Comments | amw: Key West and next steps

amw

Key West and next steps

Nov 28, 2021 09:50

So, Key West, did it turn out to be better than my first impressions? No. It did not. Key West is a tourist trap. If you have been to Niagara Falls, the Las Vegas strip, Times Square in NYC, most of Venice, or any spectacularly popular old town or scenic area in the world, you've been to Key West. The whole town is essentially mediocre bars playing ( Read more... )

travel, american dream

Comments 11

spiffikins November 28 2021, 17:57:35 UTC

When I visited the keys, I was definitely both underwhelmed by Key West - "ehhh, it's super tourist tacky" and overwhelmed - "omg there are SO MANY PEOPLE here" - because a cruise ship had come in and disgorged all the passengers to roam around all those tacky tourist gift shops and restaurants.

I quite liked the other keys though - mostly since I spent most of the time in the water snorkeling :D

Key West is one of those places that you can check off your list and never feel the urge to go back, I think.

One of my friends went to Dry Tortugas a couple of years ago - they spent the night camping and had a wonderful time. TOTALLY different experience than Key West - once the boat leaves and the majority of the people go back with it, the island is ridiculously peaceful and amazing - but it was pretty complicated to arrange to stay overnight, iirc.

Congrats on reaching the edge of the US! I've been really enjoying the trip posts and am looking forward to seeing what comes next!

amw December 2 2021, 14:30:52 UTC

I was amazed by the amount of people too! Like, Miami and some of the other big cities i visited were busy because they're big cities, but it's still kinda spread out. But Key West is a small town on a small island, which isn't the place you would expect to be busy unless it's Venice or Malta or something. I had no idea it was up there in popularity.

The Dry Tortugas camping is exactly what i wanted to do! In the end, though, i decided against it because of the inconvenience. It's not just the cost or the very early checkin for the ferry, you also need to have very specific camping equipment to transport your gear - you can't just show up with a backpack and duffle (which is all i own aside from the bike). It seemed like more hassle than it was worth in the end. Maybe i will do it in the future, if i am in a situation where it's easier to put together all the right gear (i.e. arrive in a car).

jenndolari November 28 2021, 19:08:32 UTC

Should you end up going to Houston and heading for the American Southwest, I would pick up the kindle version of the following travel guides which'll get you through Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country ( ... )

jenndolari November 28 2021, 20:42:16 UTC

Before I get into the routes, here's a list of Walk-In Tent Camping sites in Texas State Parks. Downside? State Parks are few and far between...you'd also want to look at county parks for camping possibilities: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/park-information/facilities/campsites/campsites/#walk-in-tent-campsites... )

jenndolari November 28 2021, 20:44:45 UTC

2) https://goo.gl/maps/YPEcLcpTs4NQbCui8 or https://goo.gl/maps/QUD8o67SofBUHTJw9... )

amw December 2 2021, 14:36:39 UTC

Thanks for all these tips! I really feel like if/when i end up back in Texas again i'll have weeks of interesting places to visit from your guidebook-style posts and emails over the years :) It must be a nice feeling to know a place so well like that, and presumably also really see how it changes over time.

geminiwench November 28 2021, 20:18:39 UTC

My partner, Sailor, is a real sailor..... he sailed as crew on historic tallships for years all over the Pacific and Atlantic. He would be saying, "Sail! Sail! Sail! Sail!" in your ear....

amw December 2 2021, 14:35:03 UTC

I looked into some of that tallship work! There are several sites that offer volunteer opportunities, although those slots are much rarer than the ones for people with a bit of experience under their belts. Unfortunately there weren't any ships around the places where i could easily get to at the moment.

Something i have noticed about finding sailing work (or recreational/volunteer crew opportunities) is that it seems kinda serendipitous. It's not like hundreds of boats are all sailing out all the time so you just look around and jump on one the next day. Boats spend most of the time at anchor or in the marinas, so you need to be there exactly when they plan to leave for it to work out. I suspect that's how marina bums come to be. Never met them before this trip, but they remind me of beach bums, just hanging out at the bars waiting for the perfect "wave" (or, in the marina case, boat). I just wonder how they afford to stay while they wait?

geminiwench December 3 2021, 00:05:24 UTC

For tall ships the best way to get involved is to take their training programs which start regularly at most museums that have working tallships... it's a big up front cost... usually about $2k... but it also usually goes straight back to the ship costs because they are monstrously expensive to upkeep ( ... )

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king_of_apathy November 30 2021, 05:09:07 UTC

Congratulations on cycling all the way down South in the USA as it's possible to get! It does sound like a very natural end point, so I was curious as to where you'd head next. Looking forward to reading about where your travels take you, which will certainly be more interesting than what i'm up to for the next few months at least!