: : : GWRRA : : : Gold Wing Road Riders Association : : :

For many motorcyclists, a great trip is NOT about the destination. Instead, it is ALL about getting there…the roads traveled, the sights seen, the food eaten, the stories gathered. Every now and then though, a trip is, and should be, ALL about the destination. So it was on a recent trip that my husband and I took to Key West, Florida.

Key West, Florida, was ‘on our bucket list.’ It was a magical place in our dreams that always was beckoning to us. We wanted to say we had ridden our Gold Wing to the Keys. So we set about planning our ‘anniversary’ trip for December 2008. We had gotten up early in anticipation of our trip to Florida but since it was only 20 degrees when we woke up, we decided to postpone our departure for a few hours in the hope that it would ‘warm up’ a bit. When we left our home in Sevierville, Tennessee, on December 14, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 35 degrees. I had a heated jacket liner, pants, and socks so I was in pretty good shape. My husband, Ken, however, refuses to wear his heated jacket liner (don’t ask me why), and instead prefers to wear ‘layers.’ In this case, four layers. We had 700 miles to go in order to reach our first night’s destination of Winter Haven, Florida, where Ken’s mom lives. We were sure that the farther south we headed, the more it would warm up. We were wrong. In central Georgia, we pulled into a truck stop to fill up: fill the gas tank, fill our stomachs, and fill our coffee cups. There we ran into a guy who repairs windshields on the road. He had a beautiful, tropical, parrot with him that preferred to be outside in 35 degree weather rather than in the heated car!

The farther south we went into Georgia we hoped it would get warmer. We were still wrong. The temperature never rose above 35 degrees until we crossed the Georgia/Florida line. When we finally arrived in Ocala, Florida, about 10 p.m. the temperature was the warmest it had been all day at 63 degrees! Ken began to peel off a couple of his layers, and I turned my heated suit off. We reached our initial destination at 11:30 p.m.

We spent the next two days, including our 25th wedding anniversary on December 16, 2008, in the Winter Haven, Florida, area basking in the sun while visiting family and attending the graduation of Ken’s daughter, Jessie, from the University of Central Florida. Jessie received a dual Masters degree: one in Business Administration and one in Sports Management.

On December 17, we started off on the next leg of our journey. We had 400 miles to go, so we headed south on US 27 through south Florida. We took Chrome Ave to avoid the congestion of Miami and were treated to a trip through the lush landscaping nurseries of south Florida where every imaginable tropical plant is grown for commercial and residential gardeners. Paradise was near, and I was well on my way to heaven.

Having never been to the Florida Keys we had no idea of what to expect. The road through the Keys is a 127 miles long, two-lane highway with 42 bridges, for the most part. In some areas, the road widens to four lanes. The speed limit is 45 mph for most of the way. The road is at times picturesque and at times somewhat barren and forlorn as you venture from one Key to another with many of them uninhabited. There are more than 800 islands in the Keys but only 30 of them are inhabited. We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we traveled, which made us eager to see the Key West sunset the following day.

As a retired US Marine, Ken is entitled to a few perks here and there. We had heard about one such perk from some of our other traveling military retiree friends, so we had rented a townhouse through MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Division) at the Truman Point facility on Key West. The townhouses are 3 bedroom/2 baths with living room and kitchen areas as well as screened-in porches. The price (based on rank/status) was less than half of what we might pay to stay at a hotel or resort on Key West. The best part was we were only a half mile from the center of town, and we could easily walk to and from downtown. We parked the motorcycle and pretty much left it there until it was time to go home! We had reached our dream destination!

One of the things we found most enjoyable about Key West was the variety of attractions available to tourists. There was, indeed, something for everyone! We bought a Paradise Passport (available online or in person) and set about exploring this historical island. Our first stop was a ride on the Old Town Trolley. The trolley gave us a 90-minute, narrated tour of Key West, allowing us to get on and off at a variety of stops if we chose to do so. The Conch Tour Train is also a good way to orient yourself in this historical town.

We visited the “Little White House” which Harry Truman loved to visit. He loved the island life, the people of the island, and the peace and tranquility that he felt when he was in Key West. Now we know why! We visited the “Shipwreck Museum.” The museum is a historical treasure in itself that transports visitors back to a bygone era where cries of ‘shipwreck!’ meant good fortune for the residents of this tiny island. Just ask master ship wrecker, Asa Tifts, and he’ll tell you what a great place Key West was and still is! Key West, at just 2 miles wide by 4 miles long is the ‘end of the line.’ Key West has several nicknames, including the 2x4 and the Conch Republic. Key West is just 90 miles from Cuba and for a long while, Conchs (as the local residents are known) felt a stronger tie to their Cuban counterparts than to the mainlanders of the US.

Eager to know more about this magical island, we explored the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum which showcases one of the largest shipwrecks ever found and many of its hidden treasures. We even got to touch a real gold bar and dream of how we would spend it if it was ours! In Key West, stories of pirates and treasures still abound. We also visited the Key West Aquarium, one of the first ‘tourist attractions’ on the island. The aquarium has a respectable collection of open tanks that contain more than 100 species of sea life.

For avid readers, no trip to Key West would be complete without visiting the home and museum of Ernest Hemingway. The home is a beautiful, white two-story, with lime green shutters, where more than a hundred descendants of the famous six-toed cats still roam. Of course, Asa Tifts, the shipwreck millionaire, will tell you that it was HE who built this masterpiece of a home! He is still marveling over the fact that it is not known as the Tift House but rather is famous for the man who came after him: Ernest Hemingway!

We wandered up and down Duval Street famous for its “Duval Crawl” in the evenings. Not being big drinkers, I told Ken we did our own version of the Duval Crawl by day, shopping and eating our way up and down its length! We also visited the Butterfly Conservatory. I must say this was not a priority on Ken’s ‘to do’ list but even he was amazed when, once through the conservatory doors, butterflies, moths, and small birds, would fly past us or land on us as we walked through their tropical paradise. It was very hot and humid in the conservatory but the creatures that flourish there were amazing! We did take the motorcycle out for one ‘spin around town’ so I could take a picture of Ken on our Gold Wing in front of the Buoy that marks the “Southernmost Point” in the USA which was adorned with a Christmas Tree!

Of course, no trip to Key West would be complete without a visit to Mallory Square where one can shop, eat, drink, and be merry as one watches the large cruise ships come and go right alongside the old schooners and sailboats. The celebration of the setting sun each day is a magical time as street performers mesmerize tourists with their acts of creativity and daring. Musical notes of all kinds float in the air and tourists are treated to a cacophony of sounds, lights, and sights as the setting sun creates a multi-hued backdrop for the performers.

Our time in Key West ended too soon. And, as predicted by the ‘Conchs,’ we were planning our return trip before we’d ever left the island! Next time we hope to enjoy some of the seagoing adventures including parasailing, reef snorkeling, and sunset cruises. As we headed home on our trusty Gold Wing, we basked in the 70+ degree weather until we arrived in Brunswick, Georgia, where the temperature dropped to 50 degrees, and we decided to call it a day. The next morning we awoke to find it 35 degrees and we bundled up again, me in my heated clothing, and Ken in his ‘layers.’ As we traversed northward on I-95, and then on I-26 to I-40, the temperature began to drop steadily as we climbed into the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, leaving the coast behind us. By the time we arrived home at 5:30 p.m. it was a brisk 19 degrees! While we were cold on the outside, the memories of our Key West adventure warmed us on the inside! I guess we’ll just have to spend the rest of the winter daydreaming about our island adventures