Castawayll Great Loop: Febrauary 27, 2014 Still here

Took the bus to Key West, walked a mile to the bus stop. Comfortable bus, $1.50 one way for 2 hour ride. Not bad. Had breakfast at a scrumptious donut shop, where they were frying them up as we watched, Curt had Orange dreamsicle and I had a Pistachio/Key Lime. They were very good. Walked around Key West and decided to go on the Trolley tour of the important places in Key West. The driver was very knowledgeable and was fun to hear the history of Key West and told the story of how Key West declared war on the US. The US had put a road block on the only highway coming into Key West to catch illegal immigrants. This made a huge financial impact on them stopping the tourism. They seceded from the Union, declared war on the US and renamed Key West as Conch Republic. The next minute they surrendered and applied for 1 BILLON DOLLARS IN FOREIGN AID AND WAR RELIEF to rebuild their nation after the long Federal siege. After a few days the blockade was gone, they didn't see any money but they did have a Navy base . Pretty funny. Key West got it's name from Spanish soldiers who came on the land and found bones all over the island. So I Googled and found this which is pretty much how the driver told the story:

In Pre-Columbian times Key West was inhabited by the Calusa people. The first European to visit was Juan Ponce de León in 1521. As Florida became a Spanish colony, a fishing and salvage village with a small garrison was established here.^{[citation needed]}

Cayo Hueso

Cayo Hueso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaʝo ˈweso]) is the original Spanish name for the island of Key West. Spanish-speaking people today also use the term Cayo Hueso when referring to Key West. It literally means "Bone Island" or "Bone Cay" (a low-lying island). It is said that the island was littered with the remains (bones) from a Native American battlefield or burial ground. The most widely accepted theory of how the name changed to Key West is that it is a false-friend anglicization of the word, on the ground that the word hueso [ˈweso]) sounds like "west" in English.^[3] Other theories of how the island was named are that the name indicated that it was the westernmost Key,^[4] or that the island was the westernmost Key with a reliable supply of water.^[5]
The Keys are all petrified coral so graves are not underground. A BRIEF HISTORY OF E CONCH REPUBLIC

I was so interested if this was true and my memory was corrected I Googled the history and found this:

The Conch Republic was established by secession of the Florida Keys from the United States of America, on April 23rd, 1982 in response to a United States Border Patrol Blockade setup on highway U.S.1 at Florida City just to the north of the Florida Keys. This heinous act effectively isolated Keys Citizens from the U.S. mainland since the blockade was on our only land artery to and from the mainland. This roadblock portrayed Keys residents as non-U.S. citizens who had to prove their citizenship in order to drive onto the Florida mainland! Hardly an American thing to do!

We protested! A totally American thing to do! Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow along with a few other 'key' Conchs, went to Federal court in Miami to seek an injunction to stop the federal blockade, but to no avail. Upon leaving the Federal Court House , on the court house steps , Mayor Wardlow announced to the world, by way of the assembled TV crews and reporters, that ; "Tomorrow at noon the Florida Keys will secede from the Union!"

At noon, on the day of secession, at Mallory Square in Key West Florida, Mayor Wardlow read the proclamation of secession and proclaimed aloud that the Conch Republic was an independent nation separate from the U.S. and then symbolically began the Conch Republic's Civil Rebellion by breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform. After one minute of rebellion, the now, Prime Minister Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the Navy Base at Key West, and surrendered to the Union Forces, and demanded 1 Billion dollars in foreign aid and War Relief to rebuild our nation after the long Federal siege!

Thus began our Conch Republic journey which still continues today! We are both Conchs and we are Americans and we are proud to be both. By act of Congress we hold dual citizenship as Conchs and as Americans and will fight for the right to be both!

Contrary to recent reports, the name "Conch Republic" refers to "all"of the Florida Keys, or, that geographic apportionment of land that falls within the legally defined boundaries of Monroe County Florida, northward to "Skeeter's Last Chance Saloon" in Florida City , Dade County Florida, with Key West as the Nation's Capitol and all territories north of Key West being referred to as "The Northern Territories". Be it known that these boundaries were established by the U.S. Government when they set up "THE" Border Patrol blockade in front of "Skeeter's Last Chance Saloon", in April of 1982, thereby establishing a new United States border!

To enforce the validity of our secession, the Monroe County Commission, in 1994, by unanimous vote, did pass a County Resolution recognizing Mayor Wardlow's actions, on the 23rd of April in 1982, as by, of and for the people of the Florida Keys. Read the full story!

We celebrate our Independence every year with a week long celebration. Click Here for the current schedule of events.

In the quest for recognition, the Honorable Peter Anderson, Secretary General of the Conch Republic has created "Official Conch Republic Passports" . The Secretary General has extensively traveled our surrounding Caribbean Nations with nothing more than his Diplomatic Passport and has been well received by many as a Diplomat and as a Government Official of the Conch Republic and even had his passport endorsed by nearly all! Officially, our passports, Diplomats and Citizens, have been well received by 13 Caribbean Nations as well as Germany, Sweden, Havana, Mexico, France, Spain, Ireland, and Russia.

Read more about Our History in detail!
For your history of the day.
We got back to the Marina at 9:00 with gusty winds out of the Northa nd scattered showers. Didn't get wet walking our mile back to the marina from the bus stop. Curt added a spring line and tightened up the bow line to the pile to keep the engine from scraping the concrete dock. Wind blew all night and had scattered showers most of the night. Glad to be in a marina tied up in our slip.

Curt and Ross getting chummy with Marilyn Monroe outside the donut shoppe, she looks embarassed, wonder where Curt's other hand is?

One of the first houses in Key West, now donated with the furniture as a museum, children's bedroom

Recognize the muscles? He usually tries to keep them covered.

Of course I had to take a picture of the quilt and the cute doll on the floor to the right

She's still standing over the air vent.

This was the catholic church in one of James Bond's movies, was a wedding out front, don't remember the movie, anyone else remember?

Cute hat carts

Looking down one of the streets in Bahama town part of Key West. Apparently the people from Bahama tore down their houses and brought them by boat, then reconstructed them in Key West, no trees?