The Long Road to Key West

The Long Road to Key West

One would think that it would be a short drive from Miami to Key West, but it happens to be a long drive. A single lane road, for most of the way, filled with a steady line of cars. The drive to Key West crosses 42 bridges along the 113-mile highway. The bridges create a series of giant arches made of concrete and steel looming over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. One of the bridges is the famous Seven Mile Bridge which is a ten-minute drive.

We were there on St. Patrick’s Day and I expected the Key West downtown area to be filled with people for the celebration. However, it wasn’t, so it was easy to walk around to shop and have dinner at a seafood restaurant on the water. There is a place on the island that marks the southernmost point of the continental USA which lies a mere 90 miles away from Cuba. The marker is a major tourist attraction where people line up for miles to have their picture taken standing in front of it. I didn’t stand in the line, but managed to zoom in with my cell phone camera and get a great shot, in between the groups of people posing in front of the marker.