Sunday, May 31, 2009

Short vacation to Key West, FL

I went to Key West, FL over this past Memorial Day weekend because I haven't traveled much in the past few years. I had a credit with Southwest so I used that to fly down to Ft. Lauderdale. I rented a car, a Prius because I had never driven one, and then drove down to Key West. I stayed there three nights and mostly bummed around. I hit up two beaches in Key West and two in Bahia Honda State Park. The sand is mostly crushed coral in Key West, but was a little finer in Bahia Honda. The weather was "great," but was unbearably humid for me. I definitely got enough sun.

I hit up the Hemingway House. He was a big fan of cats so there are something like forty cats living on the property. One was lazing around and the other was after a lizard.

Key West is a strange sort of town. It's pretty touristy, but the tourist parts are jumbled in with the regular parts. The food is great. I highly recommend La Siboney, a Cuban place, and Blue Heaven, a seafood place. Banana Cafe is a decent place to get breakfast.

People smoke like chimneys in Florida so be prepared if that bothers you.

I bought the tank from Hertz so I didn't need to fill it up before bringing it back. I drove nearly 500 miles and still had about 4 gallons left when I returned it. That's rockin' about 60 mpg which is pretty damn good and better than most Prius owners get. I get great mileage on my Mazda 3 too and it's because I drive the speed limit and accelerate slowly from a stop and coast to a stop.

The Prius is an interesting car for sure. It took me a while to figure out how to start it. I didn't think it had that much pickup which is contrary to what I've read and what other owners have told me. It has a smooth ride, but isn't as quite as I thought it would be. The view out the back is terrible so you need to be more careful when switching lanes.

Here's a collection of clips I took while down there:

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