North on the I-1

If San Francisco is the city of choice for the gay population of the USA then Key West must surely be where they go for holiday. There is a massive gay presence in this small city slash town and their very being makes for a more lively, charismatic, colourful city slash town with a genteel feeling lacking in most other cities in the USA. I would recommend Key West to most but moreso those with an interest in anything to do with the water. If you do come to KW then make sure you do lunch at Louies Backyard (http://www.louiesbackyard.com/). I've had the privilege to eat at many great restaurants and this ranks up there. Take a table on the Wisconsin aged pine balcony with views out over the crystal clear and warm waters of the Atlantic towards Cuba. Do nothing more than imbibe upon one of the great wine lists of the world and gorge yourself on the freshest of seafood menus. When they come to request my last meal on death row I'm going to ask for the menu from here.

The view from Louie's

Key West was one of the homes of Ernest Hemingway and primarily so because of the great fishing here.  Little wonder then that he penned " Old man and the sea ' whilst residing here. Some other interesting, or not, facts about Mr Hemingway.

He supported the wrong side in both the Spanish and Cuban civil wars. He was married 4 times. He fathered 3 children of which all were boys. He loved cats and gave protection to the local 6 toed cat which still reside in his house (all 44 of them). His house in Key West is 40 metres from the local lighthouse which he used to navigate himself home to each night after an evening of booze. He promoted several professional boxing fights in his time and set up a boxing ring in his back garden for young aspiring boxers to train in. He committed suicide in 1961 after being exiled from Cuba when Mr Fidel took power and he lost most of his manuscripts. His fortune is administered by his oldest son out of Idaho.

From Key West today it was north up the I-1 to Miami.

Several questions for the panel and for you to ponder.

1. I walked past a shop front today and it said Psychic readings done here  . I was wondering. If I walked in would she say '' I've been expecting you '' ???

 2. I also walked past an adult entertainment house (cum brothel) and on the billboard outside it said Live Adults. Well there is a relief

3. I drove past a a billboard that said Cafe-Bakery..Made to order. Either that is one very industrious family of carpenters or a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

Miami. You have to see it to believe it. It is the city (and particularly South Beach)of the beautiful and if not naturally blessed with looks then there is a lot of people trying very hard to be so. It is also the cruise ship capital of the world. Little wonder then that everything here seems to have a 30-40% premium over anything that you can buy or order in Kew West or Naples.

More on Miami tomorrow.

A floating apartment block departing Miami (aka Norwegian Epic)