Ernest Hemingway House

The view from Room 212 - Wednesday morning

The wind is gone, the clouds are history and it is a glorious day in Key West! Still, it is not so terribly warm that we would want to go to the beach, so we decided to be tourists and visit a few museums.

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we walked across the street to the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum. Mr. Fisher spent most of his life searching for the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a Spanish ship that sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. In 1985, he finally found the hull, which was loaded with millions in gold and silver, plus other assorted cargo. The tour starts off with a 15-minute documentary film, detailing the process Fisher went through to find, and finally recover the pirate booty. We saw hundreds of "pieces of eight", cannons, pottery shards, intact wine vessels, anchors, jewelry and works of religious art - all recovered from the bottom of the sea. The recovery of items continues even today.

The End of the Road

Next, we walked down Whitehead Street (Highway 1). We passed the final mile marker for Highway 1 and also walked past the passport office of the Conch Republic. The guide book says: In 1982 the U.S. Border Patrol threw a roadblock across Highway 1 just north of here to catch drug runners and illegal aliens. Traffic backed up for miles as Border Patrol agents searched vehicles and demanded that occupants prove U.S. citizenship. Key West city officials, outraged at being treated like foreigners by the federal government, staged a mock secession and formed their own "nation" - the "Conch Republic" (pronounced conk). They hoisted a flag and distributed mock border passes, visas and Conch currency. The embarrassed Border Patrol dismantled its roadblock and now an annual festival recalls the secessionists’ victory.

Dave at the Conch Republic Passport Office

Not getting enough of crusty old things at the Maritime Museum, our next stop would be the Key West home of Ernest Hemingway. This was quite an enjoyable visit - and I am afraid I took too many photos. Hemingway owned the home from 1931, until his death in 1961. He lived here with his second wife and their two sons.

Hemingway House
                         

Where Papa wrote For Whom the Bells Tolls 

Our tour guide was quite humorous, and though we knew he told the same jokes to every group, he was very entertaining and informative. A Florida businessman built the house itself in 1851. It was the first home in Key West to have running water, indoor plumbing and a fireplace. It is the only house on the island with a basement - I guess at 9' elevation that was something of an engineering miracle. Later, Mrs. Hemingway put in a swimming pool (also the first in Key West) much to the displeasure of Mr. Hemingway who was quite upset at the high cost when there was a beach just down the street. Hemingway produced about 70% of his life's work here, including For Whom the Bell Tolls, To Have and Have Not and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. He worked in a small studio over the guest house/stable. Hemingway woke early, wrote until about one in the afternoon, then walked down to Sloppy Joe's bar. In the dining room we saw a very interesting photo. At first glance, it is a photo of lucky fishermen standing around their hanging catch. Closer inspection shows the fishermen are (left to right: Joe Kennedy, "Sloppy" Joe Russell and Ernest Hemingway. Perfect triangle during Prohibition: Joe Kennedy smuggled-in the scotch, Sloppy Joe sold it in his bar and Hemingway drank it!

Lucky kitty

Ernest Hemingway was crazy about his cats. All of his cats were the 6-toed variety and their descendents still inhabit the house and grounds and seem to have free-run of the place - even sleeping on the bed in the master bedroom. (The headboard is from a 17th-century Spanish monastery gate.) We saw about 30 of the 50 cats - some have up to 8 toes. The cats are everywhere, sleeping in the sun, hiding under the lush plants in the gardens or waiting for a scratch from a friendly tourist.

Famous urinal

Our guide told us a story about the fountain above: seems the landlord raised the rent at Sloppy Joe's, so he decided to move one block, to its present location on Duval Street. On moving day, Joe threw a huge party and all the booze in the bar was consumed and everything that could be lifted, unbolted or removed was carried up the street. Hemingway dragged a 100-pound urinal home as a "gift" for his wife. He wanted to make a giant water dish for his cats. Mrs. H. was very upset and demanded he get it out of the garden. Hemingway reportedly said: I will remove my fountain when you remove your swimming pool. The clever woman, knowing she was beaten, disguised the urinal with tiles and made a lovely fountain where the cats still drink fresh water. Later, she divorced him and claims to have taken Hemingway's last penny, which is still placed in the cement around the pool for all the tourists to see!

Sleeping Hemingway cat

It is well known Hemingway led an adventurous life - living in Paris, Key West, Idaho and Havana. He always cheated on his four wives, married the mistress and then repeated the process. After a plane crash in Africa, he and his surviving companions stumbled into Nairobi where Hemingway read his obituary in the local paper. He was a man "to be paid attention to", as our guide said.

After the tour, we walked back to our hotel, via Duval Street, stopping for a snack at the Hard Rock Cafe. I snapped this photo of Capt. Tony's Saloon. This saloon is the original location of Sloppy Joe's and it is where Ernest Hemingway drank for years - and it is known by all Parrotheads as the saloon where Jimmy Buffett started his singing career and had a few drinks himself. It is a dump - but a dump with character and history.

The original Sloppy Joes

Tonight my "sunset" photo was taken before the actual sunset because a new huge, gorgeous yacht has docked under our balcony. Any Parrothead worth his/her salt (no pun intended) will recognize the name of the ship, Changing Channels, as a Jimmy Buffett tune. Dave and I enjoyed the Sunset Celebration from the second-story bar at our hotel, looking over the pier. We watched two bi-planes doing tricks above the water - spinning, rolling over and twirling-down towards the sea before making a last-minute climb! Very exciting and very pretty in the pink sky. The street performers were very fun - there is a guy doing a parody version of a "Siegfried and Roy" Las Vegas cat show... except he uses house cats. The guy is hilarious - and he actually gets his tabby to jump through a ring of fire!

Changing Channels - sunset Wednesday


View of the Sunset Celebration from the Hilton roof-top bar

For dinner, we walked three blocks to Kelly's - a restaurant owned by Top Gun actress, Kelly McGillis. Dave and Lisa tried several different appetizers: ceviche, crab claws and conch fritters. Dave and I had salads for our main course and Lisa tried Kelly's gazpacho. She did not like the soup at all. She told the waiter, "No, I did not care for the soup." when he asked her opinion and suggested "my mother's recipe" instead! Cheeky child! The soup was not on the tab when presented.