Wreckers and the beach

The last attraction we went to in Key West was the Shipwreck Historeum Museum. Which, coincidently, was across the street from the aquarium. We waited about ten minutes for the tour to start. During this time we watched the chickens wandering around.

[Side note: We encountered chickens throughout our day in Key West. They were even wandering around under the table as we ate! I had to look the reasoning for this up: It seems that the city of Key West has declared itself a "sanctuary and preserve for all birds" including chickens! For more info on this, click here.]

Okay, so the tour started out with two of Asa Tift's crew discussing the jobs that a wrecker's crew performs. Lookouts - who stood (or sat, as many of the men who filled this position were crew members who had lost legs or were otherwise disabled) at the top of the tower to watch for shipwrecks off the coast. Divers - who had one of the most dangerous jobs as their only oxygen tank was their lungs. There were many other jobs but I can't seem to recall them all.

Anyway, the tour continues with Asa Tift (the guy with the ship) himself explaining the museum and its artifacts from one of the shipwrecks -- the Isaac Allerton. Actually it was an actor/guide with very corny, but funny, jokes. The Isaac Allerton wrecked in 1856 but because the ship had sunk so deep -- the divers couldn't hold their breaths that long! -- the wreck was not completely salvaged. 130 years later, with modern diving equipment, the Isaac Allerton was re-salvaged and many of the artifacts put into the Historeum Museum.

We climbed the tower which is about 50 feet shorter than it was in 1856! It was plenty tall enough for me!

Here are some photos from the top of the tower:

I think this one is kind of looking to the south west -- way in the back of the photo is a little sliver of ocean. If you go to left of the photo, that is where we went to the beach. (See below!)

Oh, and I think (I think) that the red building used to be the treasury building or customs building -- something to do with money -- during Key West's wrecking heyday.

This one is looking toward a little farther north of west. Not exactly west, a little farther north. (Aren't you glad I'm not leading you on a bear hunt!)


That big building in the back is just a large commercial but expensive hotel. :-) There are shops, restaurants, and bars in this area.

This is a photo towards the north. Again the Red Fish Blue Fish is in the center -- the restaurant we ate at. If you look toward the top of the photo that is the Seaport. We walked past that on the way to Mallory Square from the parking garage. There were a couple cruise ships docked. And from my extraordinary eavesdropping skills I determined that one of them was leaving the next day for the Caribbean and the other had docked for the day at Key West.


The last stop on our Shipwreck Historeum tour was the basement to watch a video on the Isaac Allerton. This was on one of the beams:


Of course this was three feet above the floor!

The head in the middle of the photo is the brother . . .


Swimming . . .


Hiding from the camera :-) . . .


The beach & jetty . . .

Kind of soothing, isn't it?

Next week, Kennedy Space Center & the shuttle launch!