supposedly the most photographed and stolen sign in Key West. Route 1 runs the entire length of the U. S. East coast, ending at the Main/Canada border some 2700 miles away.

President Harry Truman's "Little White House" in Key West. 

Originally located on the Navy's submarine base, President Truman spent a total of 178 days, over eleven visits, to Key West during his presidency. He loved the weather, the people and the ability to get away from Washington.

Originally a duplex, the house was converted to a single family home to accommodate the Base Commanders 11 children. Once the sub base closed and President Truman was looking for a place to escape Washington, the 8,000+ square foot house was converted into the Southern Whitehouse.

The house and gardens are very simple and comfortable but still beautiful and seem to fit President Truman extremely well. He would go on to visit Key West many more times after leaving the White House but he never stayed here again after he was no longer President. He did not think it was right for the American taxpayer to pick up his tab for his vacations once out of office. He would stay with friends on the island.

We were told this was the place to have the best Key Lime Pie in Key West. Sara liked the pie at this place the best.

I liked the Key Lime Pie at Blue Heaven Restaurant the best!

One tourist that has obviously had too much Key Lime Pie on this day! He is just sleeping it off.

The afternoon/evening of January 16, we signed up for the annual "old house tour" of five old Key West homes that had been built between the 1880's and 1920. Though they all had been remodeled and renovated over the years they still maintained their charm and style.

One of the main things that all five homes exhibited was a wide use of outdoor living space, from large, wide front porches to large decks and "outside" rooms. Many even had small swimming pools in their back or side yard.

Though no photographs were permitted inside it was a great opportunity to see how people made very creative use of small spaces.

Just one of the many beautiful, exotic flowers in one of the gardens of the old houses.