Key West, FL. 10,449 miles.

The day started with an early morning ride across the Everglades. Not quite as impressive as you might think, it is a very long straight stretch through what would be some interesting wilderness if for some reason it was not filled with gift shops and airboat tour shacks. It’s not that I’m unaccustomed to seeing tourist bait everywhere in places like this, but usually the National Parks themselves are kept pristine and it’s something I’ve come to really love about the Parks Service. But here it is different and the Epcot feeling was in full effect. Still, I saw more than a few gators and a couple bears. No panthers, which was disappointing since the signs for them were everywhere and flashing. I was feeling a little nervous riding on the spent rear tire after getting an earful from the crowd on Triumph RAT so I didn’t feel much like stopping for pictures, instead just wanting to get into Miami and get some new rubber.

I arrived in Miami at the peak of morning rush hour again because of great planning. But I managed to pull up at the Triumph dealership at 9:01 only to find out that they didn’t have any tires in stock. They suggested a few places close by, none of whom had any tires either. The one place I knew did have what I needed was all the way up in Pompano Beach near Ft. Lauderdale, so it was a long awful ride through Miami traffic and their insane freeway exchange system and toll plazas for most of the morning. Nothing feels worse than riding in the wrong direction and having to do it with Florida drivers swerving everywhere just makes it worse.

I got to the dealership and they got to work swapping the tire and replacing the brake pads while they were at it. The rears were down to the metal and the fronts weren’t that far behind. It all took a lot longer than I was hoping and I wasn’t back on the road until after noon, not even counting the extra hour it took me to get back through Miami. But finally I was at the start of RT 1 and heading for Key West. Again, not exactly the picturesque island hopping ride you would imagine, the keys start out as an endless seedy stream of chain restaurants and big beach resorts. They slowly (and I mean very slowly) begin to spread out a bit and the views from some of the immense channel bridges is impressive. It was the first sighting of the Atlantic which brought me officially back from one coast to the other, but I was hot and the day had been annoying and I just wanted to get to the motel so again no pictures. I will take some on the ride back as it seemed there were better views form the opposite direction anyway.

I finally arrived in Key West and was promptly greeted by the Key West police department who wrote me a ticket for an illegal lane change. It had the feeling of a tourist tax and I’ll be sure to relive the memories when I’m taking my 8-hour online Florida traffic safety course back home.

Mandatory picture at the Southernmost Point buoy, check. Beer at Hog’s Breath, check. Sloppy Joe’s, check. That last one I can tell you right now to avoid. If Hemingway ever actually did step foot in that place it was NOTHING like it is now. Packed to the gills with tourists and an awful band on a giant stage, it is about the size of an airplane hangar and has the feel of a TGI Friday’s more than a place where great literature was once written over glasses of cheap rum and whiskey. A block away is a much more interesting place called Captain Tony’s Saloon. Thee is an ongoing feud between this place and Sloppy Joe’s. Without going into too much detail (you can look it up if you’re interested) Captain Tony’s claims to be the original Sloppy Joe’s bar where Hemingway spent most of his time. There is a lot of competing local lore but this place definitely has more of the vibe you would expect as it was originally the Key West morgue before being converted into a bar in the 1930’s. The barstools are painted with the names of famous people who happened in and sat on them. I was there for an hour before I saw I was sitting on Bob Dylan’s stool right next to John Candy and Eric Clapton. Even if it is a tourist schtick and even if the place is just half a block from Duval St. it was one of the better bars I’ve been to on this trip and maybe the only place I’ve found on this island so far that’s really worth visiting.

I walked back to the beach on the south end of the island where the tourists aren’t nearly as thick. Everyone stays on the north end by the cruise ships for the nightly sunset show which I’m sure is beautiful but I just couldn’t stomach the crowds. The south end was quiet and I had dinner on the beach and sat at the end of the pier at Southernmost. I really felt the literal end of the road and as I looked out towards Cuba past the horizon I was suddenly hit with a barrage of images from the trip racing through my brain that was pretty overwhelming. It actually made me dizzy for a second and I thought I might fall into the water – I’m sure the whiskey had something to do with that but that’s neither here nor there.

I decided to spend an extra day in Key West before the very final leg home not because I am particularly in love with the place but because I am physically exhausted and needed a rest day. This trip has been the experience of a lifetime, but I am starting to feel like it was maybe 3 or 4 days too long and I am anxious to get home. But there are worse places to spend a lazy motel life day.

Wyatt Neumann was a phenomenally talented photographer and director, a loving husband and father, and a passionate motorcyclist. On June 11th he was doing what he loved riding in Delaware when he suffered a brain aneurysm which caused him to lose control of his motorcycle. He died shortly after. Wyatt was instrumental in both inspiring this trip and planning many of its routes and logistics. The title of this site was unapologetically stolen from his series of photographs from his own travels. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. A memorial fund has been established to help his family in this very trying time. Please consider donating. Any amount will help. Thank you.

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