A December Wedding

Newlyweds Kyle and Hale Dunning, December 3, 2023

Thursday morning, November 30, 2023, Rob and I left Camp Taylor very early to head to San Francisco to catch a flight headed for Miami, Florida where we would meet up with son Scott, daughter-in-law Kristy and grandson Alex to drive to Key West, Florida to be present for the wedding of our oldest grandchild Kyle to Hale on Sunday afternoon, December 3. Key West is of course a popular tourist destination, especially in winter, but not a place we would choose to visit if we didn't have a very good reason, which of course this wedding was. I was looking forward to warming up after feeling pretty chilled in the cool redwoods of Marin County, but it was even warmer than I'd anticipated when we arrived in Key West on the afternoon of December 1 - high temperatures were in the 80s with of course the Florida humidity. Even the locals were complaining that it was unseasonably warm. But better to be on the warm side rather than to have unseasonably cold for the planned beach wedding.

Rob and I had been to Key West in October 2022 to visit Kyle when we took a cross country RV trip, so the place was not new to us. In our weekend trip there for the wedding we did get to play tourist with the family and saw more of the sights than previously, and I of course managed to take a long walk one morning to explore the neighborhood.

A rooster - chickens are everywhere in the Keys and are protected.

A rooster in a tree.

Courtyard Inn where we stayed for three nights.

Another rooster. as seen on my Saturday morning walk.

Not sure what this bird is, but maybe a kind of ibis?

These are definitely ibis.

An egret and its reflection.

A pelican at our hotel.

This "Southernmost Hockey Club" caught me by surprise when I was walking about.

I thought at first it was for Ice Hockey since I didn't know hockey is also played on wheels, and I wondered how they could possibly keep a rink frozen in the heat of Key West. On closer inspection I realized it was for roller blades or skates, not ice skates.

Kyle and Hale rented golf carts for Saturday afternoon and evening so they could show us all the sights in Key West. It was lots of fun riding around in our open air vehicles and stopping at various attractions. One stop was of course for Key Lime Pie!

Hale driving the cart we were in with Kyle driving the one in front.

Here are the bride and groom at the southern most location in the Continental United States.

Most of the wedding party gathered to watch the sunset in Mallory Square.

Watching the sun go down from Mallory Square.

There it goes.

Erin trying on a hat in a shop with Alex and his girlfriend Althea.

This isn't the one she bought - she found the perfect one - see next picture.

Erin with her nephew Kyle on the streets of Key West.

Inside the Historic Sloppy Joe's Bar on Duval Street, Key West.

This is the bar Ernest Hemingway frequented when he lived in Key West.

There are dollar bills pasted all over the bar - rumored to be a million of them.

A visit to the cemetery after it was dark.

We happened on this gravestone for Thomas Romer who died in 1891 at the age of 108!

Sunday morning some of us played tourist some more while the bride and groom got ready for the wedding. Rob and I walked around downtown, took in a tour of the "Little Truman White House" and met up with Erin for a tour of the Hemingway House. We learned some very interesting history of this island at the western end of the Florida Keys.

A newt on the side walk.

A house fully decorated for Christmas that we had passed multiple times on the gold carts.

The "End of the Rainbow" at the end of U.S. Highway 1.

Me and Rob at the End, or couldn't it also be the beginning?

Another rooster.

President Truman first came here for rest after his doctor told him he needed a break.

Our tour guide next to the infamous poker table in the "Little White House."

A newspaper on one of the tables in the house.

The bedroom where Bess and Margaret Truman slept when they visited Key West.

Tropical shirts that Truman came to love while he was in Key West.

His wearing of them made them quite popular.

The living room in the Little White House.

At the Hemingway house we learned that there are currently 61 cats living on the grounds, and all are said to be descended from a six toed cat named Snow White that was given to Ernest Hemingway by a ship's captain. We were told that all of the cats are neutered except for one "couple" that are allowed to continue the line. We were free to pet the cats, but not pick them up. We took a tour of the house and grounds and again found the history quite interesting.

On the Hemingway house grounds.

Some of the names of cats that have lived and died there.

There were lots more names on plagues in this little cemetery.

Erin petting a cat.

Rob petting a cat.

See the six toes on this one resting on the porch of a cat condo.

Birthing stools at the foot of a bed in the house.

We were told that Hemingway collected these because they were perfect to sit in when he was fishing.

The trough at the base of this garden vase is the urinal from Sloppy Joe's Bar.

Hemingway's writing room - over an outside garden structure.

A cat in Hemingway's writing room.

A very large iguana on a neighboring roof.

We saw a few, various sized iguanas around town.

The Key West Light House.

I had thought it strange that this lighthouse seemed to be in the middle of the island, but then learned that most of Key West land is fill from the Navy having dredged to accommodate large ships. This light house, now a long way from the water, used to be on the shoreline.

Rob looking at another rooster.

THE WEDDING

Here comes the bride!

Hale is being escorted by her best friend in Key West.

Hale is from Turkey and her family was not able to travel to be present for this ceremony. There is another wedding planned in Turkey in 2024, probably in August or September. Her family was able to watch this one over the internet and sent video greetings that were shared after the ceremony.

Kyle seeing Hale approach.