Key West, January 27, 2019

Key West beckoned to us as we awoke on this cloudy, dreary, overcast day; rain was in the offing.

Key West is Florida’s southernmost point, lying roughly 90 miles from Cuba.  It is also an active cruise port.  Joining us today is the Oceania Riviera. 

We were in front of the old Customs House as we left the pier.  It is an interesting brick building that now serves as an art gallery and museum.

There is some interesting sculpture on the grounds around the building.

I especially liked this one of a couple looking out to sea in anticipation of our arrival.

We decided to walk along Duval Street, one of the island’s most famous thorofares. 

Here is a photo of Sloppy Joe’s, a hangout supposedly frequented by Ernest Hemingway.

There is alot happening on Duval; many interesting things from moment to moment.  This is a shot of a car that was just passing by.

I hope my photography tells a story of our travels.  With that in mind, I present the following art work, which discusses the fate of a sailing ship long ago, in contrast to the trash allowed to accumulate today.

This is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

And this is the side entrance to the church.

Traveling along Duval.

JoAnn and I both thought the use of this old movie house facade creative.

Need an alternate mode of transportation?  Try this.

I found the historic architecture interesting.  There are many, well preserved houses.  Some of them now serve as accommodations for tourists.  In fact, one of them is a time-share.

Here is the time share.

And another.

We walked over to Mile Marker Zero, the place where U.S. Highway 1 begins.  It runs 2,369 miles, up the East Coast, to its terminus in Fort Kent, Maine.  We were fortunate to have a nice couple take this photo of us and mile marker zero.

And then it was back to the ship.  I wanted to take a picture of the ship and was lucky enough to get this one of seagulls on the ropes.

Here is a close-up

We decided to take in the show “Topper” tonight.  It tells the story of a fellow who, for their own “protection,” has a group of people living in his hat.  Only he has the key to the hat but on occasion he gives it to his dog who unlocks the door and lets the residents out.  It is well done, very colorful (well costumed) and very entertaining.  It is about who decides what is best for each of us; do we get to control our destiny or do others act in a paternalistic fashion, supposedly in our best interest?

The show was followed by dinner in the Silhouette Dining Room.  We are seated at table 108.  It’s not a very good location but our server, Alfred and his assistant, Ated, are terrific.  Here is JoAnn and Alfred.

JoAnn had trout and I had roasted pork loin which was very good.  JoAnn said the apple pie she had for desert was excellent.  I had ice cream which is always good.  From there it was back to cabin 9246 to rest up for another day.