Dey Street is a name whose origins need to be uncovered. My best guess is that it is named for someone, but I'm starting to think it's time I got a copy of J Wills Burke's book The Streets of Key West. This is the solitary 600 block of Dey looking from Simonton Street towards Elizabeth Street:
I was out on a bright sultry August afternoon and one would think the street would be snoozing. Not at all; people were coming and going, mostly on two wheels:
There was the dog walker:
And while I was figuring how to take a shot of the bicycles, the street and the trash pile I could hear people in an animated conversation from some secret garden along the street. A busy place Dey Street:
This street is mostly residential with a variety of styles:
But there are some light industrial areas, which are really the backside of businesses on Greene Street which parallels Dey:
And have I mentioned the value of off street parking? Each spot is prominently labelled to avoid showdowns:
Of course you could use the public lot around the corner off Simonton, at ten dollars a day, and not heavily patronised in August:
Or you could sweat like a gentleman and ride a Bonneville...This guy didn't get the concept at all, he was sitting in the car (probably a rental) sweating with the roof down and he had the engine running. So he was wasting fuel, copiously and not cooling off with the air conditioning. Bizarre.
At least he wasn't parked here:
Dey Street dead ends into Elizabeth Street about where the old Jabour's Trailer Park used to be, just beyond the white picket fence:
Jabours was one of those wondrous places in Key West that every time i walked by I wondered how it still managed to exist. I never took any photos of the travel trailers that used to hang out in the park, but there they were, packed in tight and enjoying cheap waterfront living. Then the inevitable happened and the trailers, within easy strolling distance of Schooner Wharf Bar and Waterfront Market, had to go. Jabours sold the property for millions and a new condo development came in its place. Only it hasn't arrived yet as Watermark apparently has hit a reef and may have run out of money. Imagine my surprise when I spotted an RV in the open space. The trailer's are back!
Not really, I think its just some watchman preventing people from trespassing in the dirt. It's dirt today and I have a picture of it, just to remind me of what was when someone picks up the challenge and throws some more dirt around to build something new where there was something old and perfectly adequate before.
I was out on a bright sultry August afternoon and one would think the street would be snoozing. Not at all; people were coming and going, mostly on two wheels:There was the dog walker:And while I was figuring how to take a shot of the bicycles, the street and the trash pile I could hear people in an animated conversation from some secret garden along the street. A busy place Dey Street:This street is mostly residential with a variety of styles:But there are some light industrial areas, which are really the backside of businesses on Greene Street which parallels Dey:And have I mentioned the value of off street parking? Each spot is prominently labelled to avoid showdowns:Of course you could use the public lot around the corner off Simonton, at ten dollars a day, and not heavily patronised in August:Or you could sweat like a gentleman and ride a Bonneville...This guy didn't get the concept at all, he was sitting in the car (probably a rental) sweating with the roof down and he had the engine running. So he was wasting fuel, copiously and not cooling off with the air conditioning. Bizarre.At least he wasn't parked here: Dey Street dead ends into Elizabeth Street about where the old Jabour's Trailer Park used to be, just beyond the white picket fence:Jabours was one of those wondrous places in Key West that every time i walked by I wondered how it still managed to exist. I never took any photos of the travel trailers that used to hang out in the park, but there they were, packed in tight and enjoying cheap waterfront living. Then the inevitable happened and the trailers, within easy strolling distance of Schooner Wharf Bar and Waterfront Market, had to go. Jabours sold the property for millions and a new condo development came in its place. Only it hasn't arrived yet as Watermark apparently has hit a reef and may have run out of money. Imagine my surprise when I spotted an RV in the open space. The trailer's are back!Not really, I think its just some watchman preventing people from trespassing in the dirt. It's dirt today and I have a picture of it, just to remind me of what was when someone picks up the challenge and throws some more dirt around to build something new where there was something old and perfectly adequate before. 
2 comments:
Conch:
Turns out the original spelling of Dey street was "Day" street. In 1975, then Mayor Charles "Sonny" McCay officially changed the name to "Dey" street in honor of Susan Day of "Partidge Family" fame (later L.A. Law). This was apparently done at the behest of McCoy's predecessor, former Mayor Delio Cobo. The two were close friends and Cobo it seems was a huge fan of allthings "Partridge"....
OK,I completely made that up.... but it provided a much needed distraction from the Cat4 lurking in the Caribbean...be safe.
Good one.
I went for a walk in the rain this afternoon which got lots of images for tomorrow's essay. I doodle while Louisiana drowns...
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