Tag Archives: florida

Road Trip Day 4, 5 & 6: Key West

This road trip was a total blur, but we did have a chance to relax on the beach one day.

Literally, one day. George got so sunburnt that he had to wear my pajama pants! (See above!!!!) To be honest, I got a little burnt too and I never burn!

I still love this handsome dude even if he wears pajamas to dinner in Key West.

George and I flipped over this banana tree. I guess we’ve never seen one in bloom. It looks like something from “Little Shop of Horrors,” no?

The Southernmost house

My pictures don’t do it justice. Next time I’m scheduling more beach time and maybe getting a base tan first!

love,
melanie

Road Trip Day 3: Key West, Hemingway House

When George and I decided to make a stop in Key West, I knew we had to visit the Hemingway house. I’m not the biggest Hemingway fan, but I was an English major and I’m a total cat lady.

6 toes!

Do you know about Hemingway’s cats? Apparently when he was alive he had a whole menagerie of animals. His sons even kept raccoons as pets! But the most famous of his animals are his cats. His cats’ descendants still roam the property today. The cats are said to be lucky because most of them have 6 toes.

I was dying to get one of the cats to sit on my lap and bring me good luck. But like most kitties, they wanted nothing to do with me, the human. The cat pictured above, named Hairy Truman, let us pet him so that quelled my inner cat lady a bit. The 40-or so cats roam the property freely and pretty much have it made.

The architecture of the house is as equally stunning as the cats. I was dying over the tile in the bathroom (pictured above.)

The chair in which Hemingway wrote.

Hemingway’s bed, complete with a cat!

Have you ever visited Hemingway’s Key West house? Did you pet the kitties?! Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

Road Trip Day 2: Weeki Wachee Springs

What’s that? You’ve got a weird, campy roadside attraction? Well, I want to see it. Weird, campy attractions are my jam.

When I was a kid my parents took us to Florida most summers. One summer we visited Weeki Wachee Springs and I’ve been in love ever since. Weeki Wachee is a natural spring with the clearest water I’ve ever seen. The water is a cool 74 degrees year round. You can swim in the springs, but the best part of the park is the mermaids! Real, live mermaids!

The park was opened in 1947 by a man named Newton Perry. He was a former Navy Seal. He built an underwater theatre at the springs, then taught beautiful women how to swim with air hoses and perform underwater ballet. The park really took off when ABC purchased it in 1959. In the 1960s, girls came from all over the world to try out for the privilege of becoming a mermaid. Back then the mermaids performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds! (Read more about the history of Weeki Wachee here.)

The crowds aren’t as big now, but the mermaid show is still swinging. It’s really a site to see and if you’re anywhere near central Florida it’s worth a detour.