Gustav's Sideswipe

I remarked to my wife yesterday that we must have settled comfortably into our groove as "freshwater" Conchs, because even though our islands are being sideswiped by a monstrous Category 3, soon to be Category 4 storm, we kind of expect everything to carry on as normal. She has been working on her new classroom getting it ready before she goes on vacation Saturday and I hung out with her downloading these pictures yesterday. The classroom is part of the College and is built of concrete blocks, supposedly hurricane resistant to some degree, but the ventilation system was whistling and whining as wind gusts hurled themselves at the building. It was my brilliant suggestion we eat lunch at the Conch Farm, because I was craving snapper and salad, which I got:We also got a perky waitress who said lots of locals were turning out, like us, to make up for the lost holiday trade as Miami drivers stayed away in droves from the Keys, which are under a Tropical Storm Warning. It sounds dire but it's a whole lot better than a direct hit and Gustav is looking mighty nasty. The Conch Republic Seafood Restaurant was a cheerful choice for lunch sitting behind one plate glass window and open to the weather on the other side we got to feel the cool breeze and get blasts of raindrops mixing in our sodas. It gave lunch a picnic feel and that was just fine.We got a ringside seat to watch the boats tugging at their dock lines and we talked about how neither of us missed living aboard anymore. We reminisced about storms we'd weathered at sea and at anchor and my wife shuddered thinking about the exposure to the weather of the boats anchored around Christmas Tree Island. "Anchor watch" she said, thinking how we'd take it in turns to devote our attention to whether or not we were dragging as the boat tugged and twisted in the wind gusts at anchor. Inside the restaurant it was snug:More so at the bar where sickly colored mixed drinks were flying around the room. The antidote to stormy weather is crushed strawberries and alcohol apparently.Conch Republic Seafood has a dandy little gift store strategically placed on the direct path to the toilets and it happened that as we waited for the gusts to abate we got to doing le shopping. My wife likes to take little gifts when she travels and she bought a couple of postcards to illustrate where she lives to people she meets in Turkey, and some "Mile Marker Zero" bumper stickers to hand out to the sailboat crew she will be lounging with. I found myself admiring the clothing, which is a bit out of character for me:They call it the "Conch Farm" because the city helped set up the place originally as a Conch research facility to see about raising the mollusks to reintroduce them to local waters where they had been fished out. (I'm told Conch meat now comes from Honduras on the only international flights seen at the Key West Airport). I drove the Maxima into town deciding that the Bonneville (not me!) had earned a day of rest...But when the weather relented we decided to go for a walk and play tourists a bit. First stop was my suggestion of free pudding after lunch (English boarding schools call dessert pudding for those that think otherwise) so we made a beeline for Kermit's Key Lime store across the street.Gaudy consumerism I know but they offer free samples and the merchandise really is good. This shop is wasted on visitors only! It turns out my wife's Turkish sailors are going to get Key Lime Taffy and hard candies whether they want them or not- personally I like the Key Lime tea cookies but it doesn't take long to get sugared out here.

Outside the rain had let up for a second as we strolled Green Street, and everyone had their tropical storm protection plan in place. Usually nothing more sophisticated than a plastic bag:

The wife is into peppers for her cooking so that was the next stop and while she tasted burning mixtures I found one bottle worthy of my attention at Peppers of Key West:

My first Key West scooter was an elderly purple Honda Elite and I have a soft spot for the 50cc workhorse. I liked seeing it commemorated on a bottle. Next door Key West Hand Prints and Fabrics is going out of business and their share of the brick building is up for lease. Change is good I keep forcing myself to remember the mantra. Back at the Conch Farm Gustav's outpourings were making themselves felt in the parking lot. I wondered if this small wheeled electric car might drown in front of my camera, but no such luck:And so it was time to go back to work for the afternoon and as I was driving I took the long way round, by the beaches. To get there I went through the middle of town past the cemetery, all windy and gray and bleak. Quite lovely, like an eighty degree November day. At the Corner of Angela we found another rainwater puddle at the famous bottle wall:I was not alone in my idea that a pause at Higgs Beach might be fun:The residentially challenged of Key West take foul weather in stride too it seems. This old dude has been around for quite a while and like all of us wants to make a connection with another living thing. In this case pigeons:I did not miss the opportunity to photograph a young woman cycling one handed and shouting on the phone by Salute Restaurant in the middle of the howling winds:Storms come ashore unimpeded on the southern beaches and Dog Park got blown around a bit. I could only imagine what might happen here with a Category Three coming ashore: Most of the occupants at La Brisa Condos are being bored Up North somewhere instead of watching the weather deteriorate in Key West, but not all!This weather has scotched our plans for a weekend's boating and swimming and I have to say we feel a more than a pang of guilt that's all we've got to worry about while the Gulf Coast is going to get ravaged tomorrow by Gustav, but survival feels sweet. Assuming the tropical wave currently in the Atlantic doesn't come ashore here in a week or two...