We are camped at the Naval Air Base, Key West known as Sigsbee Annex. As luck would have it, this facility is located on the Gulf of Mexico with great sunsets and only a few minutes from Downtown and the famous Duval Street and Mallory Square. We will be here for the next week or so. This is only our second visit. We spent just a few days here back in 2004.
This place is made famous by the likes of Harry Truman, Earnest Hemingway, and Jimmy Buffet. You will have to decide which is more important. For us, it is a great place to spend some time in the sun and look back at the history, and of course, enjoy the present.
President Truman spent quite some time here during his presidency and made some important and life changing decisions, like using the atomic bomb on Japan, creating the UN, and firing a famous and difficult General. Hemingway and Buffet left their mark on the place that is still evident today.
It is a well established party town and is proud of its reputation as a haven for those seeking the alternative life style. It also appears to be designed to meet the demands of the mainland tourist.
We have spent our first few days walking Duvall Street and enjoying the comings and goings of our fellow tourists, the weather, visiting the exclusive Sunset Key for lunch and the truly wonderful sunsets in our front window at the campground. We lucked out on our visit to Sunset Key, as we departed the dock we overheard that the island was about to be closed due to a water main failure. When we arrived at the restaurant, they did seem surprised to see us, but never the less seated us and served a wonderful lunch. Since there was no running water, Anneke was provided with Fuji bottled water to flush the toilet and wash her hands. After all, it was a Westin Resort.
We visited the “Little White House” of Harry Truman on what was once part of the Navy base at the tip of Key West and is still known as Truman Annex. President Truman loved it here and spent 175 days of his presidency at the house.
Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed during the tour of the house, but that notwithstanding, it is well worth the visit.
1 comment:
Aww! Yay! I lived in KW for 2 years and I loved it. The pics made me miss it. I have been to Sunset key many times and I used to work in that same marina you left from. It used to be the Hilton marina but it's now the Westin I think. You would have seen the boats I used to work on, Big green sailboat called the Liberty or the Liberty Clipper and the catamarans called the Fury. Worked on them all! Have a great time and don't miss the show at the 801 Cabaret and at La Te Da. It's a good time had by all.
Post a Comment