I worked the weekend, Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday night and my afternoon hours on the weekend I spent at home with my wife before I came into work. That's just one reason I enjoy working nights, getting up at lunch time and having a few hours to myself in the afternoon. The light at my house is fantastic and the cooler weather lately means I have been able to leave my sliding doors open and with some fan action the house has remained fresh and breezy. Outside I see the tops of the trees, sparkling green against a deep blue sky and the sunshine imbues everything with energy and vitality. .
All of which is to say I have been sleeping and working and not out taking pictures so, as one does, I went looking for pictures on my meal break at three in the morning. Old City Hall seemed a likely target on a night with a full moon and atmosphere to spare. 
Old City Hall is a church-like brick building facing Greene Street with wide sweeping stairs, a clock tower and windows and doors of institutional proportions. This was never built as a home but as a place where important decisions are taken, a place where communities gather and hear their leaders. Which is lucky because that is precisely what it is. Upstairs there is a typical formal chamber with the city commission's seats set in the classic oval on a dais, and we the people sit below in orderly rows of chairs. Old City Hall was replaced by City Hall on Angela Street (a collection of buildings that have become ramshackle and are scheduled for replacement), but the commission itself still meets here on a couple of Tuesdays a month, as there is no meeting room at New City Hall on Angela Street. 
The side doors open to offices underneath the meeting chamber upstairs. This used to be the offices of the marine Sanctuary until the Eco center was built on the waterfront a couple of years ago. I find the handicap parking stickers on the doors to look rather odd, and I wonder why they couldn't have stuck them on their own poles. The exterior is imposing but inside its the usual warren of rather musty dark little offices. In back there lies a parking lot with all sorts of notables getting reserved spots as is their due in a small town. Across the lot Sloppy Joe's bar empties its slops at the end of another day of drinking:
I circled the block, walking down Ann Street to Caroline Street and form there down to Duval and back round to Greene Street where I peaked in the window at the bar, now devoid of people and rather forlorn looking:
Back on Caroline Street I paused to snatch a picture of the home of Florida's first millionaire, the house that carries his name, Curry Mansion Inn. Wrecking and trade were good businesses for Key West's 19th century residents, and they built themselves nice homes:
They rent out 22 rooms by the night and offer tours all day long for the curious. The blue ceilings on the verandas are supposed to ward off evil spirits and more prosaically, insects, according to ancient Keys lore. All terribly charming. By the time I made the circuit Greene Street was empty and a slow exposure was undisturbed by passers-by.
Back at Old City Hall I had time to take a gratuitous motorcycle picture just to prove I rode there I suppose, as though that makes a difference:
I think this was an enjoyable meal break for me because my hour flashed by and i had to pretty much head straight back to work after my picture taking. I stopped for a window shot, enhanced by an underwater atmosphere inside and some possibly found blue bottles on the window ledge.Lots of people go beach combing to find just such objects:
I am not a collector, except perhaps of stories.
Old City Hall is a church-like brick building facing Greene Street with wide sweeping stairs, a clock tower and windows and doors of institutional proportions. This was never built as a home but as a place where important decisions are taken, a place where communities gather and hear their leaders. Which is lucky because that is precisely what it is. Upstairs there is a typical formal chamber with the city commission's seats set in the classic oval on a dais, and we the people sit below in orderly rows of chairs. Old City Hall was replaced by City Hall on Angela Street (a collection of buildings that have become ramshackle and are scheduled for replacement), but the commission itself still meets here on a couple of Tuesdays a month, as there is no meeting room at New City Hall on Angela Street. The side doors open to offices underneath the meeting chamber upstairs. This used to be the offices of the marine Sanctuary until the Eco center was built on the waterfront a couple of years ago. I find the handicap parking stickers on the doors to look rather odd, and I wonder why they couldn't have stuck them on their own poles. The exterior is imposing but inside its the usual warren of rather musty dark little offices. In back there lies a parking lot with all sorts of notables getting reserved spots as is their due in a small town. Across the lot Sloppy Joe's bar empties its slops at the end of another day of drinking:I circled the block, walking down Ann Street to Caroline Street and form there down to Duval and back round to Greene Street where I peaked in the window at the bar, now devoid of people and rather forlorn looking:Back on Caroline Street I paused to snatch a picture of the home of Florida's first millionaire, the house that carries his name, Curry Mansion Inn. Wrecking and trade were good businesses for Key West's 19th century residents, and they built themselves nice homes:They rent out 22 rooms by the night and offer tours all day long for the curious. The blue ceilings on the verandas are supposed to ward off evil spirits and more prosaically, insects, according to ancient Keys lore. All terribly charming. By the time I made the circuit Greene Street was empty and a slow exposure was undisturbed by passers-by.Back at Old City Hall I had time to take a gratuitous motorcycle picture just to prove I rode there I suppose, as though that makes a difference:I think this was an enjoyable meal break for me because my hour flashed by and i had to pretty much head straight back to work after my picture taking. I stopped for a window shot, enhanced by an underwater atmosphere inside and some possibly found blue bottles on the window ledge.Lots of people go beach combing to find just such objects:I am not a collector, except perhaps of stories. Right in front of the Police Station I managed to get what i thought was a rather evocative shot of the city, looking west towards the intersection of Truman and Eisenhower with the moon heading towards the horizon:
What a mysterious looking city!
