End of the line.

Well, here I am! Key West!
I had booked a rental car online Monday and today I picked it up. It was slightly more hassle to get it than I expected, but I guess nothing is simple when you are on holiday. The insurance I purchased through Orbitz turned out to be useless, a specific memo had been given to the car company not to accept it. I therefore opted for full-insurance which added about $30/day to my total. Finally however I got the car on the road about midday.
Surprisingly everything went quite well. I didn't crash or make any wrong turns and I got the car and myself home in one piece. The only mistake I consistently made was that I keep turning on the windscreen wipers when I go to indicate. ;)
I dropped by the lab to check email and I was having ongoing problems trying to get a good time to schedule my second estimate for moving. In the end I cancelled the second estimate so that I could have time to use the rental car and be able to be out of town for two days. At 2 pm I gathered up enough things for an overnight trip and headed off into the wondrous world which is Miami traffic.

It's about 160 miles from Miami to Key West and if you are driving by yourself you feel everyone of them, I did fairly well for most of the drive, but heading south-west the sun was in my eyes for most of the last 50 miles. Standing in Mallory Square and watching the sun set into the Gulf of Mexico is apparently one of the "things to do in Key West". I was in Key West as the sun went down, but was tied up in traffic, so no "green flash" for me. I made my way to the "Key West International Hostel" and booked myself a dorm room, specifically asking for a quiet or half-empty one. As far as I can tell there is only one other girl in my room so far which is fine. After a much needed shower it was dark so I drove up Duval Street which is the main street where everything goes on. It certainly looked interesting and touristy even to my tired eyes. I parked the car and walked a little, I also bought some souvenirs and had a banana split for dinner.
Key West has 2 major "high" seasons. The first around late December and January when people escape the snow up North with their kids. The second is in the weeks before Halloween which culminates on October 31st with "Fantasy-Fest", an orgy of inhibition (literally and metaphorically) with an enormous costume parade and street party. Because I am here on a week day between these two high points it seems a little subdued, which is perfectly fine by me.

I got home a few hours ago, the drive being rather uneventful. There was an accident around Key Largo which held up the traffic for a while, but once I got on the Turnpike it was a fast trip home. I got up early this morning to have a look around before it started to get busy. I went to the tourist places first to get them out of the way, and it was quiet pleasant with no-one around. After I checked out of the hostel I did some driving around the back streets to get an idea of what the place was like before it became a tourist haven. I left about 1:30 pm since the drive was going to take about 3 or 4 hours. Going down to the Keys was definitely worth doing once, I don't know whether I'd have a burning desire to do it again unless it was with friends.