Arriving Key West by Boat.

_I chose to arrive in Key West on the Key West Express (a 170 foot catamaran). I like catamaran rides, especially when they can travel over 34 knots in the open ocean. It’s actually quicker to take a 3½ hour boat ride from Fort Myers Beach than to dive over 5 hours to Key West from Fort Myers.

I was going to meet friends in Key West, Florida after visiting my son in Celebration, (a suburb of Orlando) Florida. There were no direct non-stop flights from Orlando to Fort Myers. There are flights from Orlando to Fort Myers, but, I would have had to fly back home to Chicago and then back to Fort Myers. This would require an Uber from the airport to a motel • to dinner and • to the Key West Express dock for a 7:45 boarding. Renting a car from Orlando to Fort Myers was more expensive than renting a car all the way to Key West! I borrowed my son’s car for the drive to Fort Myers Beach.

On Monday evening, February 15, I stayed at the 2-star Hideaway Motel (Very small room, clean and recently remodeled.) at Fort Myers Beach, on Estero Island. This island faces the Gulf of Mexico.

I had dinner at the Matanzas on the Bay Marina (Recommended by the Motel.) with an outside waterfront patio on the Matanzas Harbor Pass across from the Key West Express dock.

“Per FEDERAL MANDATE, FACE MASKS must be worn at all times at terminals and throughout the duration of Sea Travel.“ This was announced many times before and during cruise. But, it was not enforced on the ship! To be safe, I traveled on the top outside third deck at a social distance at a speed of over 34 knots.

TSA required all Adult passengers 18 and over to show valid identification corresponding to Boarding Pass in order to travel on the Key West Express catamaran.

Early morning Tuesday at the Key West Express dock, Matanzas Harbor Pass, Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

Upon arriving on the Key West Express Catamaran in Key West on Tuesday, February 16, there were Electric Vehicles waiting for those that had previously reserved them. Also, they would hold your luggage and deliver it to your Hotel later in the day when your room becomes available. And, they notify the Conch Train Tour, that visitors had arrived for a tour of the “Conch Republic.” The closest train would then head over and pickup the passengers that just arrived.

I only had a small wheeled suitcase and a backpack for my 1-mile walk to the Kimpton Lighthouse Hotel. My room wouldn’t be available for several hours, so I decided to have lunch at the Conch Republic Seafood Company which is located at the historic Seaport Harbor Marina. They advertise their seafood is so fresh you can watch their fishing boats arrive.

The Conch Republic (/ˈkɒŋk/) is an actual micronation by Key West seceding from the union in a tongue-in-cheek manner in 1982. (30 foreign countries have since recognize the Conch Republic.) This was done when the United States insisted on treating the Keys like a foreign country by having the Border Patrol blockade the Florida Keys looking for illegal immigrants and drugs. The blockade was hurting the Keys’ important tourism industry.

The Key West’s City Council’s complaints went unanswered by the U.S. Federal Government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court. So, the City Council declared Key West’s independence on April 23, 1982. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conch’s, the new nation took the name of the Conch Republic. (Key West has maintained this name as a tourism booster for the city.)

Mayor Wardlow was proclaimed the Prime Minister of the Republic, and immediately declared war against the United States (symbolically breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a naval uniform). He quickly surrendered a minute later to the man in the uniform, and he immediately applied for one billion dollars in foreign aid from the US. The Conch Republic is still waiting for their foreign aid.

The roadblock and inspection station were removed shortly after national TV stations started broadcasting the plight of the Key’s. And, it’s anniversary continues to resulted in the creation of special events at Key West.

Numeric Orange Balloons correspond to those shown on below map.

Click the below photo to view Uncle Jack’s Key West.blogs.

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