12/27/2010 ENJOYING KEY WEST WHILE THE NORTHEAST DIGS OUT FROM THE BLIZZARD

MONDAY

TOTAL MILES TRAVELED TODAY: 0 NM

We may be a bit cool and windy here but the northeast is being hammered right now. Many of the airports are just beginning to reopen from their overnight shutdowns. Steven’s flights all went smoothly as he traveled from Key West to Charlotte, NC and then onto Bradley in Connecticut. All he had to do then was dig his car out and drive to VT. He made it safe and sound but maybe a little cold.

STEVEN ALL PACKED UP AND LEAVING THE QUEST

ONLY IN KEY WEST WILL YOU FIND PINK AIRPORT TAXIS

The guys came to remove the broken mirrors in the guest salon and will be back tomorrow to install the new ones. Finally!

"MIRROR GUYS" TAKING MEASUREMENT'S AND PREPPING FOR TOMORROW'S INSTALLATION

Dan and I really put our bikes to use today when we made the ride off Key West and over to drop off the old water pump and pick up the new one. I think we rode for about 1 ½ hours but it sure felt good. The new pump is now installed with only a few expletives and lots of dirty rags.

For those of you that remember my raving about the beautiful Flagler College in St. Augustine, here is a little more Flagler history. This powerful, railroad magistrate is largely responsible for the development of Florida. With the wealth amassed through his partnership with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil Co., he was able to pursue his dream to connect the beauties of Florida with the rest of the world. He and his ailing first wife first traveled to St. Augustine for her health. Later Flagler purchased land and built the beautiful Ponce de Leon Hotel (now the college campus) and the Alcazar. Since travel to Florida was so difficult, Flagler bought up the existing but inadequate railway system, combined them and gave them new life. The link to Florida travel had now been opened and with Flagler’s help it began to flourish. He established Palm Beach, dredged Biscayne Bay to make Miami a deep seaport and laid out the city of Ft. Lauderdale. His most challenging engineering feat proved to be the railroad from Miami to Key West. This was completed just in 1912, the year before Flagler died at the age 73 years old. The below statue was erected at the sight of the old Key West Overseas Railway Depot. The tracks were destroyed during the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and never rebuilt but the State of Florida used much of the remaining infrastructure to construct the Overseas Highway that connects Key West to mainland Florida. All us gray-haired folks have Mr. Flagler to thank for our warm escape from the cold north.

THE OLD KEY WEST RAILWAY STATION

BUST OF HENRY FLAGLER

After dinner on the Quest we made our way to Sloppy Joe’s to again watch the Doerfel family perform their magical music. Check out their web page at  www.thedoerfels.com. They are filled with talent and a jest for life.