If you’re like me, the conclusion of the 2008 election can’t come soon enough. The barrage of political advertisements and signs will disappear for the next couple of years. As citizens, it is our duty to participate in the process and be informed.

Every four years, the Little White House in Key West has an informative exhibit of the electoral process for the presidency. The exhibit this year will be on display through November 30th.

This year’s campaign has been the longest in history. And as we saw in 2000, more individual votes do not necessarily translate into a victory. The Electoral College actually elects the president in mid-December, a citizen votes for the slate of electors for their state. So in essence, the presidential election is actually 50 separate state elections. A candidate needs 270 of the 538 available electoral votes to be elected.

So how is this accomplished? Each state has a certain number of electors based on the number of representatives they have, plus 2 senators. Florida for instance has 25 representatives in Congress so the grand total of electoral votes for Florida is 27. A candidate must win the popular vote in enough states to get to 270.

The exhibit has interesting electoral history and explains the process in great detail, from beginning to end. If you will be visiting Key West this month, this exhibit at the Harry S. Truman Little White House will help you gain a good understanding of how the process works.

All with the benefit of the sun and fun atmosphere of Key West!

Considered a gem of the restoration movement in Key West, the Audubon House & Tropical Gardens located at 205 Whitehead Street would have been demolished in 1958 had it not been for the Mitchell Wolfson Family Foundation.

The home was constructed in the American Classical Revival architectural style of the mid-1800’s by Captain John Geiger, Key West’s first harbor pilot.

Beside the one acre of lush tropical foliage, the house is best known for naturalist John James Audubon, who visited Key West and the Dry Tortugas in 1832.

Housing over 28 first edition works by Audubon, the naturalist sighted 18 new bird species for his “Birds of America” portfolio. One painting of particular significance is of a white-crowned pigeon that features the large Geiger tree in the front yard. See many of his paintings along with other artists in the adjacent Audubon House Gallery.

Filled with unique, quality furnishing purchased mostly in Europe, these furnishings were typical of higher class Key West homes in the 1800’s and represent the ideal of elegance and comfortable living in 19^th century Key West.

The other top attraction of the Audubon House is the one acre, lush tropical gardens. Share the brick paths with many scattering geckos while taking in the orchids and bromeliads. The 1840’s style nursery provides a historic glimpse of gardening in old Key West.

So during your stay at the quaint Tropical Inn Bed & Breakfast, take the short stroll to the Audubon House, which can be easily rented for any type of event.

Nestled in the heart of the Old Town section of Key West, a mere one block from the Tropical Inn Bed & Breakfast, is the one time home of Nobel Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway. The colonial southern mansion style home witnessed some of the most prolific years of Hemingway’s career.

Located at 907 Whitehead Street, the Hemingway House has been listed as a U.S. National Historic Landmark since 1968. Serving as his home from 1931-39, this where Hemingway wrote such classics as the final drafts to “A Farewell to Arms” and short classics “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”

The original structure was built from limestone quarried from the site by Asa Tift in 1851. Only 16 feet above sea level, the house sits on the second highest location on the island and has survived many hurricanes, a testament to its location and construction.

Other notable facts of the Hemingway House include being one of the first homes on the island fitted for indoor plumbing and the first to have an upstairs bathroom with running water fed from a cistern collecting rainwater on the roof. The high brick wall surrounding the property was built in 1935 after Hemingway’s house was published in a Key West tourist brochure.

The home also has other notable features that will not be given away here, you have to see it for yourself. The house is a great tribute to one of America’s most fascinating but complicated authors. It is a must on any Key West itinerary and literally right around the corner from the quaint bed and breakfast, the Tropical Inn.