Incidentally I've only recently gotten a program that allows me to straighten out pictures. I hadn't done that last one with parasailers.

Anyway, I did not have any trouble climbing Cape Florida, but I did not even consider climbing Currituck, St. Augustine, Hatteras or even Hunting Island.

When I was younger I climbed everyting - to the top of Notre Dome and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the fire tower at Valley Forge, the tower at Washington's Crossing, to the top of the dome in Sintra where it was so windy that my pocketbook flap flew open and the wind lifted my pocketbook away from my body when I went up the steps on the outside of the dome.



But after I climbed the tower at Valley Forge in 1969, I started to have a lot of trouble with my knees and I was only a little over 30 years old at the time. My knees got so painful that I couldn't even look under the bed for my shoes.

Bob sometimes climbs things for me and takes pictures from the top. Or he used to.

Anyway, when I climbed Key West I almost didn't make it. But I was determined. I had to sit down at the top for about 5 minutes to get my breath back, and one of the other people up there asked me if I was OK, and mentioned that he was a cardiologist when he asked. So I must have looked bad.

I don't know what made the difference between Cape Florida and Key West. There was only about a year in time


The reason I wanted to climb this particular lighthouse was to replicate this photo of the West Martello Tower. But I couldn't see it.

This was as close as I could come.


There were interesting views of the town - the lighthouse isn't right on the water.



This is Hemingway's house - Hemingway used to complain that the lighthouse keeper could look into his bedroom.



Incidentally I prefer the look of the Key West lighthouse before they painted it white.


It doesn't look "real" to me as a white lighthouse.