AOB was 8 AM at IZ & Pete's. Mark & I had stayed at Joe's house while Tom was at Pete's. There are 7 of us going as Joe & Pete's neighbors Nick & Dick are coming along. We pull out a touch after 8 am. The temp is 59 and part sun so no one needs heat but we have chaps on for the start. We head south on 95 about 60 or 70 miles to Ft. Pierce and get on the FL Turnpike. FL has there own SunPass as EZ-Pass is not accepted but supposedly FL uses plate recognition and mails you a bill and only charges you an extra 8 cents! So only Joe has the SunPass and the rest of us go through the SunPass lanes as well instead of getting a ticket and expect to be billed. At the gas stop a few of us comment that we had noticed signs around the Sunpass lanes saying there is a $100 penalty for illegal use and discussion ensues about our understanding of how it works. We proceed with the understanding that you get a bill in the mail for the toll plus 8 cents. We get back on the road and notice that most exits are SunPass only so we feel better that our ASSumption is correct. We go further down the road and we find the road divides and has 2 choices, SunPass or standard toll booth but no exit! We go through the SunPass lanes and again we see the large $100 penalty signs! When we get to the next similar toll all of us but Joe go to the pay lanes. We then get on the Turnpike extension and the signs now specifically say that this part uses plate recognition for an extra 8 cents or you can stop and pay. I think most of us will get a bill for the toll cost on the previous section, maybe for the entire length of the Turnpike plus a $100! I had my EZPass with me and I'll plead ignorance saying I thought it was acceptable!!!!!!! I don't understand why in this day and age it's not one system. We stop again about 11:30 and decide to grab a quick lunch. By this time the chaps & heavy jackets are off as the weather is sunny and 70's. We come to the end of the turnpike and the road is packed with traffic moving at a snails pace trying to merge into 1 lane. This continues for a while with an occasional turn lane to mess things up. A woman coming out of a side road trying to cut into traffic mentions to us that there's a parallel local road to avoid the traffic so we decide we have nothing to lose and try it out. Sure enough we are moving along and can occasionally see the backed up traffic on the main road at the connecting side streets. We probably leap frog 3-4 miles before we have to get back on the main road. After that merge the traffic finally keeps moving but we've lost nearly 1-1/2 hrs! We still have about 100 miles to go. The road through the Keys is generally one lane each direction except through some of the bigger Islands where it's developed you'll have 2 lanes but more congestion. There are numerous bridges obviously and one that's 7 miles long. We get to our hotel about 5:30 and have happy hour around the pool.
After happy hour we start what the locals call the Duvall Crawl! Duvall is the main Key West street with tons of bars, restaurants & sovenier shops. It happens to be spring break time as well. Surprisingly for a Sat. night its not that busy. Its crowded but not jammed. Most bars & restaurants have imediate seating except for The Hogs Breath which had a half hour wait. We're trying to get to Mallory docks for the sunset where they have free street acts that are performing with the sunset as the backdrop!! Unfortunately we spent to much time at Happy hour and by the time we got to the docks things were wrapping up. We walked some more and ended of having dinner on a pier. After dinner we crawled Duvall some more and Dick says we should go see the Drag Queen show!! So
everyone except Tom goes to the show as he decides to go back to the hotel. As we all know Tom just wants to ride to the destination turn around and go back! The rest of us like to smell the roses along
the way!!! After the show we crawl Duvall some more, stop for ice cream and then turn in for the night.
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