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"Road Trips" by The Old Squid
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step into the
Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you may be
swept off to."
Bilbo Baggins
E-Cards from the Edge #1
As Far From Here As I Can Get
I was working on a project that took far longer to do than planned this winter. An outside remodel that kept me working all through November, December, January… It kept getting colder but I just kept working. I promised myself that when it was done that my Fearless Wife and I would go somewhere different, somewhere warm.
We needed to get as far away as we could and still be in the continental United States so we choose Key West Florida. I finished my project on Friday the 18th and the next day we left to drive to SeaTac and fly south. This is all research of course. Key West is a tourist town located on an island. It's been settled for a lot longer than Friday Harbor so I came to see if I could envision the future of our much younger town.
The end of the world and farther
from Friday Harbor than Hawaii!
At first glance, Key West is much like Friday Harbor but on steroids! Spring Street is four blocks but the main drag in KW, Duval is closer to 15. And boy is there nightlife! For those of you with long memories, think Jazz Fest. Now multiply it by 10. Also, this is a warm climate so the bars don't have doors and windows. They leave the fronts open so the music spills out onto the street and at closing they just put up hurricane shutters.
The record low for KW is 41 degrees so this lack of windows isn't a problem. While we've been here the temperatures have gone down to 60 at night and up to 75 during the day. A typical winter in the only tropical paradise you can drive to in America.
Of course this balmy weather has a dark side. Those hurricane shutters are not a quaint architectural affectation, they are needed! On our drive down the keys, we saw many houses built up a story with open pilings to allow waves and storm surges to pass under and protect the house from water damage. There are also some Hurricane memorials dedicated to the dead of past storms. This must be on everyone's mind during the fall wind season as the highest point of land on the island, mockingly called "The Hill" is 16 ft. above sea level!!! But back to the comparisons.
Like Friday Harbor, the streets are narrow and parking is dear. I hunted for 20 minutes on Wednesday morning for a place to park my full size rental car (big mistake!) after we checked out of our close-to-downtown motel. There is a municipal garage that charges $1.25/ hour up to $10 maximum for tourist parking.Side streets are marked "Residential" parking and locals have a sticker to ID their cars. No sticker and you'll be towed!
Like Friday Harbor, access is limited too. There is one road down and I don't want to hear any more whining about ferries after experiencing the what-me-worry attitude of utility workers on the two-lane road that ambles 100+ miles down from the mainland. On our drive we hit one five-mile long jam that was caused by workers blocking the south bound lane to lay a cable. No flaggers alternated lanes passing through. It was a free-for-all until lunch and then we finally moved on.
Not only does this road take longer to drive than our ferry ride, you better be paying attention while you drive or you will wind up in a the gulf. Makes naps on the ferry look so good! Another similarity is the number of license plates from somewhere else. Oh yeah, they have "island cars" too. Dented, rusty, but held together by "Bush" instead of "Kerry." After all, this is a red state.
A thick jungle of tropical plants
on every street hides
even large houses.
Real estate prices feel like home too. A single wide 60's trailer on a 50' waterfront lot goes for $400,000! A woman who owned an art galley was telling us how happy she was to find a nice two-bedroom apartment downtown "for just $1900 per month." Utilities extra and very expensive as well.
Of course it's not all the same. As I write this it's 6:30 AM, 65 degrees and I'm surrounded by palm trees. If I want to swim, the ocean is in the 70s. More people on a much smaller island also surround me: 26,000 souls on eight square miles. This affects the infrastructure, culture and the economy but more about that in another e-card. For now, I need to get back to an ongoing piece of research and keep looking for that perfect cheeseburger!
Yes, the burger was good and the margarita was great.
- The Old Squid
The Old Squid's email address is: oldsquid@sanjuanislander.com
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