Revisiting America

Today is overcast.  Such a change.  The sky is completely gray and the palm fronds are barely moving.  But one of our neighbors said that we need rain.  So be it.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing rain hit the canal and hearing it hit the palms.  Plan to sit on the balcony for a while when it comes.

We had a couple of uneventful days, then started going into Key West.  Tuesday we got haircuts, went to Radio Shack for help with the camera (there is no camera shop on Key West), then headed downtown.  Lunch first, of course.  Ate at the Blue Heaven restaurant Kuralt mentioned.  Really quaint place.  Sat on the patio and watched the roosters run around.  Two roosters (one of them pretty big) jumped from limb to limb in a tree near our table and crowed.  Apparently these roosters crow at other times than daylight.  Back to the food.  Excellent.  Lou and I had butter-sauteed shrimp with the same preparation for squash, zucchini, and onion; refried black beans; brown rice; asparagus spears; diced tomatoes; and a huge wedge of freshly-baked cornbread (huge).  So good.  Kuralt said that breakfast there is their best meal, but I don't see how it could beat lunch.  Lou and I retained our membership in the clean-plate-club.  We even shared a piece of key lime pie.  Came with a 3-1/2-" to 4-" high meringue.  Incredible.  We drove around a little while after lunch, then came home.

On Wednesday, we went into town again.  Rode the little yellow Conch Tour Train and had a great time.  B. J. was our engineer/guide and a very good one.  Learned a lot about the history of the island - politics, geography, culture, etc.  Olde Town is the part of the island formed by nature.  New Town is the man-made part.  After we finished the tour train ride, we, ------- get ready for it, -------- ate lunch.  We were at Mallory Square (a favorite spot for sunset watching) and ate at Red Fish Blue Fish at a booth in a big window opening without the glass.  This time, we had pigeons again.  All of these roosters and pigeons must love living in Key West.  Where else do they get this much freedom?  Anyway, my shrimp po' boy was great - lots and lots of small, succulent shrimp.  We didn't get any dessert and only talked about getting ice cream.  Ice cream shops abound.  No surprise there.  After walking around Mallory Square for a little bit, we headed home.  We had the same driver on the "tour bus" that took us to and from the train stop.  His name is Willy Kelly.  He is a transplanted Brit and a super nice guy.  Loved the accent.  His son came to Key West in 1996 as the start of a USA tour, but never left Key West.  Willy and family visited through the years, then moved here in 2004.  Key West is very seductive like that.  I've already told you that I could happily stay here.
I saw Iggy yesterday afternoon on the cement "dock" across the canal.  All of a sudden, a smaller iguana appeared.  Since Iggy immediately started chasing the other iguana, I think maybe Iggy is a male and the newcomer a female.  After she? disappeared into the bushes, Iggy stayed on the dock and tried to communicate by shaking his head and dewlap up and down.  No answer.  After trying a few more times, Iggy moved to the edge of the dock and, I swear, hung his head and dewlap over the edge.  You could almost hear him saying, "Woe is me."  Our neighbors, Wayne and Chuck, call him Rusty because of his orange feet and dewlap.  I wanted to call him Sugar because we found him on Sugarloaf Key.  Maybe the female should be named Sugar.  Anyway, our iguana population is growing.
Still overcast and warm, but no rain yet.  I'll keep you posted.
Janie