Cruising Highway 1
I have to say that hiring a car in Miami is a bit more relaxed then when Shez and I hired one in Paris several years ago. On that occasion, I hadn't even had a chance to get aquatinted with the controls being on the wrong side, let alone driving on the wrong side of the road, when the car park exit unceremoniously deposited us on one of those 10 lane round-a-bouts. The exit to the car park was literally onto the round-a-bout. This was both a surprise and a disappointment, since we had chosen that particular car hire company as it was out of the centre of Paris and (we thought) well away form the mad drivers on the round-a-bouts. We had been warned how crazy the Arc de Triomphe was, and we wanted to avoid it as all costs.
Anyway, back to the present in Miami, the exit deposited me onto a nice quiet street. However, I still managed to almost have an accident by looking the wrong way as I moved onto the street. My attention sharpened by this near miss (don't worry mum, I'm using dramatic license here), I had a pretty good drive out of Miami. Also, improving on our Paris experience, I hired a GPS and managed to get out of town without a hitch. As an aside, that whole plan of missing the Arc in Paris went astray . I remember swearing quite a few times as the Arc loomed up on the horizon unexpectedly after driving around Paris lost for a couple of hours (as Shez will confirm, I think I broke a record for swearing that day). But I digress...
So, I pumped up the radio and headed south on Highway One and into the Florida Keys. Well, when I say pumped up the radio, what mean to say is that I nearly worked the tuning dial to death. Take your pick: soppy R & B, country, traffic, Latino, 80s rock, Elvis 24/7, right wing shock jocks, evangelical and much much more. They all seemed to specialise in playing one good song followed by either 20 bad ones, or 50 ads. Oh well, I did say I wanted to sample the culture.
My goal was to make it to Key West, about 3.5 hours south, and to observe a bit of American culture along the way. The Florida Keys are a chain of barrier islands that run form Miami and Key Largo in the north, to Key West in the south, and are connected by a series of bridges and causeways that is Highway 1. The islands range from small mangrove covered dots to large islands hosting small cities. All the islands are barely above see level, and the road seems to be the highest point on most. Cruising down this road felt like a good taster of cliché America. From the sheriff's cruisers parked on the side of the road trapping speeding motorists (although tempted to start a Blues Brothers inspired car chase, I didn't think my little car would live up to it), to the tacky themed roadside diners like the ship shaped fish joint I almost stopped at for lunch.
Where I did end up stopping for lunch was a place called the Boondocks Cafe - well you just can't go past that can you! Classic. I was planning on having a good old clam chowder, seeing as I was in the Keys, but was swayed by the waitress to have their crab soup. It was a great choice, but, as with every meal so far in the US, it was too big. I amused myself while eating by watching a couple of surveyors working on the other side of the highway. One of the guys was wearing one of those umbrella hats - you know the brightly coloured hat you sometimes see clowns wear. Hilarious. I was waiting for him to stick on a pair of oversized shoes and a red nose. Alas, disappointed on that front, I hit the road again for the last 30 miles to Key West.
When I hit Key West, I followed the signs to the historic district and was rewarded with avenues of traditional weather board houses, along quiet tree lined avenues. Oh, and about 50 of those tourist train things you see driving around the botanic gardens or the zoos. I think you might feel a bit like you were in a zoo if you lived in one of those houses. A small price to pay for living in a great spot (when there's no cyclones bearing down on you at least).
I just cruised the streets for a while before coming across a bunch of people taking photos of a large bell shaped blob of cement. Curious, I found a about a block down the street and walked back to find out what the deal was. The names on the businesses gave a strong hint as to what it was all about: "Southernmost Guest House", "Southernmost Bar", "Southernmost Scooter Hire" - Ok so I may have made that last one up, but only to highlight that scooters were thick as flies in Key West. The most amusing however, was "The Southernmost House", which is a hotel just down the street from the big blob thing. Well that wasn't funny, but a (I think private) house a few doors down from the southernmost house ad a sign declaring it the "southernmost southernmost house". And as it was closer to the blob, I guess you couldn't argue with that!
When I hit Key West, I followed the signs to the historic district and was rewarded with avenues of traditional weather board houses, along quiet tree lined avenues. Oh, and about 50 of those tourist train things you see driving around the botanic gardens or the zoos. I think you might feel a bit like you were in a zoo if you lived in one of those houses. A small price to pay for living in a great spot (when there's no cyclones bearing down on you at least).
I just cruised the streets for a while before coming across a bunch of people taking photos of a large bell shaped blob of cement. Curious, I found a about a block down the street and walked back to find out what the deal was. The names on the businesses gave a strong hint as to what it was all about: "Southernmost Guest House", "Southernmost Bar", "Southernmost Scooter Hire" - Ok so I may have made that last one up, but only to highlight that scooters were thick as flies in Key West. The most amusing however, was "The Southernmost House", which is a hotel just down the street from the big blob thing. Well that wasn't funny, but a (I think private) house a few doors down from the southernmost house ad a sign declaring it the "southernmost southernmost house". And as it was closer to the blob, I guess you couldn't argue with that!
As you may have guessed by now, the big blob was marking the southernmost point of continental USA, and the end of Highway One. Duly photographed, I headed back past the Southernmost southernmost house and hit the road. I wished I could stay a bit longer, at the least to get some ideas for painting our house (at least I've struck bright pink and pale yellow off the list), but I had to hit the road and head back north.
All this driving gave me ample opportunity to peak at some cliché USA. Here are a few things that caught my attention. The yellow school buses; trailer parks; road side diners; giant SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles - not sure what sport they could be for, except mine's bigger than yours games. I wasn't playing in my "compact" which was the smallest rental, but still about the size of one of our mid sized cars. The movie Super Size Me keeps springing to mind); macmansions (they still look bad in the weather board look); (sadly) foreclosure sale signs; airforce jets; and Harley Hogs and other cruisers that look like armchairs on wheels. I finally made it back to my hotel, tired and not too sure if I had quite filled up on American culture yet. Oh well, I still had half a day before heading to Mexico.
All this driving gave me ample opportunity to peak at some cliché USA. Here are a few things that caught my attention. The yellow school buses; trailer parks; road side diners; giant SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles - not sure what sport they could be for, except mine's bigger than yours games. I wasn't playing in my "compact" which was the smallest rental, but still about the size of one of our mid sized cars. The movie Super Size Me keeps springing to mind); macmansions (they still look bad in the weather board look); (sadly) foreclosure sale signs; airforce jets; and Harley Hogs and other cruisers that look like armchairs on wheels. I finally made it back to my hotel, tired and not too sure if I had quite filled up on American culture yet. Oh well, I still had half a day before heading to Mexico.