It is has been far too long since I spent some time wandering Key West so when I took an early lunch break I made a beeline for Duval Street at dusk to see what has changed since last I was there. St Paul's cathedral as backdrop to my Bonneville wedged in between a row of scooters.
I find the presence of this piece of history rather incongruous in a place where bars and theme restaurants rule the roost. Across the street the Key West Women's Club holds out as well against the tide of raucous tourism.
It is possible to get a ringside seat the Grand Café is you have a taste for dinner accompanied by swarms of humanity swirling by at your elbow (some with cameras poised, I might add).
Looking south we see a line of the usual Harleys on stage. 
If four wheels was more to your taste they were raffling off a car of some sort. Perhaps I should have bought a ticket but it seemed an unlikely replacement for the Maxima.
Key West architecture is everywhere and rises above the fray even here. 
This picture started as a mere recording of a busy man earning his vendor's license on Caroline street outside the Bull.
But an Italian sausage with peppers and onions for six dollars seemed too good to pass up. So I didn't.
"Hey! The coastguard's taking pictures!" he shouted. Actually it was the Police Department but that's a good guess, me in my blue shirt and brown pants. 
The sun was dropping over Front Street almost as fast as the tourists were striding along trying to get heaven knows where.
There have been complaints about touts shouting "Fi dolla' " all day long so they seem to have adopted this mute pose at various trinket shops. Much betta.
Somehow I got caught up in a crowd of people streaming off the glass boat tour. We swirled past the old bank building towards the bars.
I wanted to grab a quick picture of Duval from the end of the street and I made it. Not before an anxious father instructed his child to do the same. I fled the scene before the tyke got run over. 
Rental scooters gathered at the traffic light. I don't suppose the lack of lighting on one them will be a problem. Duval Street is well enough illuminated.
Sloppy Joe's Bar is the epicenter of drinking in Key West. I cannot help but feel that Ernest Hemingway would not be amused by the way his tenuous association with this establishment is taken in vain. 
And here too they sing for their supper. 
Watching people hanging around on the sidewalk reminds me of being a bored kid standing around saying, what shall we do now? 
My answer: head back to work!
I find the presence of this piece of history rather incongruous in a place where bars and theme restaurants rule the roost. Across the street the Key West Women's Club holds out as well against the tide of raucous tourism.
It is possible to get a ringside seat the Grand Café is you have a taste for dinner accompanied by swarms of humanity swirling by at your elbow (some with cameras poised, I might add).
Looking south we see a line of the usual Harleys on stage. 
If four wheels was more to your taste they were raffling off a car of some sort. Perhaps I should have bought a ticket but it seemed an unlikely replacement for the Maxima.Key West architecture is everywhere and rises above the fray even here. 
This picture started as a mere recording of a busy man earning his vendor's license on Caroline street outside the Bull.
But an Italian sausage with peppers and onions for six dollars seemed too good to pass up. So I didn't.
"Hey! The coastguard's taking pictures!" he shouted. Actually it was the Police Department but that's a good guess, me in my blue shirt and brown pants. 
The sun was dropping over Front Street almost as fast as the tourists were striding along trying to get heaven knows where.
There have been complaints about touts shouting "Fi dolla' " all day long so they seem to have adopted this mute pose at various trinket shops. Much betta.
Somehow I got caught up in a crowd of people streaming off the glass boat tour. We swirled past the old bank building towards the bars.I wanted to grab a quick picture of Duval from the end of the street and I made it. Not before an anxious father instructed his child to do the same. I fled the scene before the tyke got run over. Rental scooters gathered at the traffic light. I don't suppose the lack of lighting on one them will be a problem. Duval Street is well enough illuminated.
Sloppy Joe's Bar is the epicenter of drinking in Key West. I cannot help but feel that Ernest Hemingway would not be amused by the way his tenuous association with this establishment is taken in vain. 
And here too they sing for their supper. 
Watching people hanging around on the sidewalk reminds me of being a bored kid standing around saying, what shall we do now? 
11 comments:
Dear Sir:
How thoroughly continental... One could easily draw a number of parallels between Duval Street and Prague. I leave for Chicago in the morning.
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
Chicago? Thats the wrong way dude. South is best.
Dear Conch:
I'm following the smell of money.
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
While the AC Cobra kit car they were auctioning off may not be the most practical replacement for the Maxima, I bet it sure would be fun.
Those Italian sausages make it so difficult for me to walk out of a Lowes aor Home Depot and not by one. They are talking to me as I walk in and out.
I have never understood the appeal of sidewalk dining, especially when the sidewalk runs between the restaurant and the tables (as illustrated by South Beach). One careless swing of the arm and there goes someone's conch chowder. Who is then responsible for the replacement?
The proper place to try sidewalk dining (other than Rome) is 915 Duval. They do an asian whole fish for two which can be eaten roadside and make one feel as though in heaven. Or at least feel like one is in a civlized part of Duval Street. The hot dog vendors are good enough that walking and eating (even worse than sidewalk dining) is absolutely worth while.
If I had a Cobra kit car I would need to live somewhere else. Really, the poor kids who want to be James Dean on the Keys backroads are hounded if they so much as pull a noisy doughnut. I am asober middle aged citizen after all and a sober 4 cyclinder sedan is as much as I can aspire to (my wife tells me).
I don't care much for sidewalk dining on Duval. The closest that I'll get is a greasy cheese slice from Angelina's with a beer.
For sidewalk dining, I prefer a slower pace and make a breakfast visit to Sarabeth's on Simonton and Southard for their spinach and goat cheese omelet when ever I'm in town.
Also, you can never be too old for brute horsepower...
We've decided to gamble and get to Key West as planned- although we are going to wait a few weeks to get our tickets. I am so ready to be down there and out of this frickin cold you wouldn't believe it (I don't think it will reach 50 degrees today! ~*% #*&$% !&#@*). Higgs Beach and Duval street in two days- Heaven!!!
Oh and... I'm tired of the "this teacher today got urinated on by a kid standing on the sill of the bathroom window" or "the mother of the child came storming in..." stories too. I'll join that club. Maybe WE need a support group.
It's tough to work in the schools in any state. Teachers are the real heroes and we don't value them enough!!!
Street food dining in Key West is an under appreciated pastime. The sausages are uniformly excellent(at least they seem that way at 3AM while walking home from Teasers).
^^I have to agree with you on that point.
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